Rancho Oso, Santa Barbara CA 10/21-10/28

We got to Rancho Oso on October 21. It is about 15 miles from Santa Barbara, which is right on the ocean. It is located at the point where the boarder of California turns. There is a place called the Point of Conception. It has something to do with the weather because the weathermen are always talking about it. I was hoping to walk on the beach at least one more time, but we didn't. I wanted to see if the water was as cold as it was along the Oregon coast. Maybe next time! Rancho Oso was a working ranch back in the mid 1800's. Some of the original buildings are still in the park. The word "Oso" means "bear" in Spanish, but the park doesn't carry that as a theme. It still has a lot of the ranch feel to it.

We had been told about last 5 miles going into the park. The road is very narrow and if you meet another vehicle coming or going, usually one of you has to pull over and stop to let the other one get by. There are three corners where there are mirrors to let you know if there is someone coming. Terry had gout in his foot while we were at Ranch Oso. The day before we were due to leave, he got gout in his knee. He didn't think he would be able to drive the next day and he told me I would have to drive out! It wouldn't have been too bad, but we were on the cliff side of the road going out. I am sure that only through the power of prayer (more Terry's than mine) that his knee was better the next morning!

The ranch boards a lot of horses for people. This is a picture of only a few of them.

They also offer horse rides to members and to the public. The park is so big that they have a lot of nice horse trails.
There are some little cabins they rent out to the public (and to members at a discount). They only have a double bed, a set of bunk beds, and a cupboard with a small refrigerator in them. They each have a barbecue outside and they share nice restrooms and showers. They were full on the weekends. Lots of people come and bring their horses or ride the horses they board at the park.

There are also these cool covered wagons. The only thing in them are six army-type cots. There are two sets of five wagons circled around a common fire pit. I think it would be a fun experience to stay in them. There is a Chuck Wagon nearby that offers breakfast and lunch to anyone staying in the Park. The covered wagons were pretty busy during the weekend, also.

The RV sites at Rancho Oso are on seven levels, with 12-15 sites on a level. It was a little different, but it worked well. There are also a lot of rental trailers and cabins.

We got a really nice spot on the bottom level, with a tree in our front yard. We were close to the activity centers, pools, miniature golf, horseshoes, tennis court, and all of the other activities. It was really good because we were close to the adult lodge where there was Internet service. My Internet card didn't work so I had to go back and forth to the lodge to download and send my transcription to our son, Travis. We couldn't get cell service, either. There was a point about a mile up the mountain that they called Verizon Point. That was the closest place we could get cell service on our phone. So, we would either walk or drive up there to make phone calls.

There were deer that came into camp each morning and evening. They were really small deer. This doe and her yearling fawns were always there. It was fun to watch the fawns play in the meadow. They would never get too close.

Most of the Thousand Trail parks have a "country store." They usually carry many of the basics that RVers need, and souvenirs of the park. I should start a collection of t-shirts from all of our parks. Maybe that will be a project for next year.

One day we decided to go swimming. I took the camera and told Terry that there would be no pictures of us in our swimming suits. Well, Terry got in the pool before I got a chance to take a picture. Soooo, here is Terry in the pool. I wonder if there is some way I can put a password on the camera so if he ever gets ahold of it he won't be able to make it work!

Rancho Oso has two really nice pools and a big hottub. We used them several times. The big pool was not heated so we didn't ever get in it. But, the other heated pool and the hot tub were really nice.

This is one of the original ranch buildings. They now call it the Stone Lodge. They hold a lot of activities in it and this is where they have all of the meals they serve. We played ping-pong one day and played candy bar bingo. Neither of us won at bingo, but they felt sorry for us and gave us both a candy bar anyway! We had dinner there one night, with our neighbors, and had a really good tri-tip steak meal.

Most of the parks have a church service on Sunday. Usually they are held in an activity center. Rancho Oso has a seperate little church building. We don't go to the park service very often. We usually go to the LDS Church in the area.

That is what we did the Sunday we were at Rancho Oso. We went to Church in Santa Barbara. As we headed down the mountain, we thought we were above the clouds, but it turned out to be fog and we drove right down into it. We couldn't see very far in front of our car. Thank goodness we had out GPS to find the Church. This is what it looked like at 8:00 am. On our way home at 12:30 pm, we could see part of the city at this same spot, but we still couldn't see the ocean.

One day we went on a wagon ride pulled by a pickup truck (I was expecting horses). They took us all around the park and told us the history of Rancho Oso. It was really interesting.

We ended up at their livestock barn where they had chickens, pigs, goats, horses, and cattle.

We saw the biggest pig we have ever seen. They said he weighed over 1,000 pounds. There were actually two of them. Their names were Teeny and Tiny. They had been raised at the park and really enjoyed being petted.

They also had a "tame" wild pig. Even though it had also been raised at the park, they suggested that no one pet it but the employees!

There were a couple of goats in with the pigs. From the time this one was little, it loved to play and "butt." The gal just pushed against the goat's head and she would rear up and want to play.

When we came into the park, they told us that the tarantulas were on the move. Sure enough, the night before we left, this critter came crawling up the little hill towards our front door. I tried to get Terry to pick it up and hold it so you could see how big it was, but he wouldn't. It was almost as big as our hand. I would have held it, but I had to take the pictures!

We had met Dale and Don at San Bonita and had played cards with them. They ended up following us to Rancho Oso. When they got there, there was an empty spot right next to us so they parked there. We really enjoyed getting to know them better, playing cards, visiting, and sharing some meals. Hopefully, we will run into them again sometime during our travels.