Reed Valley Ranch

This morning we loaded Flash and Winston into the trailer and headed down the mountain.  Once we reached the bottom, we headed due east across the desert.  We stopped once, to pick up sandwiches, and then continued on past Hemet and Menifee and out to the mountains that stretch between Palm Springs and San Diego.  We started to climb out of the desert floor into scrub brush and chaparral. 

There were a few trees here and there as we climbed,

...but mostly it looked like this.  With each turn, the roads became more narrow and full of ruts.

Every so often there would be a big ol' house in the middle of nowhere.

You could see forever.  This is looking south out of the truck window 

After an hour and a half of driving, the pavement ended.  The last half hour was dirt road.

The dirt road started out wide, with some washboard.  Brett went slow but we still felt bad for the horses.

Then the road got narrow.

Fortunately there were many of these signs so we knew we were going in the right direction.

Getting closer!

Cattle started appearing, sleeping under trees or scrub.

After crossing this cattle grate, we were officially on ranch property.

Finally, we arrived!

It took us two hours to drive 60 miles so it was a very slow, twisty, narrow journey.

After arriving, we unloaded, signed in, paid our fee for the day, and got the horses tacked up for the first adventure -- which I will share with you tomorrow.  Right now I'm going to take a much needed shower, turn the clocks back, and go to bed an hour early without feeling guilty.  Brett and I are both exhausted -- as are Flash and Winston.