Joshua Tree: Cascade Trails Mustang Ranch

 Here was our "home away from home" for our two nights in the desert... It was a lovely, large canvas tent with a real bed and nice linens, two nightstands and lighting. 

It was nice and quiet, with a stunning sunrise in the morning.

Guests are invited to interact with the horses at this particular fence, and Violet got to pet this young foal. We fed them carrots as well.

Another young 'un, this one about five months old.

The horse in the background, Rose, is one of the wild mustangs that the sanctuary has saved. This was the first time she'd come up to the fence when guests are handing out carrots. The employees were very excited about this, and had their cameras ready, hoping she'd take a carrot from Violet.

Unfortunately, she did not, but it was still gratifying that she is feeling comfortable enough to come near strangers like us.

I enjoyed feeding carrots to the horses, as well, and hearing their stories from the employees.

Here, Violet is being leaned on by Atlas, a friendly Great Dane, one of several guardian dogs who help with the livestock.

We also brought grapes to feed the goats. They were aggressively interested in our grapes! The babies are so darn cute.

Help! I'm surrounded!

We saw just how much work is involved with having this many horses - the daily scooping and feeding was a real commitment. 

Here was the mama and baby, and Atlas in the background.

This gal was in a pen by herself, because she'd only just been brought to the ranch a few weeks prior. She was part of a roundup of wild mustangs done periodically by the government when there are too many horses in an area. Chris, the ranch owner, takes some on to get them used to people. It was fascinating, learning about this life.

This is the view toward Joshua Tree National Park, which is beyond the hills.

Stace used the ranch's Blackstone-style grill to cook our dinner and breakfast, with his canine helpers close at hand.

If only they could have protected him from the ranch turkey! This big male turkey, apparently smarting over the loss of his female companion to a coyote a few weeks prior, pecked Stace in the calf!

A few games were in the nightstands, so Stace and Vi played Connect Four.

Hume Lake Christian Camp

After many months of anticipation, Violet went up to Hume Lake with Liana, Lucas, and students from a local church. 

Here, the group is being prayed over at the Sunday service, before they boarded the buses.

All ready to go!

I'm so proud of Violet - it's quite brave to go off for a week, sharing a cabin with a lot of girls you don't know! 

But, she did have Liana, her BFF. The two girls shared a bus seat and a set of bunk beds.

Cora wasn't interested in going to camp, but she did give Vi a farewell hug and a boop on the nose.
 

I found this pic on the Hume website photo gallery - out of hundreds of photos posted, it was fun to spot Violet. She later told us this was the swim test, to be able to take part in water activities.

Violet took this photo of her cabin building. She loves the big trees and scenery up here!

I love this one she took. On the Monday, Violet got to rent a Stand Up Paddleboard for an hour. Another day, she got to swim in the lake. She also got to do the ropes course one of the days. 

Another Hume staff photo - I paid for this one! Violet said the other girl is from a different cabin/different church. 

Hume is an amazing camp, with friendly staff and relevant Bible teaching. I'm so glad Violet got to go!

Hume Lake Weekend, Part II: Conquering the Ropes Course(s)

Part of our fun at Hume Lake was taking part in two ropes courses, with big jumps and zip lines. 

On Saturday, the smaller course was in operation, and Cora, Violet and I did it. I can't remember doing something like this before, and I found it difficult! A good kind of challenge, and I felt good when it was over.

All done!
 

On Sunday, a larger course was available, and Cora and Stace did it, with Colleen, Lucas and Liana.

Here's Stace, leaning into a rope while inching along on a chain.

Proud participants!

The end involved a big step off a platform, with a short freefall. Getting to the platform involved a human-powered pulley system.

Hume Lake Weekend, Part I

We were blessed to spend the long Labor Day holiday weekend at beautiful Hume Lake, in the Sequoia National Forest, with our dear friends.

Violet had wanted to return to the area, and also had asked about camping again with Colleen and Rigo. Colleen invited us to join them at Hume Lake Christian Camp for the weekend, where the camp was celebrating its annual Labor Day Country Fair and, also, its 75th anniversary.
 

We caravanned up Friday evening and shared a cabin with 6 bunks (12 beds) and lived like the teens do when they're at summer (or winter) camp!

On Saturday morning, we had a yummy breakfast among the big trees.

There were lots of kids carnival games and rides, which our kids were too old for, but Cora bought two chairs at the rummage sale. Thankfully Rigo had driven his truck, so we could get them home. Cora will paint them black and they'll go with the D&D table.

We walked around and got our bearings in the camp, and most of us did one of the ropes courses. I'll post on that separately. We then went back and rested/napped in the cabin.

At dinner time, we met up with some other friends, Christina and her family.

Kids table - playing a hand-slapping game, not holding hands...

Violet and I got in some reading time Sunday.

Violet loved being at the lake. She and Liana had so much fun together, like always. Sadly, a few days before our trip, the National Forest closed access to all campgrounds, trails and lakes, all over California, because of increased fire risk. 

Thankfully, Hume Lake Christian Camp is private property, and could still host the event. BUT, the lake itself was closed - no boating or paddleboarding, which we'd been looking forward to.

The girls wore their "crazy sister" shirts Cora bought for them last summer. 

Violet's reads: "Back off! I have a crazy sister. She has anger issues and a serious dislike for stupid people. And I'm Not Afraid To Use Her"

Cora's reads: "I'm the CRAZY SISTER everyone warned you about!"

On Saturday night, we enjoyed pie on the giant lawn, and then the kids played all sorts of games on the grass and at the volleyball court.

On Sunday morning, we attended a church service on the same lawn, where we admired the lake and thanked God for 75 years of ministry and growth at the camp. Violet definitely would like to go with Liana next summer! (Cora liked it all, but isn't sold on the idea of sharing a cabin with 10 girls.)

On Sunday evening, we returned to the same lawn for a worship concert by Matt Redman, a Grammy-award-winning singer whose songs we've sung at church for years. That was a lot of fun, too!

At Summer's End

Summer is about over - and by that, I mean Cora's break from school, of course. 

The season will continue a while longer, and of course living here, the heat lasts into October. At least we can go to the pool and the beach after school.

Anyway. Cora, Chris and David went to Camp Clarita for the last two weeks of summer, and on four of those days, Violet went to camp, too.  Cora enjoyed camp, and even went on a field trip to the Santa Barbara Zoo.  Other than the field trips, her camp day went from 9 to 4, with swimming daily after lunch.  She says that her days were too long, and she wished she could have seen me more. Maybe we'll give it a miss next year.

Violet, meanwhile, loved every day of camp with Ms. Diane and Miss Emily.

On the last day, Violet (pictured here with her awesome handmade mask and crown) said how sad she was that camp was over. She is so ready for Terrific Tots!







Cousin Alison flew down to visit Bill and Patty for a week, and she and Aunt Patty stopped by for a few hours on our last day of summer break. She helped the girls make this glitteriffic creation from a palm frond.





One one of the too-few occasions when we were home all day, I brought out the laundry basket full of wet clothes. This little one insisted on pausing her playtime with Cora to help out.

I'll end with a couple of "isms":
The night before her camp field trip to the zoo, Cora was very nervous and tearful about being so far away from home, for so long. (Her drop-off time was 7:30 and they weren't back until 5:15.)
The next evening, I asked how it went.
"Oh, it was really good! And I'm not even being sarcastic, like I usually am," she replied.

And, here's a snippet from breakfast a few weeks ago:
Cora: "Violet, what do you want to be when you grow up? I want to be an engineer."
Violet: "I want to be a doggy, in a doggy costume."
Cora: "No, not for Halloween, for a job."
Violet: "I want to be a doggy. I CAN be a doggy."