Elle rode with us everywhere on the quad. She is mostly Austrailian Blue Heeler with some Beagle mixed in. My friend Will uses her to move the cattle and horses around. I couldn't believe how obedient she was. This picture was taken in the back of a flat bed truck.
This is the entrance to an old abandoned railroad tunnel on the bottom of Will's property.
To get there we rode along the old railroad bed. The drainage system no longer functions so a good deal of it had water and mud about 8-10 inches deep I would say. No big deal really, but I had sneakers on!
I used to hike in this tunnel as a kid but the tracks were still maintained or had been recently abandoned. But now the tunnel is flooded with about 1 foot of water, at least on this end. The old track took you from the river near Black Diamond out toward Frye Station (near the old Stauffer Chemical Plant)
We enjoyed an impromptu musical performance by Will on the mandolin and his brother-in-law on guitar.
Wes with a rifle handy just in case the performance starts to drag on.
Elle enjoyed the concert too!
On the farm with horses in the background.
This is the view taken a little to the left of the picture above. (l-r KLX250s, quad, TW200.) On the far left is some kind of corral thing where I think they do branding. Will had cattle with the horns that turn out, longhorn cattle I think. He told me but I'd had 4 beers by now and can't remember the breed. An old communications tower is in the background
This is a picture of the old natural gas company communications tower. It was used by the utility so they could communicate with their trucks on the road. The farm is located on one of the highest points in the area making this an ideal location for it. Will said this shed used to contain all kind of old radio equipment with tubes etc. I want to say this tower was erected in the 1950's but I'm not sure.
Of course, towers are made for climbing. Wes is a roofer so he figured the height wouldn't be a problem.
... a little higher
Wes made it up almost to that horizontal bracket but decided to stop before the top due to the wind and all the woodpecker holes lol!
Here is a memorial to a fellow with whom I used to work a few years ago. He died in a motorcycle accident back in April in a collision with a deer. (SW Pa. is polluted with deer. They are a real problem.) He died of head injuries and wasn't wearing a helmet. We all really miss him. He was good at copper work and whenever he would repair or make a new roof he would solder on a copper penny of the current year.
A view of the Monongahela river looking west. You can barely see how it makes a curve. The river is visible in the lower right of the photo and is also visible in the left side of the photo:
Front end of the John Deere Model B. I think it is a 48 model. Here is a link to some info on the Model B.
Model B from the side. Sorry, no good pics of this tractor. It's used only in parades. It is quite collectible.
We took another one of the tractors out for a spin though. (not sure of year but it is a little newer)
Turning around
On the way to the Country Club Deli
Will driving.
Wes took a turn...
The TW200 is considered to be the tractor of motorcycles. Great for going slow with it's enormous rear tire. I took the vista pictures on top of the hill where that lone tree is.
Will in front on the Kawasaki, Wes between us on the quad. Driving to the waterfalls at night. Man, that was a blast. TW200 did well in this scenario - steep hills, lots of roots, slow going. Sorry, no pics of the waterfalls. Too dark, no flash.
Good times...
