March Developments

     March usually does bring a few surprises, or maybe I should say developments.  Regardless, we've marched through it and the crocuses are sprouting in our front yard.  I'm energized and ready to bring things up to date on Hurley Travels. There is a bit more to say here than I usually do in one post.  You know how life goes….one thing after another. No time to write the Hurley Travels blog. (Insert smirk or smile.) But anyway, let's march on.

    The contrasts in the photos I'm posting below are typical of the "in like a lion, out like a lamb" unpredictability of March in Indiana - sunny and 70 degrees - then snowing and 30 degrees the next day. Having friendly family shovelers and hiring the neighborhood teenager with a snow blower helped so much during this winter's weather.  At this stage in life we have become excellent supervisors.   This month has had several of those ins and outs of climate.  The two scenes below are within a few days of each other:   Eight inches of snow covered our suburban Fishers landscape with the beautiful white pillows of snow.  And just a few days later we were relaxing in Tim's yard with a cold refreshment observing Tim and Jamie and Luke and Eland preparing the backyard landscaping around the pool.  There was only a small mound of snow left as evidence. That was a warm, fun afternoon. When the kids had to leave for homework and sports, Tim, Jerry and I relaxed for a little conversation. Then one of Tim's long-time friends, Dan, stopped by.  From there it was more stories…you know how that goes. I had to snap a shot of these three characters.  Just a little reminiscing and laughter going on there!

     Then, there's that other day in March …it seems to keep popping up too quickly.  My birthday wishes from friends and family around the country did give me the warm fuzzies though!  Marti and I hung out for a long sisterly birthday afternoon, that I talked about on the other blog, Indiana Ties.   My hubby asked, "what would you like to do? "   I thought about a trip to Germany or Jamaica.  But that would take too much packing and I just did all that to move.  So….I say, "how about we take a day trip to northern Indiana???" 

     We somehow selected the small town of Markle, about 90 miles away. Maybe because we could get there in an hour or two, or we were able to stay completely off interstates…OR just because we hadn't been there.   And where to go to eat is always a decision too, right?  This time we agreed we would look for a restaurant on the way, also something new, where we would stop for dinner on our way back. 

     First, a few miles from home we took a quick side trip.  It just happened that way.  I got to see where Ferd, the Foretravel motorhome, and Ole Yeller, our old jeep, now live.  The family that owns them is from Fortville, Indiana.  Rob's in the stone business and owns the local grain elevator and surrounding buildings and property.  You can see the structure at the back of this photo where Ferd is now parked inside. The family took some motorhome trips last summer.  We ran into Rob as he was preparing that morning to take Ole Yeller to the Indiana Flower & Patio Show to setup his exhibit.  These old pals of ours are having a pretty good life!  

    As we wondered through the towns, I lost track of the route that day, since I was just being a passenger.  But I know we were traveling north, taking mostly highways 36 and 3.  I was being lazy, looking at little towns and watching people.  Part of the fun of one of these types of trips is not knowing what to expect, right?  Soon we meandered our way into Markle.   We took a quick tour through the quiet, clean town with the Wabash River running along its south side.  When we saw this small park with a sign next to an old mill stone we thought that would be a nice place to take a few minutes and stretch our legs.  It seems like there is usually some point of interest, or unusual spot, in every town along the road that you choose to stop and look.   Here's what the sign says where I'm standing: 

Indian Mill Stone

This stone is from the first Grist Mill constructed by the U. S. Government, circa 1833, for the use of the Miami Indians in this locality. It was built on Rock Creek, 1/4 of a mile up stream from the Wabash River.  Presented to the Markle Historical Society on June 1, 1983, by the Geiger family who have owned the land since 1864.     

     Then, there was more excitement for my birthday!  Our car found the way to a huge antique mall just on the outskirts of Markle.  Oh, and there was a lot to explore.  Jerry and I split up after the first few booths and agreed that we would keep in touch by text.  A couple of hours later and a few more treasures for Nancy they locked the doors.  And Jerry even did some hunting himself. 

     Remember that we were thinking and looking along the road for a restaurant?  Well, we did see one that we both thought looked interesting and remarked that it would be easy to retrace and stop on the way home.  It was called the Iron Kettle and seemed to be popular at midday when we passed it. No problem, we'll find it easily.  Wellllllllll, who knows what happened to that place.  Our route back didn't seem to pass it.   But we did end up our birthday exploring day with a delicious dinner at Maggiano's just a few miles from home.  The lasagna and wine tasted fantastic after all that traveling and sightseeing and hunting for antique deals.

     But there's still one more story: On the weekend Krissy decided as her gift she would prepare a meal and bring it to our house.  She made these unique deviled eggs that are seasoned with hot sauce and other yummy ingredients. (Sorry, Krissy, I don't remember, but I loved it all.)      Then there was a fantastic chicken dish that I wish I knew the name of - with spices, olives, lemons and cashews - served over couscous. The crunchy salad of snap peas, radishes and feta cheese with sumac dressing was a great compliment.  And for the perfect ending -  decadent Guinness Brownies - scrumptious!?%#!  We all were very content that evening.

Yes, this was more wordy and photo-populated than my usual post.  But actually, I could add other happenings…gifts from MJ…visits from C…furniture purchases…etc., etc.  But I'm going to call it quits right now.

 Thanks for visiting Hurley Travels.  Stay well.

Nancy

 

copyright © Nancy Hurley