When I take a break from my gardening I sit down at the computer and use 'street view' on Google Earth to explore countrysides in other countries - Estonia, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Scotland. It is an easy way to have a drive in the country! I'll tag the places I enjoy, so I can return to them. I often laugh at the Google team - they will unlock a public gate and drive a muddy road down to the very end!
The Google teams drive to remote and desolate places, which are gorgeous in winter. They've even driven along the fiords of Norway with the 'midnight sun' providing the only illumination. All the little cottages have a porch light on, sometimes a kitchen light is burning. Merino sheep in Scotland, old barns in Estonia, Loch Lomond in Ireland - all waiting for the viewer.
On Google Earth I've driven the road past our old cabin at Monarch - the cabin is gone now, removed when the 100 year old lease from the National Forest expired. That experience in my childhood caused me to love living in a cabin out in the country.
Flickr set of Google images here.
