After an hour or more of trespassing on private property, being eaten alive by chiggars, and praying to God that some country bumpkin didn’t chase me off with a shotgun, I closed my adventure out with a few fun shadow shots, taken against the bright reds, yellows, and oranges of Richwood’s amazing old fire engines.

Shadow I, photo by and of smalltowngirl

Shadow II, photo by and of smalltowngirl

Shadow III, photo by and of smalltowngirl

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Richwoods, Missouri is located between Sullivan and Hillsboro, Missouri, in Washington County, on Highway A/Y, off of Missouri Highway 47.

Richwoods, MO Ford F750 Fire Engine

Richwoods, MO Ford 850 Fire Engine

Richwoods, MO Cadillac Ambulance (Ghostbusters car style)

Richwoods, MO Yellow and Orange Fire Trucks

Fire Engine Self Portraits

Richwoods, MO Mack Truck Fire Engine

In the field behind the Richwoods Volunteer Fire Department sit four old fire engines, two of which I’m going to feature today.

Mr. Orange and Mr. Yellow, photo by smalltowngirl

Mr. Orange, pictured below, is the fire engine whose headlight I used for these fun self potraits.

F3, photo by smalltowngirl

Mr. Orange, photo by smalltowngirl

And finally, a happy ending for another ridiculous old fire engines blog:

The End, photo by smalltowngirl

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The Ghostbusters Car Ambulance in Richwoods

The Mack Daddy of Richwoods’ Fire Engines

Richwoods, Missouri is located between Sullivan and Hillsboro, Missouri, in Washington County, on Highway A/Y, off of Missouri Highway 47.

I drove a Ford Bronco II (4WD) in high school. My brother drove a Ford Ranger, and our dad generally drove Ford F250 and F350 work trucks. A Ford 750 or a Ford 850 are each another matter entirely.

The old fire engines in Richwoods, Missouri were amazing to check out, but this Ford 750 stole my heart…

Stay tuned for another post with photos of other retired Ford 850 and Super Duty fire engines.

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Richwoods, Missouri is located between Sullivan and Hillsboro, Missouri, in Washington County, on Highway A/Y, off of Missouri Highway 47.

The Richwoods, Missouri fire engine exploration day found me giddy with excitment, and goofily snapping self portraits in the chrome cover of an old, orange fire engine’s headlight.

Behold, small town girl being one heck of a small town dork…

Self-Portrait I, photo by and of smalltowngirl

Self-Portrait II, photo by and of smalltowngirl

Self-Portrait III, photo by and of smalltowngirl

Self-Portrait IV, photo by smalltowngirl

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Richwoods, Missouri is located between Sullivan and Hillsboro, Missouri, in Washington County, on Highway A/Y, off of Missouri Highway 47.

Mack, photo by smalltowngirl

I’ve written already about  Richwoods, Missouri, a tiny “unincorporated community” in northern Washington County. The thing that made Richwoods amazing to me was that nearly every yard and field in town had old fire engines parked in it.

Mac Truck in B&W, photo by smalltowngirl

One of these old fire engines was a faded red Mack parked in a large field. Weeds and grass grew around and underneath the old fire truck, and though I was nervous about the snakes and other critters living in and around it, I still got fairly close for a few pictures.

Jalopy Mack, photo by smalltowngirl

I really do believe that there’s beauty and edge and depth in anything that you’re willing to look closely enough at to see. I’ve been missing New York City a lot this week, but my adventure in Richwoods with these firetrucks was a great reminder that it’s not the place that’s interesting; it’s the person who’s interested that makes a good story.

Mack, photo by smalltowngirl

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Richwoods, Missouri is located between Sullivan and Hillsboro, Missouri, in Washington County, on Highway A/Y, off of Missouri Highway 47.