UPPER/PERRY TOWNSHIPS - The cars whiz by at all hours of the day and night, residents will tell you. Sugar Creek -Johnstown Road is a busy roadway linking the county's most western townships with Coal Grove and the central townships. In spite of the roadway bustle, residents said this is a nice place to live.

Keith and Andrea Kirkpatrick moved to a farm there in 1989, looking for room for horses. The Kirkpatricks raise Rocky Mountain horses.

"We don't know all of our neighbors," Keith Kirkpatrick said. "But we do have some good ones. People watch out for each other."

Kirkpatrick said in spite of the traffic on the roadway, he is still surprised by the sounds of nature which are also common. "There are a lot of owls out here. Especially in the summertime, you can hear them," he said. "And there are a lot of turkeys and deer out here."

His neighbor, Rick Pancake, agreed.

"In the spring, I used to get woke up by this flock of wild turkeys on the hill outside my house," Pancake said. "But I haven't heard them for a while."

Pancake said one of the treats of living in that area is the scenery. With its meandering stream and green hillsides, the area along the road is beautiful, year-round.

"I'm not a snow person, but in the winter when it snows heavy, it is really picturesque. There is a place where the trees kind of hang over the road and with the snow on them, it is a sight to behold," he said.

Pancake, who grew up on Sugar Creek-Johnstown Road, moved away for a while, living in Columbus and Cincinnati. When he returned to Lawrence County 10 years ago, he returned to Sugar Creek-Johnstown Road.

"I can't imagine living anyplace else," he said. "You're only a couple miles from town and it's convenient. You're close to town without having all the hustle and bustle of town. It's a good place to raise kids - a lot for them to do.

I can't think of anyplace else I'd rather live."