Shorty and I struck out yesterday morning early headed up north on a business trip. We have a cheese vat in Ohio that we needed to see before our contractors start next Monday on our new raw milk & cheese building. In addition, we have acquaintances that have agreed to let us make cheese curds with us on Monday. So we headed out with a couple of cheese facilities in mind to see first in Indiana, and then we would make our way east.
Going through Memphis, TN we took a quick detour to see Graceland. We got there after hours, but it was still cool to see the mansion, the planes, and the Heartbreak Hotel.
Then the silly gps, due to construction, got us turned around heading back west toward Arkansas. So we got to pass over the Mississippi again. The flooding has really gone down, but you can see where the water was.
We drove all night taking turns and slept as the other one drove. We neither one got a lot of sleep, but we made it through Illinois during the night into Indiana. FYI-Indiana has really bumpy roads, but awesome rest areas. We then made our first stop this morning in Zionsville, IN at the Traderspoint Creamery.
This place milks Brown Swiss cows. They have a really neat operation that allows people to walk around most all of the farm. They sell pasteurized milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, and raw milk cheese. We walked out to where the milking herd was grazing, and we wanted to go roll around in the green field. We had forgotten how beautiful green grass was. I think I could have gotten lost in the grazing patch. (They are section grazing.)
It was really funny listening to the little farm store attendant (who we could tell-knew nothing about a dairy) telling us to watch out for the bulls and the electric fences! We saw their cheese cave and we saw their bottling operation. We really gathered a lot of good intel at this farm. My final shot was of this beautiful hydrangea. I just wish they had been in purple! :)
Then we headed up to Amish Country in LaGrange Country. OMG-it took so long to get there because the gps kept wigging out. It sent us the wrong way on the toll road. And Indiana toll roads are worse than their normal roads. There are no cross overs! We had to travel miles and miles before we could get turned around. We were so tired and hungry by this time. Finally, after what seemed like hours were reached Amish Country.
We went to this cheese processing facility. Of course due to our horrible sense of direction we ended up not getting to see them make cheese, but we were still able to see into their facility.
Across the street from the cheese place was my favorite view of the entire day. A team of Clydesdales pulling a baler. The next picture is of the family's farmhouse (I think), because you can see the recently baled hay being taken up to the top of the barn.
And I am really glad that our Miller clan runs a dairy instead of this business.
And here's a couple more for your viewing pleasure. We decided if we had to use this mode of transportation right now that we would have horses dropping dead of heat stroke left and right.
We made it to Napoleon, OH about an hour or so ago. Shorty has already crashed out and I'm declaring the party over for today. Oh, and the gps got us lost again in this small town getting us to the hotel-ugh!! We are headed out early tomorrow to see the cheese vat, and then we are going to the Millersburg, OH area. From there we will make our way to New York, and then Monday afternoon make a beeline for home. Good night folks! Lots of love from the Buckeye state. We're having a blast, but it would have been really cool if Craig and Billy could have come.
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