Ramblin' Roads

On Wednesday, Sabrina and I loaded up the car for our weekly "exploration" of Pulaski County. She brought along her trusty Nylabone, while I packed my water bottle (and Sabrina's travel water carrier) and the Nikon. We set off not really knowing where we were going, but sure that the pleasant day would guide us in the right direction.

Now normally I research a point of interest in Pulaski County every week and then make sure I know how to get to said location. But this past week I really just wanted to get out of the house and into the country. I wanted to find a secluded little place where I could park the car and take Sabrina on a long walk through the woods, and maybe - if I was lucky - find something cool to photograph while we were out. Fortunately for me, luck was on my side.

I decided to head up Route 66 in hopes of finding a promising rural road that could lead to untold trails and treasure. What I found was Temporal Lane, a packed dirt road which winds its way southeast of Devils Elbow and happens to run under the wooden trestle railroad, running between Rolla and Ft. Leonard Wood, which I had previously blogged about in my February post, Get Your Kicks. The structure is in amazing condition, and I couldn't help but take all kinds of pictures of the trestles which have kept the railway standing for 70 years!

I was tempted to jump the fence at the base of the bridge and get a shot of the track up top, but - aside from the horse in the pasture that I thought I might spook - the farmer's house, on whose property the bridge lies, was in plain sight.  I decided to count myself lucky to have gotten some great, up-close shots of the beautifully engineered structure.

Sabrina was pretty happy with the day, as well. She loves a good car ride, but she also loves to see the wildlife in the countryside and to get out and stretch her legs in the woods. She's definitely in her element when she's nosing around in the underbrush, undoubtedly smelling all of the critters that were scurrying around the night before. Additionally, there's nothing she enjoys more than a nice clean stream or river, where after a long hike she puts her paws in the water for a cool-down and dips her snout in for a few long, languid laps. Lucky for us, all of the the things Sabrina loves to do were at our beck and call on our adventure down Temporal Lane.

(This picture was taken with my camera phone, thus the quality and resolution is slightly lacking)

We made our way back home, having spent a couple of hours out and about charting the great wilds of Missouri. Our first priority of business was to check for ticks and delouse ourselves if necessary. As luck would have it, we were free and clear of the little parasites!

On such a beautiful day it was nice to just get out of the house and not really know where I was heading; inevitably finding that when you aren't looking for anything in particular you find the most beautiful treasures.