The Unassuming Adventures on a Sunday Drive in the Country

Sunday afternoon drives through the country may not seem that exciting, but there's more adventure to be had than you might think.

My cousin,Kerri, and I have been taking these country road drives for some time now. This last Sunday, we saw a bald eagle perched on an old, rickety, wooden fence post surveying the farm around him. The views of the vast rocky mountain front range radiate colors that you get to name, because they're so rare and uniquely vibrant, you rarely get to see them.

The most exciting and adventurous part to these wonderful Sunday (or any day of the week really) drives is what people from the many previous generations left behind in property dumps.

Of course, there are the occasionally posted "no trespassing" signs that should always be respected and obeyed, lest the law mosies over to find out what you're doing on the wrong side of the fence. These original property dumps are out in the middle of nowhere, in all the places people have long left to the cattle and prairie grasses.

On one, cold, winter drive we were zig-zagging through the county roads between the Wyoming border and Greeley with no particular destination in mind. We came across a clump of trees near both the railroad tracks and a river, so we decided to stop. We got out to look around for quartz and other collectible rocks and minerals when something else caught my eye. Right in front of me was an antelope skull and nearly all the remaining pieces to it's skeleton. It was fascinating to see, I've never seen the complete skeleton of a wild animal out in nature, have you?

On another Sunday drive a few weeks back, out of the corner of my eye I saw what looked like the remnants of an old homestead. We pulled over and, to our luck, no signs or signals telling us we couldn't take a look. As we got closer to the half standing stone wall structure, a hole piled high with stuff appeared.

Barbed wire, rusty farm equipment, cans, and metal scraps overflowed from this trench that was just as much a relic as some of the items that filled it. The real treasures for us are  the bottles. Whole bottles with geometric patterns and bright luminescent blues, greens and pinks, some with lids and others in shards. I honestly don't know what it is about finding old glass in the ground. For me it's the deep historic connection these items hold, along with the beauty and uniqueness in craftsmanship rarely found in such every day items of modernity.  The adventure of discovery leaves me feeling a sense of accomplishment and wonder, like "Yeah, I just discovered a piece of history."

Whatever your treasure is, whether it be wood, metal, glass, ceramics, or whatever part of the past you feel connected to, you're never too old to seek a bit of adventure, even on a Sunday drive in the country.