Catching up

Cowboy:   Jackson feels a bit like Solvang and Santa Ynez smashed together.  Its a little sophisticated yet unrefined and a giant tourist trap.  Its cute and has some good restaurants, but is way too crowded in the summer to truly enjoy.  It does have the Million Dollar Cowboy, where the bar stools are made of saddles and contains a great collection of taxidermy animals.  Its not my favorite place.  After working and listening to country music for way too long, going out and listening to more country music is not up my alley.  However, the dancing is fun and you're going to see a mess of people whether they are an authentic cowboy or just a wannabe passing through.  Oh, and i know some line dances and some country/swing dancing as well.  I don't think I'm terrible good at it, but if i have a good partner its way better.

White water:

A couple weeks into working here our staff was able to go white water rafting for free.  Half the staff went the first round.  It was myself, the wranglers, the head chef and a house keeper.  Boy, was it rowdy and awesome.  You know it will be an entertaining day when half the staff begins their day with multiple bloody marys.  Some of the funnest rapids are named lunch counter (which you can surf when its big enough) and Champagne falls (its about 70 feet deep and is an under water water fall, which creates tiny little bubbles making the water look like champagne).  Some of us fell out.  Most of us rode the bull (the front or the boat).  Overall, anytime we do something together as a staff it ends up as a giant "shit show" (for lack of better term).  There's usually drinking involved too which plays a good contributor to the hearty laughs and stupid antics.  

Horse back riding:

So the day after i got to the ranch i was told there will be a staff horse back ride.  The whole thing made me giggle.  I though to my self, "What did i just sign up for?"  I hadn't been on a horse since maybe 4th grade, maybe.  So it had been awhile.  However, it was fun and the horse was good and all went well.  It wasn't very thrilling, but it was fun to be outside and see the area that i will be living in.  

This was the second time around about 3 weeks after the first ride.

Camping:

Since I've been here i think I've gone camping about 3 or 5 times.  I've worn make up just as much as i haven't worn make up.  Its been great.  I didn't know there was a little mountain girl somewhere inside me waiting to be woken up from a deep slumber.  

There is a camp across the street called "Camp Creek" and some of us girls at Spotted Horse have befriended.  We usually end up camping with them somewhere semi close by.  The first time we camped we slept under that stars.  After being in Korea for a year and only seeing 5-10 stars in the night sky it was was mind blowing to look up and see billions of stars far too numerous to count.  I could hardly fall asleep it was so beautiful. 

The next time we went out we went to Granite Hot springs and camped out there.  We made friends with the guy who works the place.  He showed us a place to camp that was not a designated camping area, but the most beautiful place i have ever camped at.  We also went on a little adventure hike and found what looked like an amphitheater comprised of boulders.  

THe guys we went with have hammocks and somehow managed to sell us girls on getting our own.  SO we did and its marvelous.  Other than my back being cold at night, its a wonderful way to fall asleep.  It feels so dreamy: a hammock, in the forest, on the mountain, under the stars…. let your mind go. 

These are all from granite hot springs and the surrounding area:

Granite Hot springs:

So this place is awesome.  There is a natural hot spring that someone has utilized and created a big pool to hold all this hot water.  Its literally is a pool of hot water and its up in the mountains.  And its wonderful.  THere is also a river that runs by and a trail that follows it.  Along the river after a huge water fall there is the place called the "hippie dip."  This is a small trickle of the hot springs that flows into the icy cold river.  Someone built up rocks in the river to make a little pool to contain the hot water.  So you have to walk through the icy icy cold mountain water to get to this little dip, but its totally worth it.