Mountain Lion~That's My World 011910

Hubby and I drove up over a very poorly maintained dirt road on Saturday to take a peek at an 18-acre ranch for sale. It is only 10 minutes away from where I currently board our horses. We're just in the "looking" stage as we haven't even put our own home on the market, and frankly, don't even know if we want to at this point in time. But, we LOVE to look! So, up and over the dirt road we went. It's a good thing I have new tires (a $750 bill last May). (And, why do tires only last a year???) As we came down the road (...trail...), we spied another valley. This is at the western edge of the Anza-Borrego state park, California's largest state park. There were a couple of horse ranches there and a neighbor stopped us to see what we were doing and explain that one of them was a polo pony breeding farm. I have mixed feelings about that, since I have two rescued thoroughbreds myself. If I were this guy's neighbor, I'd probably take in his culled horses, but that's another story. On this day, we stopped to admire the beauty of the valley and the ranch for sale, which included TWO houses and a barn converted into more living quarters. Hmmm...just how many people WERE living on that ranch? But, once again, I digress. Hubby and I followed the nice neighbor up the road, further, to her place, and from nearby, we could see the entire ranch below us. We got out, hiked up through some rocks and bushes and cacti, and looked down on the ranch. VERY IMPRESSIVE! Although, it seems to be located in a flood plain, we couldn't observe any water damage to the ranch or buildings. Behind it are cottonwoods, which do indicate water. Almost all of the 18 acres are usable, except on the east side, which was composed of rocks. NICE, NICE pasture for horses! Unfortunately, the buildings have seen better days and the main ranch house is nearly uninhabitable and its roof is in terrible shape! While we were walking on top of the hill behind it, hubby grabbed my arm and pointed down. MOUNTAIN LION TRACKS! ACK! It must have been a young one as they weren't full size. There were also coyote tracks and we were on the lookout for snakes. I picked up some beautiful rocks laced with mica and rose quartz to share with my third graders. Here are some pics of the ranch and the nearby hills. That's My World (I wish...) for January 19, 2010. Our kids bluntly told us, "You two are TOO OLD to be taking care of an 18 acre ranch by yourselves! Are you NUTS?"