but they were damned few and far between. Well stocked wood piles, chickens, some goats etc. There were a few homesteads along the way that showed some real resilience. I am not sure what has happened to that area. It appeared to me somewhat creepy to be honest. Some of the abandoned places were in better shape the further South one went but the numbers didn't change. All the way down to Mansfield it appeared at least every third house or farm was abandoned with many for sale. Stacks of firewood for sale outside and cattle appeared to be the only money making ventures going on. What few places looked to be still occupied were mostly starting to look pretty run down. Obviously it has a lot of money to throw around. I tried looking up what this place was but couldn't find anything about it on the internet so who knows.

About the time we crossed one arm of the river you could see a huge 'lodge' had just been built up on the ridge looking over the river and it appeared to be quite expensive. At one cross roads I swear this Empire ranch had bought up an entire little town and left it to rot. For 15 miles more or less every old driveway now had a brand new green gate and a sign that said 'Empire Ranch'. The first thing I noticed just after leaving Lebanon was the number of abandoned houses and other buildings.

Also hwy 5 eventually passes by the Baker Creek seed place closer towards Mansfield. The headwaters of the Gasganade river meanders across the hwy here and there, that river and a couple of streams is what brought me down that way years ago. Hwy 5 which meanders down the center of the State crosses over I-44 at Lebanon, Missouri at which point I turned South and followed it. Not since my old days of kayaking every river and stream I could get into have I been that far down into South Central Missouri. I headed down a stretch of road yesterday I haven't been on well over a decade.

Robert plaster empire gas