2023, animals, Automotive, Family, Farming Update, Travel

Road Trip

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The weekend Farm Report comes to us from Ben.

I took tires down to Millville MN last Saturday morning, then over to Plainview for parts.

A few days later, went back to Millville to pick up the tires.  Millville is the location of Appel Tire; they’ve been fixing our farm tires, and replacing car or truck tires, since I was a kid. I’m not sure why or when dad started using them, it’s one of those family-owned business we like to support, and we have always used them.

If you’re in a hurry, it’s a bit of a drive; about 25 minutes from our place. But all country roads and usually not much traffic. And there’s about 3 ways to get there so it satisfies my desire for a different route each way. 

One of the routes is a bit out of my way, but when it works, it’s worth the trip. Wabasha County Rd 11 goes off Hiway 63, through the village of Hammond,

where it picks up the Zumbro River,

and follows that to Millville.  I go in the shop doors of Appel Service, (the doors are always open unless it’s winter), I talk to the guys working on cars, and then into the office. Joe is working today. It’s his grandfather that started the business in 1948. 

Around the corner is Whiskey Dicks, and further on, the Stumble In, but that’s only open for breakfast and it used to be owned by a guy named Jim, who helped on the farm when my folks went to Europe for a three week vacation when I was 16 years old. They’d never been out of the country before–especially not for three weeks– and I’d never run the farm alone for 3 weeks!  Whisky Dicks used to be the Lucky 7 and they had grape pop, but not anymore. 

If you’re in a hurry, Appel’s will fix your tires while you wait. At least some of the of the lunch crowd have vehicles at Appel’s and the rest are locals. I was gonna just do a cheeseburger and fries, but the special was a chicken sandwich. Millville is way down in a valley along the river; looks like an offshoot of the driftless area. Cell service is non-existent, so that’s nice over lunch. A slice of butter toffee cake for the road and to share with Kelly. The sandwich and the fries were fresh out of the fryer and so hot I had to let them sit a while before eating. I admired the flour sacks and burlap seed bags stapled to the ceiling. A pool table took up the middle of the main room. I didn’t get over to the bar area. And the bathroom mirror made me look real good.

I made a loop around the cemetery on my way out of town, said Hello to some of the dead relatives and thought about them. Millville also has a gun shop that I’ve only been in once when I bought a shotgun at an auction. 

Forty years ago, when I was measuring grain bins and fields for the ASCS Office, I’d drive a few of these roads. Driving to Millville that day I went past Larry’s place. He sold Pioneer seed and he had the first Cellular phone I had seen. Hooked to his truck and the lights flashed and horn honked when it rang, and he’d run back to the truck to answer. He was a lot of fun to work with. I drove past another place where I measured the grain in some bins, mixed up the numbers on a measurement, and the boss had to go back out there and verify. That’s just up the road from the place dad bought a lousy snow blower, and across the road from the guy everyone knew was a lousy farmer and how junky his place was and still is. Not too far from the place where the ladder fell over after I got inside the grain bin. I was able to get out and jump down. Forty years younger remember.

Closer to home is Norms, where I watched him pull a tractor stuck in 18” of mud with his pickup truck. Norm taught me how to drive a grain truck, too. “Drive this to Viola, kid.”

Crops are maturing. Been raining most of the week it seems. Rye is growing. We got 9 guineas, which is a surprise because we’ve only had 7 for a long time. Two must have been on nests. No word on the other chicks this week. One of the June pullets we ordered turned out to be a rooster. I’ve said sexing male or female chicks isn’t a perfect science. And they all look the same for 4 months. And now they’re in puberty and his voice is changing and he’s still learning how to crow. Imagine trying to figure out HOW to crow and your voice cracking at the same time. That’s what he sounds like.

Kelly thinks she’s spotted him. I haven’t yet.

Whats the worst sound you’ve heard?  Best?

41 thoughts on “Road Trip”

  2. Not the worst sound, but I was lying in bed early this morning and listening to the sound of rain dripping off the roof. It was especially clear because Robin had opened the bedroom window a little. For a homeowner, one of the most discomfiting sounds is that of water dripping somewhere when you can’t be sure of its source.

    That and the sound of a cat throwing up in the night.

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  3. Rise and Shine, Baboons,

    We are going on a road trip today to Iowa for a family wedding. It is my first venture south since the many trips at the end of my mother’s life in June. We travel straight south on 35 through the dangerous road construction area at Faribault. Nothing in this trip will be as interesting as your cafes and relatives, Ben. Good for you supporting family businesses.

    Now I will go pack and get ready for the day.

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  4. One of the best is a really good choral group singing. There was a group here in a few years ago from France, held at a beautiful old church where the acoustics were marvelous.

    Thinking of the worst sound, but that cat throwing up is hard to top…

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  5. Worst sound: Crankshaft breaking on my MGA roadster. The first time, in West Texas in 1971. Total loss of car.
    The second time, in Southern California (different car) in 1975. I haven’t owned or ridden in an MGA since 1976. I concluded that it had something to do with habitually driving that model car at speeds greater than it was designed to sustain. But, what would a kid like me have known back then?

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    1. mg had a history of making stylish poorly engineered cars
      i always wanted an mag
      had a friend who had a right hand drive
      i learned mechanics so i could fix my v’s which kept blowing up
      good education

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  8. Yes, roosters learning to crow is funny. But they still strut around grandly afterwards despite it all.
    I have drive through that country for fun. Sandy and I liked driving through valleys and twisty roads.
    Sound of a bone breaking. Mine I mean. Sandy talking nonsense. A dynamite blast not going off. A car playing whatever they now call that music way too loud.
    Clyde

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  9. Whenever Cantus performs this, it brings me to tears. I particularly like this rendition, because I love the thought of the two groups being together in a bar and suddenly saying “oh, let’s sing Ave Maria.”

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  10. I convinced our church choir director to let us try Morten Lauridsen’s O Magnum Mysterium, one of Mr favorite sounds! We haven’t started rehearsing it yet.

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  11. It’s hard to beat some of your choices for the worst sound ever. However, I have to agree with Wes. The sound of that voice causes me to turn off the tv or radio immediately. It also causes me to swear at the tv, which is useless. Yes, that’s a bad sound, a very bad sound. Another horrible sound is metal scraping over concrete or metal against metal. A neighbor’s dog barking at 2 a.m. is another really awful sound.

    My favorite sound is from my memory and I haven’t heard it for many years. On an old hiking trail that didn’t get much use, there used to be a large, hollow log lying lengthwise in a small clear stream. The log was stuck underneath some boards that were set across the stream to walk over. This wasn’t any fancy bridge with handrails. Someone had simply hiked those boards in about a mile or so and laid them across the stream. The sound of the water running through the hollow log was amazing. It was the most beautiful, liquid sound I can ever remember hearing. It was a lovely, peaceful place to rest and listen.

    I also love the sound of waves hitting the shore on Lake Superior.

    Another favorite is the song of wood thrushes in the deep, old growth areas of the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness in the UP Michigan. It sounds like chimes in the quiet woods.

    I also love the St. Olaf Choir singing “Beautiful Savior.” I’m not religious but that never fails to make me cry.

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  13. I love to hear a train going by – the clickety-clack on the railroad track, if you will. Maybe because for a few years of my childhood we had the track going basically through our back yard, and I got used to that… Probably part of why I love train travel so much.

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  14. Many of you have mentioned beautiful sounds that I also love…….waves on a shore, a babbling brook, trains going by, rainfall on a roof (as long as there are no leaks), wind through the trees while hiking, glorious choral music, children laughing, the crack of a bat hammering out a home run, and the sound of my kayak paddle on a calm, quiet lake. I agree wholeheartedly that the sound of 45’s voice is the worst. Not only can I not stand to listen to him, I can barely stand to look at him.

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  15. Krista’s post reminded me of Galaxy Quest.
    I missed my shot at Trail Baboon glory.
    “I remember that sound. It’s a bad sound!”
    The movie is one of favorites.

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  17. I think another very nice sound is a quiet Sunday morning with a hot cup of coffee, a warm little dog, and just the wind in the trees for a soundtrack.

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  19. I love the mentions of all these beautiful sounds. I’ve been thinking about worst sounds since yesterday and one of the worst ones to me was YA trying to learn to play the violin when she was about eight. Just.so.awful. Luckily for my eardrums and my sanity, she decided really early on that the violin was not for her.

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  20. i’m very late getting to the post this week will see if WP lets me on. They have not been letting me on for the last week or so.
    are used to get down into that part of the world every year and really enjoyed getting down there this time of year when the leaves are turning in those hills and valleys later in the sunshine all those small town bars and restaurants were my favorite places to eat a grilled cheese sandwich with fried onions and tomatoes and a plate of fries as far as sounds go, I am a sound freak and my pet peeve is someone chewing ice I literally have to get up and leave the room. I have been at business outings where I sit next to someone who choose the ice and it’s difficult for me to maintain any semblance of civility it really drives me nuts potato chips are almost the same thing but ice is worse. There are lots of similar chewing on Lifesavers popcorn I just have a problem with mouse noises someone who choose mashed potatoes with their mouth open, is another reason for me to leave best sounds water rolling over stone or in a fountain certain types of music. It varies a little bit, but my favorite stuff is pretty consistent my grandkids laughing or running up and saying hello when I walk in the door my dogs greeting me I’m down to one cat Ernie died last week and Hemingway doesn’t have much of a voice so it’s almost comical. Hemingway didn’t have much to say when ernie was around because ernie was so outspoken. I just listen to the book on tape which is Bob Dylan‘s autobiography and Bob Dylan is one of my favorite songs now I’m gonna go hit the button and see if it lets me in and if I can post .

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  23. Worst sounds….car alarms. Especially in the middle of the night.

    Repetitive noises bother me a lot. It really drives me over the edge when there’s a parent and a kid in a store, and the parent is tired and tuned out, and the kid is saying, “Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom.” and the mom isn’t answering. I start to wonder, who is more to blame here? The mom or the kid? It reminds me of that Paul Zindel book where they argue over who’s to blame, the assassin or the boatman or whoever.

    Once when I went out to eat with my sister’s family, we were in a restaurant where there were bursts of noise from the kitchen. One of my neices was seated with her back to the kitchen, and it was making her very jittery. She’s sensitive to noises. The solution was that my BIL traded seats with her, so that she was facing the kitchen, and the noise wasn’t coming from behind her. It helped her.

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  25. I thought I loved road trips before, but now with all the issues related to flying these days, I much prefer being in the driver’s seat on the road! Well, until I need a break. Shotgun!

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