Month: November 2019

Goats and chickens, bread and butter, and lots more…

It was so disappointing to us to get “smoked” out of visiting Slide Ranch in 2018. So we were so excited to get back this year. We had a nice sized group, and headed out through thick fog to get to the coast.

The day always starts with goat milking. Kids (and adults) are reluctant at first. But after some encouragement, most everyone tries it, and many even take a taste of the warm, sweet milk. We moved on to see sheep and turkeys (though that felt ominous this time of year). As usual, we checked for eggs and fed the chickens. 

We always bring ingredients to make our own bread and butter. Everyone gets to design their own mini-loaf, and help shake the cream into butter. The activity flows right along with one of the themes of the day: Where does our food come from? The other theme centers on Sustainable Living. The Slide Ranch staff was fantastic as always, and we were grateful for our time there.

After the scheduled activities were finished, we visited the old boneyard (with actual bones) and hiked down to the beach. It was low tide, so we could see tons of crabs and a few sea anemones. We scrambled around for a bit, and then it was time to head home, and look toward our next adventure.

Enjoy the photos and check out the video below!

Click to be taken to the video!

Starting year #20 with a walk in the clouds.

Well, we’re back again for another year. Apparently, the 20th year is our “platinum anniversary.” We’re re-focusing our efforts, tightening up our ship, redefining our roles, and remembering again why we started this program back in 1999.

Mt. Diablo has always been a good place to start the year, and this trip was no different. We always hope that we’re up above the clouds at the summit. And we always hope to see a tarantula. We’re so grateful to have done both this year. It had been quite a few years since we saw either, so it was a real treat. We even found a bonus snakeskin! And we had our usual fence lizard volunteer that couldn’t escape curious middle school hands.

We wended our way up to the summit, but the blustery winds and shivery temps moved us along from there quickly. Back down at Rock City, we hiked, scrambled, jumped, and climbed. We ate, played games, explored, and hung out in the shade. And as has become our tradition, ended the day with a frozen treat. Enjoy the photos and the video below with all the day’s highlights.

As usual, we appreciate all your support, whether it’s by volunteering a Saturday on our trips, helping at Thursday meetings, your prayers and kind words of encouragement, or your financial contributions. All the usual vehicles for donation — check, PayPal, EdFund, DeJean, etc.– are still available. Feel free to shoot us an email with any questions.

Thanks again for reading. We’re looking forward to a great year!

Here’s a throwback to our first time to Mt. Diablo in 2002. That baby in the overalls is applying for college this month, and the kid in the blue hoodie and camera works at DeJean!

Not sure where the play button is, but click the photo above to see the video!