End of an Era

Check out this photo of John and Zora......what a pair! She just loves to rest her big head on him. I think the two of them were destined to be together.

We did manage to get a ride in on Sunday. We took one of our usual trails near where we live; the abandoned railroad line. There are 3 sections of this railroad line, and it goes for about 4-5 miles. On the first section, you have to get off the trail to go on the street a short distance to cross over the Indiana Toll Road (this was always a challenge at first -- fast, noisy traffic below the bridge!). The second and third sections are separated by a street. It is a county road, not too heavily traveled, so no big deal. The last section of the line takes us to the path that leads to the county park which is set up with horse trails.

On Sunday we got to the end of the third section, turned around to come back home, and were surprised by a big change on the trail. There was a large piece of equipment moving gigantic chunks of concrete across the railroad line!! Turns out some people bought the property (lots of acres!), and are going to build a home. They are blocking off the railroad line!! On this particular section there is no alternate route to get to the county park -- the only road nearby is a U.S. highway with a LOT of traffic, going very fast. So that route is not an option.

We are so bummed!!! We have lost a really good riding trail. We can still ride up to that section and turn around, but we will no longer be able to ride all the way to the park......this puts a MAJOR cramp in our riding style. I am afraid that slowly we are going to lose all the good riding spots near our home.

I keep trying to tell myself that once one door closes, another opens -- we can concentrate on developing some trails north of where we live where there are horse-friendly property owners. I guess things can't stay the same forever! It is still sort of sad....

Here is the whole gang eating peacefully together after our Sunday ride.