We're staying at the Decourcey Ranch just outside of Bend, Oregon.
Our horses are staying at The Ritz and loving every minute of it. Lots of green grass, white picket fence and plenty of area to roam. The town of Bend is about 20 minutes from the ranch where we are staying.
After we got the horses settled in, we went into Bend to explore the downtown and do laundry.
We stopped at the Pine Tavern Restaurant in the hope of getting dinner. The restaurant is a popular place. It was established in 1936 and has a 300 year old pine growing in the middle of the dining room. We put ourselves on the waiting to list to eat in the outdoor patio with a 90 minute wait around 6 pm. We returned to the restaurant around 7:15 only to be told that the wait was still 90 minutes - which meant we wouldn't be seated until after 8:30. We're seniors and that is way too late to be eating for us, so we gave up.
Ari chowed down a hot dog from a street cart and I snacked on leftovers when we got back to the ranch.
I made a reservation for dinner on Monday night, so we'll see if we have better luck with a reservation.
Downtown Bend is a bit like Colorado Springs/Santa Cruz. Lots of young people and a vibrant downtown. This fellow had set up a reptile zoo where people could play with snakes and lizards on the sidewalk.
This iguana was on a leash and pretty big.
The horses getting ready for a ride through the Badlands.
You can ride into the Oregon Badlands from the ranch where we are staying. You ride down the street and then ride into the reserve. There isn't a lot of shade and it is easy to get lost. The trails are pretty dusty.
I have no idea what happened to this cowboy - but all that was left were the boots.
After the ride, I gave my horse a bath in one of the nicest wash racks we have ever experienced. Just beautiful.
Dave and Christy DeCourcey, our hosts, are just about the nicest people you can meet. It's a picture perfect ranch - like something out of a Hallmark movie. Hallmark might want to rent out the place for one of their movies.
Christy plays polo, so Sunday night we got to introduce our horses to polo - something we have never done.
The balls are really hard - like bocce balls. So, normally you tape up the horse's legs to protect them in case they get hit by a ball.
The process is similar to cowboy mounted shooting. We had to desensitize the horses to the sound of the mallet hitting the ball and having a mallet swung around the head. We didn't actually get to play, but spent about 30 minutes getting the horses used to being around the balls and mallets and hitting the balls between their legs and around them so they didn't get freaked out by it.
Internet and cell service is spotty around the ranch, but we plan to stay here for the week while repairs are made.
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