Notes from the Backroads is pretty much as the title implies- notes about obscure, out of the way places. I’m also one of those people who actually like to stop at obscure roadside memorials and read them to learn about events that happened there. One of the websites I use to learn about these as well as to log findings of my own, is waymarking.com. Waymarking.com is a spin off of Geocaching.com except instead of trying to find hidden containers of stuff, you are simply looking for interesting things out in the open. Categories include things like “Ancient Traces and Roads” , “Bygone Toll Houses”,  “Coastal Lighthouses” (as opposed to “Landlocked Lighthouses”)  “Highway Rest Areas”, “Tourist Information Centers”, and numerous historical categories. There are numerous other categories as well, some of which are very commercial. But find the ones which interest you and ignore the others.

It might be that the road was built long ago and led to a ranch that no longer exists. But that is something, not nothing.  Why did the rancher settle here and why did he leave?