TRAIL RIDING AT THE HILLS HEALTH RANCH
Bruce found The Hills Health Ranch on the internet and it seemed to have all the things we wanted PLUS it’s a spa! We’ve booked a private riding lesson and then later a 1 hour trail ride. We’ll see if we want any more after that (or if we can still walk!).
The site is beautiful. Rolling hills, some trees … very dry and dusty!
The lodge is a beautiful log building, housing the office, spa, pool (indoor), hot tubs and sauna. There are buildings with rooms or there are chalet-style lodgings. The resort has a few different dining alternatives, some more ‘family friendly’ than others. There are a LOT of kids here. In fact the pool was so full of them playing, throwing balls, diving off the sides … that it was hard to just hang out or swim. But it felt good to cool off and that’s what mattered.
The main lodge at Hills Guest Ranch
We got a spot in their ‘campground’ which is basically sites cleared in the trees, many with primitive corrals for the horse crowd. I gather that this is quite popular due to the large amounts of left-over horse poo and hay laying around. There are no hook-ups of any kind and the fee is $25 per nite – which sounds steep but consider it gives you access to the pool, sauna etc. Right now we’re the only ones in the campground.
Our campsite at Hills Health Ranch
Pileated Woodpecker at our campsite
Too hot to cook, so it was appie night for us. After dinner (and wine of course) we headed up to the ‘saloon’ where we had a beer and sat on the deck looking out over the beautiful grounds.
July 14, 2014
Up early to get ‘cowboy’d up’ for our lessons at 10:00. We bought some new boots in Quesnel just for this reason and I do love them!
New baby Donkey
We got to the stable early and had a nice time petting, scratching and hugging their new baby miniature donkey. What a sweetheart! He almost went to sleep in my arms!
We then watched as Darby got another group ready for a trail ride, then our teacher ‘Sherry’ helped us get our horses ready for our lesson. This included brushing, putting on saddle and bridle etc. (Bruce had ‘General’ and I had ‘Sunshine’) We led them to a ring where we learned starting, stopping, turning and backing up … all the necessary commands. We also learned how to sit properly and manage our weight and centre of gravity, which is important. We then took them around this way and that – Sunshine was a bit on the balky side … I think she was giving the ‘newbie’ a tough time and was loving it – but we both did really well and feel ready for our trail ride this afternoon.
Gearing up for riding lessons at Hills Health Ranch
Later … the trail ride was pretty good. Still … for us new to the saddle, it was basically just walking the horses on a path thru the woods
Trail Ride at Hills Health Ranch
Nothing too exciting … but still pretty cool! I think I did ok (except for my dismount … gotta lose some weight!) and I’m ready to learn more when I get the chance next!
That night we checked into a room at the ranch. It was nice … took a loooonnnggg hot shower in the ‘hot tub/shower’ (kind of weird) and relaxed on the ‘big bed’. Watched a bit of tv, then got ready for our anticipated dinner. The advertising sounded great! A gourmet experience!
The gourmet experience was more of a horror experience! Suffice it to say the service was horrific, the food bad (when we even got it … they ended up sending some of it to the wrong table and the people ate it!!), the wine was warm … it was all so bad they ended up giving it all to us for free. Even for free it was horrific! I’m writing a very large review on Trip Advisor, so if you want to see the entire sordid evening unfold, check out The Hills Health Ranch.
Heading for dinner at Hills Health Ranch
July 15, 2014
After a dreadful breakfast at the ranch (we’d bought a B & B package) (which btw we almost missed as within minutes of us scooping up our buffet … a busload of yerps showed up and the lineup was massive!) we headed out on the road. It’s actually good to get back into the RV. I much prefer it to staying in a hotel/motel. Go figure!
Anyway … we headed south on past 100 Mile House, then east on Hwy #24 which is called ‘The Fishing Highway’ due to the many (MANY) stocked lakes along it’s length! We found a very nice, small rec site (Crystal Lake Recreation Site) to spend the night. Or maybe two!
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