day 5 in vincennes

 8-4-2021 - Wednesday

Today was the day I look forward to the most when I am back home -- a drive to decker chapel with barbara.  we always have a good time, and lots of laughs, and we don't get lost, although we don't always know where the road will come out.  today was no exception.  and it was an Excellent Adventure down Memory Lane.

we drove down 6th street, over the levee and along the Wabash river, with a few side trips along the way (back to where her house used to sit, past where I lived on the hill, then down another lane past where a house used to be that I lived in).  this lane became today's adventure.  we continued on past where the second house on this lane used to sit, where rex davis used to live.  But the road past his house continued on.  I had never been down it as far as I knew, but she thought she had, so she drove on.  It really was just a lane but had been recently graveled.  I said probably there was an oil well back there, and that was who had put the gravel on the road.  Anyway, we drove to the end (maybe not the end, it did continue on, but no gravel, just mud holes).  Barbara had been worried about where she would turn around, but I told her that if oil trucks or tractors came back here, there had to be a place to turn around.  And there was.

 We decided not to go on down the other little road, and she got turned around and headed back.  We went just a little ways, and this HUGE oil tanker suddenly comes around the corner, between the 2 cornfields.  HEART ATTACK.  

You can see he takes up the whole road.  after we started breathing again, barbara said her first thought was "how is he going to back that thing up".  Then she realized he wasn't going to be the one backing up!  I have to say, backing up is not at the top of barbara's skill set (neither is it mine).  She may have taken out a few corn stalks, but she finally got far enough back so that the trucker very nicely pulled way over to the side and got past us.  We can't imagine what was going through his mind, but I'm sure none of it was good.

we were close!!!

Continuing on, we got back out on the road, came down another hill, and a big old road grader was in front of us, taking up the whole road.  we stopped and considered that for a while, but remembered there was a little Y there, so we went around the Y and got in front of him -- he did stop for us.  sure seemed to be a lot of traffic down here today.

we worked our way back to the river road, and continued on around, to where the Wabash meets the White river (called "the Neck"), reminiscing along the way about whose house used to be where.  then we stopped at Claypool Pond, another house I had lived in, and walked over the levee.  My, they have cleaned that place up, torn down the old cabins and the house.  The water was really low, but the grounds looked great.

we know we are trespassing when we go here, but we figure we "know people" so we think we are ok, although Barbara thought she heard a car out on the road and worried that someone would call and turn us in.  from the top of the levee, I took a couple pictures of "God's Country," including the hill where my favorite house I lived in was located.  It has since been torn down, and the topography of that hill has changed, and the new houses don't even face the same direction as my old house.

I used to walk over to claypool from the house on the top of that hill after school, all the time.  It was my thinking spot, I guess.  and I may have mentioned it before, but the crops in Indiana look great this summer.

From there, we headed on to our old school bus buddy, Mike Carter's place, which is really beautiful.  I think he has lived in this house, or at least on this property, his entire life, and is more than content to finish his life right there.  He has a wonderful bbq area that he and his son designed.  If barbara could figure out how to fit one in her back yard, she would have one of these.

And Mike and Donna have a hot tub!  I never saw Mike as a "hot tub" guy, but who knew!

Mike mentioned that his son has cameras aimed at their back yard, I guess to keep an eye on the equipment, animals, and his parents.  but Mike figured out he can't go out to the hot tub naked.  and that's a good thing.

I didn't steal any rocks this year, although barbara did try to get away with a couple, but they were too hot to reside where she had hidden them for very long, so she confessed.  We had a great visit.  we had talked a few times over the last couple of years about drawing the inside floor plan of decker chapel school, as we remembered it, the next time we got together, so we did that today.  Mike gave us paper and pencil and told us to go to our corners and draw how we remembered the layout, and he would grade them.  barbara thinks she got a higher grade than me (which she probably did--she knew more about the boys bathroom and locker room than I did).  anyhow, it was a good time, and we shared a lot of laughs.  

the air conditioner in barbara's car had quit working a few miles back, but when we left Mike's, it started working again, thank goodness.  she dropped me off at the house and went home to fix dinner for us (like she hadn't had enough of me already).  she and Maurice had us in for a home cooked meal, hamburgers and hotdogs on the grill, corn on the cob, baked beans and baked macaroni, plus 2 cakes plus strawberries with angel food cake (3 cakes I guess).  It was delicious, and we had a good time.  we finally said goodnight and headed home, but it had been a full day, with lots of laughs.