I have a sign hanging in my laundry room picturing an older pickup with the saying above it, “Many of My Favorite Memories Come From Some Old Dirt Road.” It got me to thinking of how in the last Country Roads I shared about the limestone rock that now covers many of our Jewell County roads. There was a time before that when a lot of the country roads were country dirt. I must admit some of the rides on the dirt roads were not exactly my “favorite,” but they do have a story to tell.

As a farmer’s daughter, the main country road covered with rock and gravel ran past our house. It...