A road trip

The Covid-19 bug is spiking again.  However, there are counties in Missouri that have a pretty small number of cases, some as few as two, I believe.  I just looked at the Missouri Covid-19 dashboard and I see that Iron, Knox and other counties have each had two cases total.  I've never heard of those counties, but I'm fairly certain they are further away from big cities than my Lafayette County is:  Most people in this county work in the city, and I imagine that's how we got the majority of our 80 total cases; but if you look at the metropolitan areas, there have been hundreds of cases and too many deaths.  Missouri is one of the states that is paying for the big Memorial Day celebrations now.

Remember how we had planned to go to Nashville at the time all this mess began?  I've gone through this whole pandemic holding onto the idea that maybe we can do that trip later this year.  At this point, I have my doubts, since Tennessee is one of the states whose covid numbers are going up again.  

So I asked Cliff to take me on a day trip to Amish country, only 80 miles away.  In the past, we'd have gone to Versailles:  There aren't any Amish there as far as I know, but there are varying degrees of Mennonites and other buggy-driving groups of people of German descent, many of them with the Amish-type stores to shop in.  These days, when I think about a drive to Versailles, it depresses me, because Cliff's aunt and his cousin Darrell have died.  Aunt Gertrude was always the main reason we went to Versailles:  She was so happy to see all visitors, and made us (and everyone) feel special.  Then she moved in with Darrell in her later years; I got to know him better during that time, and I found him fascinating to talk to.

So we went instead to the largest Amish community in Missouri, which is located in and around Jamesport, only 75 miles away.

It's fun driving past the farms, seeing clothes on the lines and meeting horse-and-buggies on the roads.  I packed a quick lunch before we went, tuna salad sandwiches... not my favorite, but that's what I had to work with.  Including the time to drive there and back, we were only away from home for seven hours.  I went to the Jamesport City Hall to ask about the Amish farm-and-countryside tours that feature an Amish tour guide.  Those have to be scheduled in advance, and I want to do that at some point.  However, they won't take less than four people, so we'll need to get together with someone for that trip, and all this time I thought I didn't need any friends!  Anyhow, I got my information before we left town.

About ten miles before we arrived at Jamesport, however, Cliff got to look at tractors in Gallatin.  You all know by now that anything involving tractors and farm equipment thrills my husband greatly.  First he went to Terry Implement:  That's where my cousin Gerald bought all his brand new Allis Chalmers tractors; Allis Chalmers went out of business many years ago, so the place is now selling Kubota tractors.  What Cliff was interested in, however, were the used tractors sitting on the lot for sale.  He drives slowly past each tractor, stopping to talk about his favorite old rust-buckets as he comes to them.  He doesn't expect me to pay much attention to these soliloquies, and I don't; really, he's just talking to himself.  He just rattles on, as he comes to each precious brand and model, criticizing the farmer who let some poor old tractor get in the kind of shape it's in, and questioning how in the world somebody put that dent in the grill of a tractor; you get the picture, right? 

Then, after leaving Terry Implement, what should we find just outside of Gallatin but a tractor consignment sale with row after row of rusty junk tired old tractors, plows, discs, and balers!  Cliff was in heaven for sure, and that's when I realized why it had been so easy for me to talk him into the trip to Jamesport.  What I didn't know was this:  He'd seen an advertisement for the sale a few days ago and knew about it!  I thought it was just a wonderful surprise to him.

There were many rows like this at the consignment sale

This sign was near the exit at the sale; I took the picture for my gun-nut, mostly Trump-loving, relatives (not the relatives I gave birth to, though), because I didn't know Bethany had a big gun store... but then, I wouldn't.

What we did in Jamesport was shop at the Amish places of business.  Even Cliff found some bargains, although he didn't buy them because they were tools he already has.  Here's what I bought:

I always get some of the Orange slice candy.  My dad loved those, and although I can't eat as much sweet stuff as I used to, I still get some and eat one a day until they are gone.  He also liked circus peanuts candy, but yuck!  I'm not eating those.  In the picture you see the candy; a scraper to get the last of the mayo out of the jar; my favorite kind of paring knife, called a "granny knife" because in the old days, everybody's grandma had a knife so old and worn that it looked like this one; a heat diffuser... everybody needs one of these for grits or rice, or anything that seems to stick to the bottom of the pan when you cook it.  Oh, and I left out two things because I took them out of the pile earlier and didn't put them back:  a strawberry and tomato stem-remover, and a bag of rice.  Carbs bother me not at all, and I bought the rice because our son will be here on July 4th weekend and I think I have plenty, but you never know how many others will be here eating the rice with him.  When there is leftover rice and raisins, our son will heat some up in the microwave for a snack, or for breakfast on another day.

A couple of folks commented on my last entry that they don't eat grits because of the carbs.  Folks, in my old age I can't eat like I used to, and without ever counting a calorie or pushing back from the table, my weight stays between 148 and 152.  I eat anything I want.  I count this among my blessings, because it wasn't always easy like it is now.  

My favorite Amish store is in a house, although nobody lives in it; they live in the other house on the property.  This is where I got all my "stuff".

outside the store

We got a little lost on back roads, but I dug out the cell phone, and Google maps took us home.  

It was a good day for both of us, and there were no crowds to contend with.