Family Time at the Ranch: Week One
We were very grateful when my cousin, Dani, picked us up on Tuesday, May 2nd. Our spirits were somewhat low from ending our stay at the poultry farm three weeks early, but after a two and a half hour car ride with Dani we were in a better mood.
Goodbye Portland,Oregon...we'll be back in three weeks!
We pulled into Azebrasis Ranch and brought our things into the house. It was a huge relief to get settled in at Dani and Charli’s. Their house is warm, clean, and doesn’t smell anything like chicken poop. We unpacked our things into their craft/guest room. The room has a cool murphy bed that converts into a desk, but we found that I’m too tall to comfortably fit in it so we inflated a nice queen-size air mattress instead. It's easy to sleep well at the ranch. Charli and Dani have a beautiful ranch property, located in the thickly wooded hills west of Olympia, Washington. It is a verdant and tranquil space, and it was quite easy for us to settle into a more peaceful and slow pace than we had the week before.
Their house is also the home of their two dogs, Barron and McGee. McGee, a Pembroke Corgi, is the older of the two. Barron is a one-year-old Italian Mastiff who has the energy of a puppy and the mass of a bulldozer. They are very friendly dogs, and we enjoy playing with them!
The list of projects for us to help with while we’re here isn’t too long since the ranch isn’t a large scale operation. Outside the house is a small garden plot that needs to be planted, and a greenhouse. In front of the house are two large pastures containing their three horses, Breeze, Peppy, and Espirito. The only daily chores that need doing are feeding the horses, the dogs, and the people. Also, the stables need to be cleaned every other day or so.
We’ve been slowly chipping away at the to-do list. For some reason, my cousin and great aunt don’t want to work us too hard, even though they keep saying they're going to work us to the bone! I’d say that on average we’re getting between three and five hours of work done per day. The pace here is pretty relaxed. So far, we've cleared the garden bed of weeds, hand-tilled the soil to incorporate last winter's horse manure and wood chips, helped move over-wintered potted plants from the greenhouse to their outdoor homes, and started pulling invasive blackberry vines out of the front yard.
Last weekend, Dani drove us all out to the Ape Caves at Gifford Pinchot National Forest, near Mount St. Helens. Her brother, Sam, also joined our little adventure. None of us knew much about the caves. We just knew to bring flashlights, raincoats, sturdy shoes, and snacks. There were two caves to explore. We chose to delve into the longer one first. As we descended, we realized that it was not going to be a leisurely stroll, so Dani headed back to the surface with Charli. Andrea, Sam, and I pressed on. The cave was a 1.5-mile-long lava tube with a variety of challenging obstacles. We climbed over numerous piles of porous and jagged lava rock and boulders as we spelunked. At one point we encountered a section that held a small pool of water. We skirted around the subterranean pond by clinging to the wall of the cave. Later we came to an eight foot vertical climb. Luckily, the national forest staff had secured a rope at the top which allowed us to rappel up the wall. All this we had to do by flashlight and headlamp as their was no other source of light in the cave.
Finally, after the long journey we arrived at a ladder that ascended to the surface through a small opening in the earth. Dani was waiting for us at the top. We all walked the ¾ mile trail back to the information center together. The trek back was very pretty. The trail wove between fir trees and interesting rock formations. There was even snow on the ground. The trail also crossed (or rather, was crossed by) a small creek that we had to figure out how to hop across.
Once back at the information center, we took a short lunch break. After lunch, Charli, Sam and I decided to check out the smaller cave which supposedly held a rock formation dubbed “The Meatball”. This cave didn’t have the challenging rubble piles or tight squeezes that plagued the other one. After a short walk we arrived at the “Meatball” which was a roundish rock wedged between two outcroppings in the cave. It didn’t seem all that remarkable and we weren’t sure that it was what we were looking for so we continued down the cave until it narrowed and came to an end. Slightly befuddled, we walked back to the surface.
Can you see the "meatball", wedged in the middle?
Between chores and exciting excursions, we’ve been enjoying our downtime at Azebrasis. Dani is learning to play the mandolin and I happened to bring a ukulele along with me, so we have had a few short jam sessions. We also attended a little neighborhood barbeque and got to meet some neighbors. There seems to be a strong sense of community around here, with neighbors sharing tools and taking each other’s trash to the dump and so on.
All in all, we are very happy to be visiting family and meeting new people and we hope we are helpful while we’re here. More about the goings on of Azebrasis Ranch next time!
