So Danna and I decided that today we would do a little adventuring and head North. We drove East to Farmington, then North to Torrington and then back home…all by using only back roads. It took quite a while since none of the streets actually point towards your destination; we were constantly referring to the Maps app on the Fish’s iPhone.
It’s beautiful back country and we even had a chance to witness a rogue thunderstorm as we stopped for lunch (at Five Guys Burgers and Fries). It rains hard here…none of that pee-pee rain we used to get in sunny SoCal. We both loved it, but there were times where it was a bit hard to see, even with the windshield wipers on full blast.
Another fun sidetrack; while we were cruising down one of the main roads, we saw a sign that said ‘Fresh, sweet corn’ and an arrow pointing down a pretty narrow side road. We pulled over, whipped a U-turn and made our way down that road. It was a twisty road, sometimes paved but most of it dirt. The entire 15 minutes of driving down this road, the Fish and I continually had thoughts of scary movies; men with chainsaws, bigfoot and even crop circles. We arrived at a house, set back from the road, and a sign that said ‘Fresh, sweet corn here’. We pulled into the driveway and saw a small hut out front, almost like a tiny, 1-car garage. The door was open and a small sign outside the building simply said “Self Service”. The Fish and I looked at each other, slowly got out and entered the building. Another sign was posted: “Corn $5/doz” and a small box to the left that had a final sign: “Drop cash in the box”. Are you kidding me? Are people out here really that trusting? I could have loaded up the entire stock and walked out. Heck, I could have taken the cash box as well! It was so refreshing to see such trust; people that can actually trust other people. Of course the Fish and I dropped a $5 bill in the box and only grabbed 12 corn. I mean, that’s the right thing to do. I don’t think in my, uh, 40+ years, I’ve ever witnessed something like that in California.
We continued our drive and, as we were passing through New Preston, we did a quick turn down a side street to let the build-up of traffic pass by us. As we did, we noticed a waterfall that fed into a small river running along side the road. We stopped, clicked a few pix and then noticed a sign stating that the road we had turned on was a ‘Scenic Route’. Taking that road, it led us through a beautiful lakeside community surrounding the ginormous Lake Waramaug. Not only did we get some fantastic pictures of it, but also some of the surrounding houses. Both the Fish and I said, on numerous occasions, that we wanted ‘that house’ and ‘that house’. Come to find out that most of them were million dollar homes. We’re going to need to be saving a bit longer.
Anyway, we will for sure be having more back-road adventures in the future. We’ve seen signs for fresh garlic, apples and berries (as well as a Buddhist Temple) and will be taking advantage of the great deals on fresh produce. We’ll keep y’all posted on our finds.
