San Diego: Part II: THE RANCH

 Last weekend we cruised up to LA to visit Ernesto's long time friend Freddy and his family.  I follow them on Instagram, and about a year ago, I started seeing pictures of animals and cowboy hats on his feed.  Like...lots of animals!

Not just dogs and cats, but horses, pigs, goats, bunnies, chickens, sheep.  I asked Ernesto, "What is going on with Freddy and Raylene?  They live on a farm now??"  He knew nothing.

We set a weekend to go investigate and boy are we glad we did.  It was a  2.5 hour drive from San Diego, and as we passed LA and got into these picturesque mountains, I new we were close the the Wild Wild West.
It was great catching up with this beautiful family.  I believe Marcelo was a baby last time we saw them.  Their girls, who are now 13 & 9, were small when we last saw them, and now they are little ladies.  Kids change so fast.

These old buddies look pretty much the same:)

After a quick bite to eat, the first order of business was horse riding!!  The boys have been on a pony ride, but this was the real deal!

I LOVE horses, and consider myself "in the know" of how to ride.  Growing up next to a horse farm/rodeo does that for you.  I wish I could have run this baby, but I settled for a relaxed stroll as these horses are young and still getting broken in.   My guide has a minor in Equine Science.

Hey! Why don't we have horses mi amor??

I know some kids who would be totally into it.

Rodeo man!

We ate what else but Mexican carne asada. duh.  The kids fell asleep easily in one bed, and the adults parked it on a couple couches made out of bails of hay! Covered in Mexican blankets.  

Freddy did not trade in his fashion plate life either.  He has ALL the gear and looks good wearing it!! He is 100% an all out ranch dude and playing out his dreams like a champ.  His life has slowed down to enjoy his home life with family and the animals.  We were totally digging it and wanted to stay longer.

The tour around the barn was an exciting one. 

These guys stayed close and were ready to help with whatever they could. 

Pigs and guinea pigs and bunnies.  Oh my!!

Freddy wanted to do a dudes ride early the next morning.  But not until the chores of the farm were completed. The kids followed Freddy around to all of his daily animal duties and were totally enthralled!

"THE MEXICAN CONNECTION" as they are known in these parts.