A Different Kind of Farming

     FFA used to stand for Future Farmers of America, and my team and I definitely like to embrace the "farmers" part of that when it comes to one thing...  Road farming!  If you're not familiar with the concept (and I definitely wasn't at the beginning of the year!), here's a good example:

     Yesterday Gianna and I spent the day at the Randolph County Farm Bureau Leadership Day.  It was a great day to get away from all the convention planning details, escape the office, and spend some time with a lot of members we had never met before!  We went through ropes courses, zip lined (my personal favorite activity of the day), facilitated an activity about service, and overall had a fantastic time with all of the Randolph County FFA members.  The day at Camp Yale ended a little after 3 with a good talk with the staff, but the day out of the office had just begun.

     "Do you want to take a tour of Winchester?" asked Mr. Snyder.  Yes.  The answer to any advisors asking if you want to tour their town should ALWAYS be yes.  Mr. Snyder took us to Silver Towne, a local company that trades silver, where we met one of his former students and were able to look at the old coins and hold a pound of silver.  Next we went to the highlight of the road farming adventure...  Mrs. Wick's Pie and Restaurant.  Mr. Snyder was kind enough to buy Gianna and I dinner and pie (I had the cherry with ice cream at the recommendation of one of the regulars) and we also met Luke Messer while we were there.  You never know who you are going to run into on one of these adventures!

     After talking for a while, we parted ways with Mr. Snyder in search of the Ohio state line, which we were promised was less than ten minutes away.  We crossed the line, got root beer in Ohio at an A and W stand we were told we had to visit, and headed back toward the center.  On the way back we found the Highest Point in Indiana and made a pact to avoid the interstate since that wouldn't make the trip any longer. We also had to stop (twice) at stoplights so that Gianna could step foot in the county as she works toward her goal to go to every county in Indiana.

     Road farming is the perfect way to liven up a lot of long trips and add some excitement to what could become the monotony of being on the road every day.  Perfect for this year and great for any other time, all it takes is a little time and the ability to appreciate the little things you come across!  You just never know what experiences you will harvest from a road farming adventure.