Dirt Work at Farm Creek~

 Butch has been driving Old Yeller this week, again.  He's still waiting for Red Dog to return from the mechanic's. Since he's hauling dirt on the back country roads, I though it was probably fairly decent driving.  He suggested we make a trip out to the work site - so I could see area of the creek project.  I realized in short order, not driving in city traffic does not mean the driving is easy!

Starting down the Grade B "road"!

 Once we turned onto the Grade B road, I could see where the ride would be anything but smooth!  The F-150 doesn't sit as high as our F-350 did, but in the next few feet, we were scraping bottom & I was hanging on!  I asked Butch to slow down several times!

A bumpy ride :-)

There's not much slowing down, when driving a fully loaded dump truck on a downhill grade! Even with seat springs, he mentioned it being a rough ride.

Even more bumps!

The surface was still damp in the shaded areas. It's easy to see why no work is done when there's been the slightest rain. It was a beautiful evening. We'd had a cooler day in the mid-80's.

Farm Creek & fish ladder~

From what Butch has learned, in this area of the creek, the dirt sloughs down one side every few years & starts to block the creek flow.  Crews have to go in, pull out all the dirt in the creek bed, then truck it around to the other side.  Once there, it's used to back fill the area it originally slipped from.

Dirt work~

You can see on the left side, where the dirt has been returned & is being graded before rock will be added to stabilize the hill.  It's an much bigger project than I'd expected.  The bridge is important to the local farmers working fields on both sides of the creek.

Looking back at the bridge~

The dump trucks make a square circle going from one side of the creek to the other.  Loaded with the dirt out of the creek on one side, then driving it around to the other. (The trucks can't use the bridge.)

The Back Forty

Butch had gone for lunch with the crew at a bar & grill, not far from the work site, in the town of Macedonia. The Back Forty, was our dinner destination.  The food was outstanding & the décor was really fun. 

Macedonia - main street~

A very small, but very quaint town, one of the oldest & most historic in SW Iowa.  Work was going on in one of the buildings, hopefully a new shop will open.  With a population of 244, the town supports the local farming community.

Beautiful sidewalk railing~

This side of the main street is elevated, a throw back to the horse & buggy days!  People could step from the buggy directly onto the sidewalk without stepping into the dirt of the street.  A grant & donations providing funding for the thirty-three panels currently lining the walk.  They act as a safety feature for people unaccustomed to the height of the curb.

We took the back roads to return home.  We're enjoying these last evenings of the summer season, even with the sun setting earlier each day!