Covered Bridges:




The drive to our destination was scattered with historical towns with shops that had been through many reincarnations, and some boarded up beyond repair. Farmhouses that have seen many lives pass through their doors and tombstones that have barely held onto the soil that supports them, were present in town after town, and cornfield after cornfield. Small colored arrows marked the various pathways to the bridges including yellow, brown and blue. We chose brown and were soon led to a small covered bridge. We let the dogs run and they loved it! The construction of these bridges were with large curving beams and we stopped awhile to admire the beautiful architecture.

We also stumbled upon an old town that has become a tourist site. Old buildings are kept in beautiful condition with the old machinery that used to be top of the line, displayed inside. One old house had hand carved wood and was perfectly notched together with no nails. Inside the dark windows, two rocking chairs were by the fireplace just waiting for their inhabitants to return.

Goats were kept by the old barn and were very interested in Ginger and Sam. But the puppies took a 'ho, hum' approach to their interest and we were soon on the way back to the car.


We enjoyed the rolling hills and woods of this part of Indiana. We drove by more covered bridges, shops,churches,and houses that make up a tiny piece of history here in the midwest. It was fun to catch a glimpse!




After we got home, we found a couple of tics. Suzi and her pets...

Quirks of Indy

============================================
Favorite sayings of the locals, to the point where Suzi was going crazy, but now that she is jumping on board with the sayings, she thinks it is a cute quirk, yes, she says these often now...
These include the following, to be said after ANY comment:

'Do you know what I mean??'

'Do you hear what I am saying??'

And finally the popular alternative, to be said only with a flare:
'Do you get what I mean??'
============================================
They have a monorail here, like the one in Seattle, only less cars. It goes between Clarion Methodist hospital and Riley hospital. They call it the People Mover. I don't know why, can't explain it, but the name just cracked Suzi and I up the first time we heard it. Of course Suzi was orienting at work and her co-workers gave her strange and baffled looks when she chuckled at the only name recognized here for moving trams above the city.
============================================
At Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle, patients would often ask for coffee. There was almost always a freshly brewed pot (ground beans of course!) There were several grinders on the 15th floor and beans galore. At times, on those Seattle evenings, there would be no coffee made and the only alternative was *gasp* ...instant. Well at those times, the patients would look at me as if
I were crazy or they had not heard me correctly.

Well, here at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, there rarely is coffee made in the evening. The brewer in the kitchen looks woefully neglected. Rarely do my co-workers have the tell-tale white Starbuck/Tully cups with protective rings to guard against the heat. (Actually....never!) So when my patient asked me for coffee one night, I looked down, horrified. I said in a regretful voice that, 'All we have is instant."

The patient looked up hopefully. 'Great! That's just how I like it!'

And this strange event has not been isolated. Grateful patients smile at me as I bring them their mixed instant coffee, either black or with a few sugars. Wow! And for those of you who do not believe me, I'll take pictures for you doubting Seattleites out there on the West coast.
============================================
In the late evening we will turn off the TV, and it sounds like there is a race going on. When we first got here, we thought we must be close to the race track... Turns out it is just the highway noise.

We have noticed that traffic is really excited about fast acceleration from red lights or on freeway entrance ramps. Must be the racing thing...
============================================
Watching the weather on the TV is fun. We are used to Seattle. Where if there is a slight possibility of snow, they have a news anchor in each corner of the broadcasting area.
Here, if there is a hurricane out at sea, the anchor gets all excited about what might happen if it comes our way...

Then there is the heat. Last night I was watching, and the anchor said that Sun and Mon would be especially hot and humid. She went on to say to imagine you are in a sauna. Don't exercise, or do anything, just do what you would do in a sauna. Does that mean we will see naked people perched under trees???

Then there is prime time TV. I have gotten so even if there is nothing live that I want to watch, instead of watching a video, or reading, I put on the TV just to look at the Warnings. In the lower corner of the screen there is a map of Indiana, with outlines of each county. The counties are each shaded different colors according to the warning they are having, ie: tornado warning, flood warning, high wind warning, thunder warning. Then at the bottom of the screen they list each county, the warning, and when it is expected to be lifted. The things we do for entertainment...
============================================
You know how in the winter time when it is cold outside, you go inside, and your glasses fog up?? Well here on hot humid days, when you are in the a/c, when you go outside, the glasses steam up.

Also, when driving with the a/c on sometimes the windows steam up. It is on the outside, so you just need to turn on the wipers for the windshield. Roll the windows down then back up for the side windows, but now I see why heated mirrors are so popular back east...
============================================
Up to this point our journey has been at:
www.geocities.com/dbkennel