We trekked out into the wilds of our local Southern California savannah on the hunt for berry pie and juicy oranges. What we found was way more exotic than our initial excursion expectations. Oh my.
How wonderful to see these majestic beasts. We found them on the Pala Band of Mission Indians Reservation, located in the middle San Luis Rey River Valley in northern San Diego County. Its members, the federally recognized tribe of the Pala Band of Luiseño Mission Indians, are descended from both Luiseño and Cupeño peoples, who have shared territory since 1901.
Buffalo, to me, represent strength and resilience.
I have a thing for longhorn cattle. So cool.
Oh man, sheep babies!
When we left for this adventure, I asked if we could go by the buffalo. Last big pie drive I saw buffalo but we didn't stop. Steve didn't think we would be on the same route as them so he said (incorrectly, as you saw above), "No, but maybe we'll see camels!" Guess what? Yep. We saw camels. We actually passed a camel dairy. Who knew?!
The COVID closures have given us an amazing list of things to do when the shutdown is over. One I'm very excited about will be a visit to the Oasis Camel Dairy, which "invites everyone to discover our beautiful San Diego attraction and enjoy our relationship with our beloved animals."
This is a unique place where mother camels raise their own calves in natural, large pasture settings, and learn through gentle conditioning to share the milk. The farm promises to be an agritourism experience like no other. It offers the opportunity to meet the animals, engage in a variety of animal interaction events including Open Farm Days, Festivals, Camel Training & Handling educational events and so much more. Oh man, so fun. We will return!
Okay, so our last animal sighting wasn't really alive, but nonetheless worth a mention as the Safari comes to an end. We had to stop when we saw this Turkey Queen mural in the town of Ramona, once known as the turkey capital of the world. Dottie Richardson, pictured as a cowgirl astride a turkey, depicts the popularity of Turkey Day celebrations, which began here in 1933. The valley has always been a good place to raise poultry. Its ideal climate allowed ranchers to grow young chickens and turkeys in brooder houses, and as the birds matured, release them to range in outdoor pens. Turkey breeding ended in 1970, when the big turkey flocks and the great clouds of dust became but a fading memory.
How wonderful to have the memory kept alive by this mural. We would never have known this interesting history without it. What a very different road trip.
“Traveling—it leaves you speechless,
then turns you into a storyteller.”
-Ibn Battuta
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1 comments:
I have been to the Camel Dairy! I highly recommend going to an event (once life returns to society). They have Watermelon Days and Pomegranate Days... so much fruit, so much fun!
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