Random Sightings, Adventures and Humor

This past Saturday I went north to do some deer hunting.  The day came and went without a single deer sighting, much less an opportunity to get a shot off on one.  But nonetheless it was a great day filled with fun, humor and random sightings.

On Friday night I drove up to Marion, IN which is near the location I was going to hunt on Saturday.  I got a hotel room there and got everything prepared so I could make a quick and early exit to get to the stand before the sun started to come up.  I really didn't think much about carrying a shotgun case into a hotel while in my pj's with wet hair and no makeup until I was halfway through the lobby and there were people looking at me from multiple directions.  What are ya gonna do?

When I got back to the room, I changed the barrel on my shotgun.  I haven't used my rifled barrel or scope this year so I wanted to get reacquainted with it.  I was reviewing the settings on my scope by looking through it at the order confirmation board at the Taco Bell down the street.  I then realized if anyone drove by and happened to notice me up in the window I probably looked like a sniper.  I have my moments.  I'll tell you what though... I had a great shot at that confirmation screen.  I was feeling confident.  After that I closed the curtains and practiced some shooting positions.

Fun Fact:  My shotgun has a name.  It's Dolly.

On Saturday, after the morning hunt, there was a breakfast/ lunch break.  Driving into town I passed a house and saw a man, dressed as an elf, driving a gator.  I wish I'd of gotten a picture.

When I arrived at the little hole-in-the-wall restaurant in Wabash, IN, I opened the menu and found an item that was a done deal based on the name.  It was called The Cannonball.  Get it?  The Wasbash Cannonball?  If you don't get it, Wabash Cannonball is a very old song that's been recorded by many many artists.  I put the Johnny Cash version below in case you're interested.

The breakfast version of the Wabash Cannonball.  3 eggs, sausage, hash browns, biscuits and gravy and toast. And I ate every last bit of it!

Can I pause for a moment from the weird sighting stories and tell you about something I witnessed during breakfast that absolutely warmed my heart?  I don't know if I can paint the picture well enough to make you understand how beautiful this was, but I'll try.  There was a table a few feet away with a dad and his two kids.  The daughter was likely around 10 and the son perhaps 4.  Before their food came, the dad went down to the bathroom and left the kids at the table (keep in mind it's a tiny town so this is ok).  While he was away, the waitress brought the food to the table.  As she sat it down, she asked the little boy if he wanted her to cut up his pancakes for him so he could start eating.  You should've seen how happy that little boy was.  She got everything cut up and asked if he wanted syrup on them too.  He did.  She poured the syrup all over them until he finally told her it was enough.  I don't know if it's just me, but there was something so touching about watching this simple act of kindness.  It warmed my heart.

I found the little diner's blog/ website.  If you're ever in Wabash, check out Joe's Diner!

Following breakfast, I was leaving the parking lot of the restaurant and saw something you don't see much anymore.  A payphone!  I couldn't resist taking a picture with it.  The best part was, when I picked it up, there was a dial tone!  I'm not used to hearing that sound.

I stopped off at a cute little country store that I enjoy browsing when I'm up that way and had one final random sighting during the lunch break.  As I got back in the truck, I looked to my right and saw a blue van next to me that appeared to be driven by a dalmatian!

The last story from the hunting trip comes from the drive home in the evening.  Dinner was at a Subway in a gas station somewhere near Marion.  There were four tables to eat at.  As we were eating, my friend informs me there is a mouse running around under the soda machine behind me.  I look and giggle a bit and continue eating.  Soon, a teenage boy and his girlfriend walk in and decide to get sodas.  They then stand in front of the soda machine texting for a couple of minutes.  At that point my friend says to me, "watch this," and I know what's coming.  He tells this teenage girl there is a mouse right by her hip and we laughed hysterically as she jumped out of her skin.

What a great day for random humorous sightings.  I'm so happy for the opportunity to share them with you too.

He Believes In Me

Grampa

I went down to the lake late in the day and visited with Grampa and Grama.  Grampa was in an exceptionally cheery mood today.  He "had his talkers on" as Grama would say.  It seems every time I visit he has seen something or someone really out of the ordinary and tells me, he thinks I could or should do the same thing.  Today's story was about a man on a horse that was "pulled over" by a police officer outside of the restaurant they were eating at earlier in the week.  Apparently this guy was travelling to Missouri on horseback.  He was clean and friendly and had a sleeping bag with him.  That was just the way he was travelling.  When Grampa finished telling me about it, he said, "I told your grandma, if Ashley had a horse she'd be doing that too."  He went on to tell me how I could make it work and find places to sleep.

I realized something after listening to yet another crazy story of something he believes I could or would do.  He is the reason I am the way I am.  He is the reason I dream so big and dare to be adventurous   The first time I remember him flat out telling me to do something crazy was in 2004.  After an extremely harsh breakup with the man I was engaged to at the time, Grampa told me I should go get on my motorcycle and just take a trip by myself.  Just get away for a while.

I didn't end up taking the motorcycle, but I did get in the car and just start driving.  I remember trying to decide if I should head north, south, east or west.  Anyone who knows me wouldn't be surprised to find out that I decided to head south.  About 4 hours into my trip my cell phone rang. It was my mom wanting to know if I wanted to get some lunch.  I told her I couldn't because I was in Terre Haute, Indiana (I lived in the northwest suburbs of Chicago at the time).  She flipped out (of course) and I told her she should talk to Grampa and ask him what I was up to.  :-)

I was on the road for around 5 or 6 days.  I went all sorts of places in 6 different states, including Graceland in Memphis, TN.  It was the first time in my life I'd really done something all on my own.  I remember the day I was supposed to get married.  Instead, I was sitting out on the steps of the run down motel I was staying at in Memphis and smoking a cigarette (yes, I used to be a smoker) and I met two middle aged women and had a great conversation with them that really helped change my perspective.  I don't really remember what they told me, but I remember them and how powerful the experience was of meeting them.

Side note:  My love for Elvis movies was born in that hotel.  Channel 3 had Elvis movies 24 hours a day.  I discovered it very late at night and "Frankie and Johnny" had just started.  I was exhausted, but couldn't turn it off.  I stayed up almost all night watching one movie after another.  

Also on that trip, I remember getting caught very near to a tornado.  I met a family in a restaurant parking lot where I pulled over.  It was the only thing for many miles.  I'm not sure how far it would have been to a town.  The restaurant was in a modular building, so it would provide no safe haven from the storm.  The family was in a pickup truck and was pulling a trailer with a bunch of quads on it.  There were three younger boys riding in the trailer between the quads because there was no room in the cab of the truck.  They were getting pelted with the hail, rain and wind.  I've never again seen a sky like I did that day.  I have some great pictures of it somewhere.  Anyway, I got out of my car and went up to the parents to offer their boys shelter in my car.  I think they thought I was crazy, but they let them get in.  We knew, of course, if the tornado dropped near us we'd have to make a run for the ditch, but at least the boys got out of the storm.  Those boys were soaked, but so thankful to come in out of the storm.  I had beach towels in the car too so they got to dry off a bit.

That whole trip was like a mission to conquer the world for me.  To find my inner strength.  To prove to myself that I could survive just fine on my own.  Grampa believed I could do it.  That was all I needed to believe it too.  This all took place before Grampa and I were as extremely close as we are now.  That was where it all began.

There is a great quote by Zig Ziglar that really hits home for me:

"A lot of people have gone further than they thought they could because someone else thought they could." 

Grampa was that "someone" for me.  And now I believe I can accomplish anything I can dream up... because I know he would believe I can.