Posts Tagged: horseback riding
Season of Thanks
Time is flying by here at the Ranch; we can’t believe it is coming up on the end of our fall season! We are having such a great season, and since Thanksgiving is a few days away, we figure, why not look back at all we have to be thankful for!?
First, we are thankful for the rain that the Ranch got this past week! You know we will take any rain or snow we can get, but the fact that it came over night and didn’t force any of our classes inside was even better! Plus, who doesn’t like waking up to the fresh smell of rain and ribbonwood?
We are also thankful for the cool fall temperatures and the beautiful leaf colors all over the Ranch! One of the most beautiful views to see the changing leaves is on the horse trail. What an amazing sight!
Some students are enjoying the fall colors and beautiful landscape during their horseback ride!
Our new Silkies are fitting in well with the other chickens at our farm!
We have had a few new additions to Betsy’s Farm! We now have three Silkie chickens and two Silkie roosters. They are loving their new life at the Ranch and are a great addition to our farm. The students love watching them and getting the chance to pet them while out at the farm!
Pathfinder is also thankful for our friends and supporters! In case you missed it, we had an amazing time at the Food Truck FriendRaiser on November 16th at The Living Desert! We saw so many old friends and made a lot of new ones, too, all while listening to great music, eating delicious food and enjoying The Living Desert exhibits!
Last, but certainly not least, we are thankful for all of the students, teachers, and chaperones that have been up here at the Ranch this season and all those who are still to come. We love sharing this gorgeous place with you and teaching more about the world we live in!
And what post about the Thanksgiving season would be complete without a recipe for you to share at your table this holiday season!? Hope you love pumpkin as much as our Naturalists!
Pumpkin Swirl Bread:
Ingredients
Filling:
- 2 pkgs (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon milk
Bread:
- 3 cups sugar
- 1 can (15 oz.) solid pack pumpkin
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup canola oil
- 1 cup water
- 4 cups all- purpose flour
- 4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon cloves
- 1 cup walnuts
- 1 cup raisins
- ½ cup chopped dates
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour three 8×4-in. loaf pans. In a small bowl, beat filling ingredients until smooth.
- In a large bowl, beat sugar, pumpkin, eggs, oil and water until well blended. In another bowl, whisk flour, pie spice, soda, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, nutmeg and cloves; gradually beat into pumpkin mixture. Stir in walnuts, raisins and dates.
- Pour half of the batter into prepared pans, dividing evenly. Spoon filling over batter. Cover filling completely with remaining batter.
- Bake 65-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in bread portion comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely. Wrap in foil; refrigerate until serving.
- Just before serving, if desired, in a small bowl, mix confectioners’ sugar, vanilla and enough milk to reach a drizzling consistency. Drizzle over bread; sprinkle with walnuts.
Yield: 3 loaves (16 slices each).
Thank You for a Wonderful Fall Season
Things were busy here at the Ranch before our season ended in the middle of December! We’ve had a lot of schools visit us over this past fall (about 20 in total). Thank you to all of our fall schools. What a great season! We’ve enjoyed the holidays with family and friends, cooking delicious foods, and building fires to keep us warm on cold nights. Even some of the animals at the Ranch have had the holiday spirit. Take a look!
Gravy, Our Fun Loving Turkey!
Breezy decided she wanted to be a reindeer this holiday season!
Madonna, Our Spirited Alpine Goat!
Garret, Our Bearded Dragon!
When they aren’t playing with the animals and teaching classes, the Naturalists at the Ranch have been hard at work this season designing new programs that can fit into our classes! One of the newest additions is an indoor planetarium that will soon be used during our Astronomy evening program! Sometimes the weather doesn’t cooperate the way we wish it would, so on rainy or cloudy nights we can potentially use this to help students see constellations and stars in our night sky!
We used a box fan to inflate it, and we cut a door on the opposite end to enter!
We used black plastic sheeting and duct tape to secure the edges.
Once inside we can project pictures of different constellations, stars and planets that we talk about during astronomy!
If you’re interested in building one of your own or seeing how it works, here is the website: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/education/videos/playVideo.cfm?videoID=28
Hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful time of year! Besides the current week of oddly warm temperatures, it has definitely gotten colder and colder here. So, why not warm up with this delicious hot chocolate recipe?!
Slow Cooker Deluxe Hot Chocolate
Hot Chocolate:
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 (6-oz.) pkg. (1 cup) semisweet chocolate chips
1 (14-oz.) can sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)
2 quarts (8 cups) milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
Toppings:
Whipped cream
Miniature marshmallows
Miniature semisweet chocolate chips
Toffee bits
Cinnamon sticks
Peppermint candy sticks
Assorted liqueurs and flavored syrups
Chocolate cookie crumbs
Crushed peppermints
Directions:
- In 3 1/2 or 4-quart slow cooker, combine unsweetened chocolate, chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk; mix well.
- Cover; cook on High setting for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or until chocolate is melted.
- With wire whisk, stir in 2 cups of the milk until smooth. Gradually stir in remaining 6 cups milk and vanilla.
- Cover; cook on High setting an additional 2 hours or until hot.
- Just before serving, stir mixture again with wire whisk. Reduce heat setting to Low; have guests ladle hot chocolate into cups and top as desired.
YUM!
Happy Holidays and See You Down the Trail,
Pathfinder Ranch Outdoor Education Staff
New Happenings at the Ranch
We’re getting into the swing of the season and already, we have new and exciting things to report.
We have new helmets for horseback riding and for climbing.
Here are a few of our students out on trail with our new helmets.
Drifter and one of our happy campers about to go on trail.
Canyon prepping one of our students to climb the Alpine Tower.
One of our fantastic students modeling our new climbing helmets.
The Traverse Wall in the Rock and Rec. room got a make-over.
Here is a before and after picture of our Traverse Wall.
Our Naturalists hard at work on the mural.
Willow and Sunshine painting a picture of an ocotillo plant on the traverse wall.
Meet Sir Simba and Breezy, the two horses who recently joined our Pathfinder family.
Sir Simba is 18 years old and comes to us from Midway College in Midway, KY. (www.midway.edu) He is a registered Quarter Horse, and though his size might appear a bit intimidating, he’s quite the gentleman. Peppermints are his favorite treat so far.
Breezy is a 10 year old registered Quarter Horse and is rather the opposite of Simba in appearances; she’s much shorter and more compact. Breezy is fond of hats and playing in her water.
Pathfinder Animals are Eating their Greens!
The springtime sunshine and rain showers have helped our plants and grass grow tall and green. The animals (and Naturalists) have many tasty greens to eat from the garden!
The horses have been enjoying their lush, green pasture to nibble on. Lucas, one of our older horses, has his own special “snack bar,” next to to feeding troughs.
In the Nature Center, the snakes have been shedding their scales and the box turtles have been busy nibbling on their lettuce leaves. Kelso, our Desert Tortiose, has been splashing around in his Vitamin C bath after munching on his leafy greens!
Keeping up with Expanding Sponges
A glistening blanket of snow greeted our students as they pulled up to the basketball court Tuesday morning. They rushed out of the bus and immediately flocked to the mounds of snow all over campus, creating their first snowmen of the winter season. The excitement spread like a wave from the students to the staff, and carried over to the many adventures that followed that week. Things started with an epic game of Predator/Prey. The students adapted different roles within the food web and hunted for food, water, and shelter. As in nature they learned the benefits of behavioral adaptations such as ambushing and stalking their prey. In this particular game, the insects bore the hardship when they were attacked from all sides by the lizards and snakes. The students really embraced the trials and tribulations most animals deal with on a daily basis.
The enthusiasm from the snow and Predator/Prey carried over as the students tried out their trail reading skills while summiting Rock Point. They put to use their ethnobotany expertise by identifying useful plants along the way and even stopping for a quick snack followed by dental hygiene with some hiker’s toothbrush.
Our week came to a close surprisingly fast, but new adventures awaited the staff that made the trek to Utah for some skiing and snowboarding. The 9-hour arduous journey provided to be well worth the drive with great snow and a friendly mountain atmosphere. After rejuvenating ourselves it was time to meet our new group of budding naturalists.
Bright and early Tuesday morning our new group arrived starry eyed and full of questions. The students instantly started exploring their new environment and soaking in as much information as nature and the outdoors could provide. They were like sponges about to explode. Their first night at Pathfinder Ranch was dedicated to investigating the night sky. Although there were some clouds, no one’s spirits were extinguished as the students created their own constellations in the Milky Way.
The rest of the week was met with challenges and new experiences for both students and staff. Students were able to test their climbing, riding, and archery skills. The staff was challenged to push themselves to keep up with the expanding sponge-like minds of their students. Some of Pathfinder’s favorite critters helped in this challenge by teaching our students key ecology concepts as well as exposing them to a love for animal care and the environment. A final challenge from Mother Nature that was met with some reservation, but mostly excitement by the end was the hike to a geographical wonder, the Land Bridge. There’s nothing like almost three inches of snow to end a trip to Pathfinder Ranch!
Until next time young naturalists!
And remember “Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson
Dragonfly and Your Pathfinder Naturalists