Some roads become part of the place you call home.
Around Otter Creek, we have plenty of those.
There are dirt roads I’ve driven for years. I’ve driven them in pickup trucks, tractors and sometimes just because I felt like taking the long way home. I’ve seen them muddy in the spring, dusty in the summer, covered with snow in the winter and lined with changing leaves in the fall.
A lot of those roads haven’t changed much over the years.
And I hope they don’t.
That’s part of the reason I decided to start this new series on the Otter Creek Redneck YouTube channel.
Taking a drive down 670th Street
For the first episode, we’re taking a ride down 670th Street.
It’s a long gravel road running north and south through the heart of Otter Creek.
There’s nothing particularly fancy about it.
And that’s exactly what I like about it.
You won’t find tourist attractions along this road. There aren’t any big signs telling you to stop and take a picture. It’s just woods, fields, farms, homes and the people who live out here.
It’s the kind of road you can drive down and not see another vehicle for a while.
You start realizing that the ordinary things you never thought twice about might not always be there.
The old barns.
The gravel roads.
The woods along the road.
The fields that look different every year.
Even the sound of tires rolling over gravel.
Those things become memories.
Just slow down for a while
That’s really what I wanted this series to be about.
There’s no big adventure planned for these videos.
I’m just taking the camera along while I drive some of the dirt roads around Otter Creek.
You can watch the scenery go by, listen to the gravel crunch under the tires and maybe remember a few roads from your own childhood.
For me, there’s something relaxing about that.
You don’t always have to be going somewhere.
Sometimes it’s enough to just take the long way around.
So in this first episode, roll down the window, let the breeze come in and take a ride with me down 670th Street.
Maybe you’ll see something you recognize.
Maybe you’ll discover a road you’ve never been down.
Or maybe you can just sit back for a few minutes and enjoy a little piece of rural Wisconsin.
I’ll be doing more of these drives as we work our way around Otter Creek.
There are plenty of roads left to explore.
And plenty of memories along the way.
Watch Episode 1: Cruising 670th Street
Because sometimes the roads that don’t lead anywhere important are the ones worth remembering.
