Some of us are easily amused. That's a good thing! Lately I have found myself quite amused by interesting things found along the back roads. Yes, I definitely fall into the I Brake for Everything category. If it were a bumper sticker, you'd see it on my car, but more to serve as a warning than a commentary. So here are some of the fun things that have stopped me in my tracks recently.
Goats. Everyone knows how much they love to climb. A good goat owner often has hanging bridges and climbing rocks to make their goats happy. If not, well, they find their own climbing walls.
These goats must escape fairly regularly, you can see they are both wearing collars and tags. But this is the sort of thing that will have me hitting the brakes. I'd just like to know how the heck they got up there.
Out in the west desert, one of the ranches has this sculpture by the side of the road. Unexpected, but wonderful.
In the spring, the top layer of fresh water on the Great Salt Lake freezes then makes fun formations in rows as it gets blown to the shoreline.
In the fall, parts of the lake turn pink with the algae growth.
If you add in a couple other kinds of algae you get great patterns.
I love things in series, so these fence posts had me pulling over in a hurry. The rocks on top transformed it from utilitarian to something quite special.
I was walking on the edge of a reservoir looking for shore birds and I thought I heard a woman call out "Armando, come get the pig." Pig? Really, did I hear right? Sure enough.
Cute little pink pig with a pink harness and leash. Definitely one of the last things I would expect to see with a family on a camping trip.
I am a big fan of metal bridges and trestles. Add a reflection and it's magic.
In August and September the brine fly hatch on the Great Salt Lake brings tens of thousands of birds to the lake to fatten up on flies before continuing their southward migration. During the hatch, orb weaver spiders are everywhere. Not only are they eating the brine flies, but are in turn being eaten by birds. This one looks ready to take out my birding buddies.
People are funny, and I am happy to share in their amusements.
Driving the back roads gives you opportunity to appreciate that away from the cities, ranching and farming is still alive and well. I enjoy watching the herders on horseback moving cows and sheep from summer to winter pastures, even if it stops traffic for a while.
Another trip while driving up a canyon, I had to stop and watch two men in an ATV try to catch an escaped sheep. It refused to be herded so they ended up wrestling it into the back of an ATV and hog-tying it so it could not escape again as they took it back to the herd. Just another thing you don't see on the road very often.
Life is full of interesting and fun moments. I'm always happy to brake for them.
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