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Post by Auf Kiltre on Jul 14, 2021 10:05:10 GMT -5
My new drive from Texas to my Michigan family takes me across northeastern Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and of course Michigan. The expanse of farmland in between is mind blowing. I can't help but wonder what life is like along these stretches, particularly during the winter months. A lot of people seem to think driving through long stretches of farmland is boring, but I find it calming, even reassuring that not all is concrete madness. I'll pick 80 mph through crops over the insanity of my previous nightmare of Atlanta and Cincinnati anytime. I add some extra time to my trip by skirting around Houston via 99. I'll have no part of that city.
Farmland rocks, wonder what's in store for it through the coming generations.
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Post by Leftee on Jul 14, 2021 10:08:13 GMT -5
I grew up on a small farm, and I wouldn't trade that experience for anything. It is all about an honest day's work.
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Post by jhawkr on Jul 14, 2021 11:12:33 GMT -5
10 minutes in any direction and I am driving through farmland. I can catch the AG reports on local radio or TV if I want. I live in a medium sized concrete jungle, Wichita.
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Post by Ragtop on Jul 14, 2021 12:06:39 GMT -5
A favorite drive of mine is I-80 across Iowa. Rolling hills, pretty farms, and the best farmland in the world.
I-90 across South Dakota is a vast expanse of wheat and hay. Also "calming and reassuring," and beautiful in an understated way.
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Post by Mike the marksman on Jul 14, 2021 12:19:15 GMT -5
I enjoy large expanses of open land, sometimes I'll stop on the side of the road, get out of the car, and just bask in the peace and quiet for a few minutes.
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Post by slacker 🐨 on Jul 14, 2021 13:31:07 GMT -5
A favorite drive of mine is I-80 across Iowa. Rolling hills, pretty farms, and the best farmland in the world. I-90 across South Dakota is a vast expanse of wheat and hay. Also "calming and reassuring," and beautiful in an understated way. I've lived my entire life in Iowa. I have zero interest in going anywhere else. It's beautiful here and the people are great. |
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Post by slacker 🐨 on Jul 14, 2021 13:35:10 GMT -5
My new drive from Texas to my Michigan family takes me across northeastern Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and of course Michigan. The expanse of farmland in between is mind blowing . I can't help but wonder what life is like along these stretches, particularly during the winter months. A lot of people seem to think driving through long stretches of farmland is boring, but I find it calming, even reassuring that not all is concrete madness. I'll pick 80 mph through crops over the insanity of my previous nightmare of Atlanta and Cincinnati anytime. I add some extra time to my trip by skirting around Houston via 99. I'll have no part of that city. Farmland rocks, wonder what's in store for it through the coming generations. I can speak for Iowa. It's an area where people are used to helping each other through tough times....frequently helping total strangers. Winters are character building: long, cold and, at times, brutal. Natives grow up just dealing with it. Summers are hot and humid. When I wasn't on the river, I was at the pool or playing in a sprinkler on hot days as a kid. It sounds tough and unforgiving, but it's home and I love it here. |
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Post by LeftyMeister on Jul 14, 2021 13:35:11 GMT -5
I also grew up on a farm with corn, hay, soybeans, pigs, horses...
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Post by hushnel on Jul 14, 2021 13:35:24 GMT -5
I step off my front porch and I’m standing on it. I don’t grow anything but grass, weeds, Live Oaks bearded with Spanish Moss and a plethora of Florida Native flora, since the mid 1800s it’s been a cattle ranch. There are a couple of smaller places around me, not many. The county has a law that requires land parcels to be no smaller than 5 acres. Some Towns and Cities are exempt, grandfathered in. They can’t expand their boundaries.
It is total serenity. Part of my retirement plan that actually worked out.
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Post by HenryJ on Jul 14, 2021 14:38:40 GMT -5
I haven't visited my brother in north Louisiana in three years. He and his wife came down here and visited with us this week, then went home.
I would much rather drive I-20 in northeast Louisiana to his house, than drive through the exurbs of southeast Louisiana. You can actually make good time up there.
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Post by Auf Kiltre on Jul 14, 2021 16:30:32 GMT -5
I found myself a bit enchanted with Arkansas. Much of it is not unlike driving "up north" in Michigan.
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Post by ninworks on Jul 14, 2021 16:51:34 GMT -5
The city I live in has a population of 38,000. There are lots of open areas that grow corn and soybeans mostly. Quite a few cattle ranches as well.
I'm sure farming was a lot more prevalent in the past. Anywhere there is vacant land it quickly gets gobbled up by developers building sub divisions. When I moved here in 2016 the population was 34,000. All of Tennessee is being overrun with new inhabitants. Nashville used to have a great standard of living but it's getting like every other city where people are coming in droves. Real estate prices are exploding from people selling homes in the large overpopulated cities and moving here with a large bankroll. There is a housing shortage and what is selling is 2 to 3 times its value just 5 years ago. It's becoming prohibitive for the natives to live there. Skyrocketing property taxes are killing them.
There are still a lot of back roads here. If I want to get away I can be somewhere that looks like the middle of nowhere in 10 minutes or less. There are a lot of open areas that look like they were once fields but are not anymore. It still feels like a small town. I'm sure it won't last. Someday in the not too distant future it will be houses all along I65 from Kentucky to Alabama.
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Post by FlyonNylon on Jul 14, 2021 19:02:52 GMT -5
TX to MI sounds like a nice drive for sideroads.
Around here (East TN) the landscape is mostly ridge/valley to the west and Appalachian to the east bisected by the river, so there’s backroads for motorcycling all over but the farmland is in specific flat areas since much of the terrain has significant elevation changes. Hwys 27, 111, 64 and 411 have some great farm scenery, as well as just plain 75N from Chatt to VA, or 24W past Monteagle. The farms are smaller than Iowa/OH/MI/KS though simply because of the varied topography.
The local drives like to work or downtown have river/mountain views but not much farmland. Still beautiful though. Nice curvy roads with little traffic and in between long stretches of dense temperate forest you’ll have glimpses of the lake, river, mountain, or city.
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Post by Auf Kiltre on Jul 14, 2021 20:03:08 GMT -5
Growing up in suburban Detroit I was familiar with both rural and urban living. I thought the expanding burbs and multiplying subdivisions was something else, until I saw suburban Houston where I live. I could leave my old community in Florida and within 10 minutes be walking among black bears. Here its just subdivision after subdivision after subdivision to the edge of the earth.
A thousand miles of farmland was a welcome sight on my recent adventure.
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Post by Leftee on Jul 14, 2021 20:32:55 GMT -5
I can walk bares in our back yard.
Or front yard, for that matter.
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