A Perfect Summer Evening....

Escondida....

It is a place full of memories for more than one generation of The Farmer's family..

The Farmer spent much of his childhood at The Escondida Ranch.

Some of that time he was working....mending fences....gathering cattle to be branded...

Some of that time he was enjoying a family picnic or camping trip.

Other times, the family Christmas tree was carefully chosen...

and then there are the "man" trips, on 4-wheelers, held each year at the same time.

It is a lovely place, and so filled with wonderful memories.

When I was expecting The Boy, we made trips to the Escondida...

when The Boy was a little boy....he decided to give the Vacas....(cows).....

his....BaBa...(bottle), because The Farmer told him that they were really hungry,

and thus ended The Boy's BaBa days. He never really felt too bad about his gift

to the Vacas....he has has been a "cowboy" Boy since birth.

The Darlings have all spent a great amount of time at The Escondida...in fact during our recent trip to Utah, they longed for our summer trips to the ranch. The Darlings grew up in the streams that run only in the summer months....playing, swimming and fishing...when they were older, they enjoyed a little cliff jumping at the Dam. I asked The Boy, if he too would share this great treasure with his children...and his response was "for sure!!!"

Oh how we love a summer picinc at The Escondida Ranch.

'

Our most recent trip was a bit unusal. There were no Darlings with us.

Some had football, and another was sick. But that did not stop The Farmer, myself, and The Farmer's Mother....from joining other family members for a late afternoon journey to

The Escondida. The afternoon was warm....there was just enough water.....and after

a great attempt at building a small dam was made, by The Farmer and his brothers.....

there was just enough water for the little nieces and nephews to enjoy a swim. Truthfully

I think that the grown men enjoyed the process of building the dam, as much as the children

enjoyed swimming in the collected water;)

The recent rains have left The Escondida beautifully green.

The local wildlife were a bit disturbed for a few hours while the children collected

tadpoles, and anything else that they could find to play with. Always, The Farmer's Mother,

who has spent years on this ranch....was heard in the background saying...."don't hurt the

tadpoles....snakes....(or whatever they were playing with).....they would like to go back to their families...." or "be gentle...son't squeeze the little fish too hard..." I asked her about the years and years that she has spent on the ranch....and she said it was one of The Farmer's Father's favorite places to be. She rode with him on horseback...on the back of mules...on the back

of a 4-wheeler....or sometimes in the truck....all over the mountains of that ranch.

And she loved it!




The traditional stir-fry was served....it was quite yummy!

potatoes,

squash....meat....

onion....bell pepper....

all served on warm tortillas, topped with avocado...

Yum!


And when we were preparing to leave the ranch....this is what we saw.....

It was a perfect ending to a perfect summer evening picnic at

The Escondida Ranch.