Hillbillys in the Snow and Silent Graves

Sunday morning came around quickly and even with the time change losing us an hour I was still up and out of the door early to meet Janice and Bill at Andy Guest State Park 

They both go here regularly throughout the year taking photos of this spectacular scene during the different seasons. It was too damn cold for me. The wind was billowing through and after just 3 photos I'd had enough and stood marveling at Bill and Janice's commitment as they set up tripods and shot from every angle. I think my huffing and puffing finally wore them down and soon we left to move on to the next location, which was far more interesting in my eyes.

The last time I'd been to Hillbilly's Junkyard was 3 years ago, blog entry and pictures click here. I just love this place for photos and it seems to be a pretty busy scrapyard as a lot of the vehicles had disappeared or been moved from my last visit. After a friendly chat with the owner we walked up towards the yard eager to get started.

The rusted colors, rough textures and chromed trims really popped out from the white snow. I had to be careful where I walked as I didn't want my footsteps in the snow showing in the images.

I nearly missed this one that had nearly been totally claimed by briers and brambles. I bet it won't be visible when the leaves finally emerge.

The light shining through broken windscreens looked great through my lens. 

Poor Bill was suffering from a bad back so we had to make an early departure. I would likely have been there all afternoon if on my own, there's just something about rusted and beat up cars that's alluring. I thanked the owner, promising to e-mail him the portrait photo and we drove up to Middletown to try out the newly revamped Nana's for lunch and a beer, where I enjoyed a very good fish and chips. The fries were just regular steak fries, but the fish and batter were very British style, albeit they served 2 chunks of fish instead of the customary one.
To finish off the afternoon we visited the National Cemetery and the Mount Hebron Cemetery. Once again I was careful where I placed my feet but was also a little saddened at the lack of footsteps, meaning very few visitors.

 Reading the last line on this board was a really poignant moment for me.

We wandered around for a while until having wet feet was becoming a problem for Bill and I. So then it was a dash home to start processing the weekend's photos. But not without a quick stop on Rte 17 to catch the sun shining brightly on the fast melting snow, for what I hoped, would be the last time before Spring.