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Description
Not long after I bought my Saturn SL2 (either 1992 or 1993) I was driving back home from Kansas on I-70 in Missouri and I was trying to keep an eye out for old deserted farm houses. I didn't have all day to drive around hunting for houses, but I figured that if I spotted something from the highway, I could just get off at the next exit and then drive back to look at it. It wasn't working out that way though. I'd see something and it would then be eight miles to the next exit and then it would have required driving back west 10 miles or something like that.

So, anyway, after that happened a few too many times, I decided that I was just going to get off at the next exit and drive on the service road for awhile. I'm pretty sure the sign by the exit said something about Blackwater Missouri. But I didn't go north, instead I decided to try my luck on the south side of the highway. Well, very shortly the paved road became gravel, but that was okay. I was less happy when the road curved south and away from the highway, but decide to press on. Pretty quickly it felt like I was a long ways from civilization. The woods seemed to close in and the farm houses were hidden back in the hills or hidden by trees. Deer stopped to look at me as I drove past and once a large flock of turkeys crossed the road in front of me.

At some point I came to a river, which may have been the Lamine River. I crossed it on an old one lane iron bridge. The bridge wasn't paved, but rather it had two sets of wooden planks stretched across it just enough to support the tires of a car or truck. I'm not sure if you could have driven a tractor over that bridge.

I think I was most afraid of embarrassment, if I would have had to stop and ask for directions. And then I saw that the road was going to head north and back toward the highway. I'm not certain as to where I was, 25 years has taken it's toll on the landmarks and my memory, but I was either on Bryant Bottom Road or Chouteau Springs Drive (likely the roads had different names back then). Then out of the corner of my eye I caught sight of an old house on top of a hill to the south.

I pulled into the drive and looked things over. The drive ran along side a plowed field (there may have been some crop growing, but I don't recall what). The drive then climbed a steep hill at and angle and went around a wooded area over which I could see the second story of the house. I would guess that the house was maybe between 150 to 200 yards from the road. I didn't see any "No Trespassing" signs so I decided to drive up there.

When I got to the base of the hill I ran into a problem. The tracks of the drive had eroded enough that I would ended up high centering my car if I tried to use them. Instead I straddled the track on the right and slowly proceeded. Halfway up the hill I came to a welcome sight. Pavement! Well, sort of. Someone had poured two strips of concrete, just enough to fit the car tires on, the rest of the way up the hill.

As I came around some out buildings, the house appeared and I was surprised when three vultures flew off from on or inside the house. The high perch on the steep hill and the isolation must have made for an attractive perch for those fellows. You can see in some of these pictures one window on the second floor that must sit in frequently. Ever since then I've thought to myself what a cool picture it would have been if I'd gotten a shot of that vulture sitting in that window.

I was going to approach the house for a closer look, but as i surveyed the field in front of me, it looked like each stalk of grass had a tick perched at the tip of it with there little legs sticking out in hopes of grabbing some unlucky creature passing by. I mean I've only seen them that thick inside of a dogs ear. If I'd have walked though that field they might have drained me dry before i reached St. Louis. The next time I visited the house during the winter when there wouldn't be any ticks.

The second time I tried walking up to the house, thinking that if I was on foot I'd have a better chance of getting some shots of the vultures before they flew off. No luck there. Vultures are even more leary of people on foot. I was still probably 100 yards away when they took to the sky.

This time I saw some deer and an owl, but no ticks. I approached the house and peered inside and could see that the floor inside was sagging severely and it was clear that much of it (if not all of it) would not support the weight of a person.

Something that I found interesting was some sort of cellar that was up there close to the house. In a couple of these pictures you can see what appears to be a brick doorway that just seems to rise up from the ground. I didn't go into the house, but I decided that this cellar looked safe enough. No bugs of bats at this time of year. Nothing of interest was inside, but the construction was kind of interesting. The soil must not have been deep at all right there because the stairs and walls were just carved out of the bedrock. The ceiling/roof was concrete and the stairs were covered with a triangle shaped structure with an above ground doorway. There was no sign of the original door.

Except for the vultures, I don't think I would have seen anything more of interest had I gone up there again. The last time I visited I again was hoping to have a chance to photograph the birds, but a "No Trespassing" sign had been put up. Probably just as well. I'd probably still not have gotten a good shot and would have only succeeded at upsetting the vultures (and possibly the owner).

Description
Not long after I bought my Saturn SL2 (either 1992 or 1993) I was driving back home from Kansas on I-70 in Missouri and I was trying to keep an eye out for old deserted farm houses. I didn't have all day to drive around hunting for houses, but I figured that if I spotted something from the highway, I could just get off at the next exit and then drive back to look at it. It wasn't working out that way though. I'd see something and it would then be eight miles to the next exit and then it would have required driving back west 10 miles or something like that.

So, anyway, after that happened a few too many times, I decided that I was just going to get off at the next exit and drive on the service road for awhile. I'm pretty sure the sign by the exit said something about Blackwater Missouri. But I didn't go north, instead I decided to try my luck on the south side of the highway. Well, very shortly the paved road became gravel, but that was okay. I was less happy when the road curved south and away from the highway, but decide to press on. Pretty quickly it felt like I was a long ways from civilization. The woods seemed to close in and the farm houses were hidden back in the hills or hidden by trees. Deer stopped to look at me as I drove past and once a large flock of turkeys crossed the road in front of me.

At some point I came to a river, which may have been the Lamine River. I crossed it on an old one lane iron bridge. The bridge wasn't paved, but rather it had two sets of wooden planks stretched across it just enough to support the tires of a car or truck. I'm not sure if you could have driven a tractor over that bridge.

I think I was most afraid of embarrassment, if I would have had to stop and ask for directions. And then I saw that the road was going to head north and back toward the highway. I'm not certain as to where I was, 25 years has taken it's toll on the landmarks and my memory, but I was either on Bryant Bottom Road or Chouteau Springs Drive (likely the roads had different names back then). Then out of the corner of my eye I caught sight of an old house on top of a hill to the south.

I pulled into the drive and looked things over. The drive ran along side a plowed field (there may have been some crop growing, but I don't recall what). The drive then climbed a steep hill at and angle and went around a wooded area over which I could see the second story of the house. I would guess that the house was maybe between 150 to 200 yards from the road. I didn't see any "No Trespassing" signs so I decided to drive up there.

When I got to the base of the hill I ran into a problem. The tracks of the drive had eroded enough that I would ended up high centering my car if I tried to use them. Instead I straddled the track on the right and slowly proceeded. Halfway up the hill I came to a welcome sight. Pavement! Well, sort of. Someone had poured two strips of concrete, just enough to fit the car tires on, the rest of the way up the hill.

As I came around some out buildings, the house appeared and I was surprised when three vultures flew off from on or inside the house. The high perch on the steep hill and the isolation must have made for an attractive perch for those fellows. You can see in some of these pictures one window on the second floor that must sit in frequently. Ever since then I've thought to myself what a cool picture it would have been if I'd gotten a shot of that vulture sitting in that window.

I was going to approach the house for a closer look, but as i surveyed the field in front of me, it looked like each stalk of grass had a tick perched at the tip of it with there little legs sticking out in hopes of grabbing some unlucky creature passing by. I mean I've only seen them that thick inside of a dogs ear. If I'd have walked though that field they might have drained me dry before i reached St. Louis. The next time I visited the house during the winter when there wouldn't be any ticks.

The second time I tried walking up to the house, thinking that if I was on foot I'd have a better chance of getting some shots of the vultures before they flew off. No luck there. Vultures are even more leary of people on foot. I was still probably 100 yards away when they took to the sky.

This time I saw some deer and an owl, but no ticks. I approached the house and peered inside and could see that the floor inside was sagging severely and it was clear that much of it (if not all of it) would not support the weight of a person.

Something that I found interesting was some sort of cellar that was up there close to the house. In a couple of these pictures you can see what appears to be a brick doorway that just seems to rise up from the ground. I didn't go into the house, but I decided that this cellar looked safe enough. No bugs of bats at this time of year. Nothing of interest was inside, but the construction was kind of interesting. The soil must not have been deep at all right there because the stairs and walls were just carved out of the bedrock. The ceiling/roof was concrete and the stairs were covered with a triangle shaped structure with an above ground doorway. There was no sign of the original door.

Except for the vultures, I don't think I would have seen anything more of interest had I gone up there again. The last time I visited I again was hoping to have a chance to photograph the birds, but a "No Trespassing" sign had been put up. Probably just as well. I'd probably still not have gotten a good shot and would have only succeeded at upsetting the vultures (and possibly the owner).