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Days at Sandia Creek Ranch and Goodbye SCR :(

So after the Pentathlon World cup I finally went back to the ranch. It felt good to be back there. The first few days there I got to ride a lot at the ranch so that was awesome. The ranch is big enough to do a short trailride up the hills. It was so relaxed to ride bareback and look at the beautiful views while enjoying the warm sunlight on my skin.

Those relaxed days were over quickly though. Apparently the electrical poles on the ranch had to be replaced and they were going to fly with helicopters near the ground. As a result all 60 horses had to be removed from the ranch. It took days to get all the horses moved to another place. In the meantime 4 workawayers left so there was much more work to do. The timing was pretty inconvenient as this was a period that we actually needed more hands. Instead we got less. These days were kinda chaotic because we needed to take care of the horses at 3 different locations and the few horses on the ranch still had to be moved.

I got some very fun days too though. Crystal took us to San Diego and believe me my cheeks hurt from smiling so much. It's so nice to go somewhere else when you've just been at the ranch for quite a while. Crystal took us to Del Mar which is a place with a lot of horse stuff. A big horse race track is located there too. After that we went to Torrey Pines Gliderport to see the Paragliders and the beautiful coast. Mount Soledad gave us a stunning 360 view of the area and we could even see Mexico from there. After enjoying the views we went to La Jolla to spot some seals and sea lions. Again the views there were amazing and I started to realize how much I like being at the beach and the ocean. However, the smell there was awful. The seals smell sooo much. If you have a dog, do you know that terrible smell of your dog's mouth after he has eaten? It smelled exactly like that. Blergh.

Then we went to Belmont park at Pacific Beach where we got the ride a very old wooden Rollercoaster. It was really fun. Belmont park is like a fair but it stationary. I loved it. Finally we went to Old Town where we got some delicious Mexican food. We walked around there for a bit and damn what a nice atmosphere. There was live music and the old Mexican character of Old Town makes you feel like you're at a completely different place. Again the atmosphere was simply 'gezellig'.

A week later Crystal took us to Palm Springs. We went up to Mt. San Jacito State Park with the Aerial Tramway and we took a hike there. The nature there was beautifull and the views were amazing. I know, I talk alot about the views but I just can't get enough of them. I want these views in The Netherlands you know. I wish we had mountains and hills. Anyways, it was very cold up the mountain. 4 degrees celcius. Man I had to adjust to that again after being in the hot California sun for almost a month.

So being back at the ranch, I didn't have much to do there anymore. Other people were taking care of the horses at the other locations and the ranch didn't have any horses. Those days were weird.. weird to not have horses at the ranch. Anyways, I got to fill my days somehow. It was not very productive or anything and boring sometimes but it just became part of my routine. In my boredom I started thinking.. It's very easy to get caught up in a routine and forget about time. After days you realise there's still so much you want to do but time doesn't allow you. However this routine gives you some kind of feeling of safety and comfort. Generally because this routine is the easiest thing to fall back on. But it's important not to let this routine engulf you because even though it's a comfort zone, there's no time to waste. Use your time. That's an important thing I realised and that's the reason I decided to leave the ranch a few days earlier as planned. Even though I absolutely love the ranch, the horses and the wonderful people there, I realised that I could better go to San Diego because I felt like there was much more to explore. I could either help a bit at the ranch for a few hours and then do nothing the rest of the day because there's not much to do there without the horses, or I could spend my time in San Diego, filling my days with activities. It would be a waste if I didn't go. I'm using the time I have here and I'm glad I made that decision.

However, saying goodbye to the people at the ranch was hard. Saying goodbye to the ranch in general was hard. In a month, this place became my home and the people became my family. I felt so comfortable at that place and I'm so grateful for everything they did for me. I wish I had more time to experience being at the ranch when everything's normal there (not having any helicopters flying around and not having to move horses from place to place). But despite all these projects I had the best time there and I'm going to miss these people so much. The thing that makes it worse is that I don't know whether or not I'm going to see these people again in the future. I might, but chances are limited. And even if I would see them again, it would probably be in months or years. Anyways, I'm never going to forget this.

And now it's time for a new chapter. San Diego!! :D

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Ingrid Wolf

what an experience more in your lifetime...

opa

na je verslag gelezen te hebben, ga ik bijna van de USAhouden. Weer een super ervaring en nu op naar de volgende. De foto,s bewaar ik in een speciale map xxx

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