If you go just 30 miles from town, you can quickly find yourself in a pretty rural area, especially if you go south, down by the military base.  All the fancy, McMansion developments are north of town, by the military academy.   As I slip out of any urban area, I always feel the pull of a bucolic lifestyle away from people.   (Of course this is also a fantasy, it is a nuisance to have to drive miles for groceries, doctors, etc.)  Some people’s idea of heaven is to have a cabin in the mountains, but my preference (as I am a flatlander) is for a ranch on the plains.

There’s a windmill to water your cows, and a lovely view of the Sangre de Christo mountains.   This field has been somewhat over-grazed, because the cactus is taking over.

Spanish Peaks are visible on a clear day, down by the New Mexico border.

The old one-room schoolhouse is still standing, just barely.   It’s a reminder of the rural past.   My mom attended a school like this.

I would need to have a vintage tractor, to be just like the neighbors.  It’s always fun, as a city person, to go out in the country because I am on vacation and not working.  It’s relaxing with nothing to do and no worries.  If I actually lived there it would be a different story (all work and plenty of worries 😉 ).