Day 9: Monday 5/16/11

Today I woke up with a little sore throat, but that did not take away from this remarkable day. Today we went horseback riding. I was a little scared at first to get on the horse at first but once I was on I was all right. My horse was relatively calm, thank goodness. We all mounted our horses and rode to the path. Let me tell you, this horse ride was the most beautiful scenery I have every scene. We rode along the beach for a while and then in the desert for a while as well! The sand dunes were incredibly and all consuming my view. On the beach my horse made for a full gallop and I was excited to be going so fast, it was so fun! (no, I did not fall off, I actually did very well!) The whole horseback ride was fun and the views were breathtaking. And to top it all off, my horse was new (they just got her) and she didn’t have a name yet, so I got to name her! I named her "poniente", which means sunset in Spanish! When we got back to the ranch, a huge barbecue was out and ready waiting for us! The grill was fired with steak, chicken, and sausage sammiches! Along with potato salads, rice, and other sides. This tasted like the best food I ever ate!(I don’t know  if it was because I was sooo hungry after the challenges of trying to control a horse, but regardless the food was great!! It was so homey and outdoorsy. On the farm, there were 14 cats(a lot of kittens!!! Soooo cute) along with 3 dogs. Their farm/home was adorable and very cute. Overall, this experience was definitely the best so far on the trip and tops for one of the best experiences of my life so far. After we got back it was still beautiful out and we all went for gelato, we ate the gelato on the rocks facing the ocean. We all found “comfy” rocks to lounge on and watched the sunset over the ocean(I must have known we would do this when I named the horse). Definitely the best day ever!

my horse wanted to do it's own thing here