Over the years, whenever we've seen an old barn along the freeway, we've always thought it would be fun to go explore it. But when you take the freeway, by the time you get to the next exit it is either to far away to backtrack, or you have forgotten about it.
When you take the side roads, that is not the case. Between Spokane and Wenatchee there are thousands of acres of farmland and quite a number of these old barns sitting just off the road a little ways making for a great opportunity to explore. When you step into one of these old barns it is a lot like stepping back in time. You can often find remnants of the past. Long forgotten pieces of equipment, parts, tools, and sometimes papers that show just how long the barn has been there and what it was used for.
This particular barn is along Highway 2, somewhere between Coulee City and Waterville. It's glory days are long past and it is in a sad sate of disrepair. We suspect that it will only be a couple more strong storms before this relic is brought to the ground, but for now, it is still standing there to see.
The roof on the windward side has been blown away, the floors are starting to warp, and various creatures have taken up residence here.
It was just a short hike from the side road to the barn. The field was freshly plowed. The soil was very soft and dusty. If it had been raining, this same field would have been mud and much more difficult to cross.
Emma really enjoyed it here. This was the first time she has been able to run in an open field with no fence. She would run at full speed in one direction, stop, turn around, then run full speed back leaving a dust trail in her wake.
Out here in farm country, your neighbors can literally be miles away. Yet, you can still see their house. It would be an interesting existence to have such solitude, yet so much exposure.
Looking out the door you can only see more farmland. Rolling hills, plowed fields, and in the distance a green cover crop. No houses, no buildings, no cars, and no people.
The upstairs in the barn still has a floor, but just barely. We didn't dare walk around up here for fear of falling through. Up the stairs was as far as we dared to go. Even that was a bit of a risk.
There were a few tractor parts scattered about. Also to be found were a few old oil cans, shop rags, and even a few rusty old tools. It looks like things were moved out over time as the barn was used less and less, but a few remnants of it's use can be found.
There are hazards of exploring a place like this. We wouldn't recommend doing this with light shoes. You will find boards with nails, glass, sharp pieces of metal. Here in this picture, Jesse is detaching a board with a nail from the heel of his boot.
What's left of an old tractor. There wasn't much left of it. Just enough to be able to tell what it was.
We don't know how old this is or how long it has been sitting here. John Deere is stamped into the radiator header letting us know just what brand of tractor it was, just in case you couldn't figure that part out by the color. Anyone who knows the slightest bit about farm equipment would recognize the green and yellow paint.
The radiator and engine were mostly in tact complete with spark plugs and the fan belt. Only part of the transmission was there. Everything else was gone. It's our guess that when they stopped using this tractor, they began using parts off it from where it sat, then forgot about it.
Having spent the better part of an hour here, we decided it was time to get back on the road.
Back on the road we made one more stop at a candy shop tucked along the road from Wenatchee to Leavenworth. This little shop sits on a small lake that is nice to take a break at (and eat your candy).
After this it was getting dark, so we made the push toward home.
We will leave you with a link to our gallery of pictures from this day and one more picture of the lake.
Pictures: Exploring and Old Barn
No comments:
Post a Comment