California Adventure Day 4

The word of the day was ADVENTURE, and lots of it.

We left the hotel for the Palos Verdes Peninsula around nine for our 11am horseback riding appointment. The scenic route took us through Long Beach. It was sobering to see the other side of humanity – the seedier side – after having only been exposed to the posh ‘Newport Beach’ façade along the Pacific Coast Highway. When we arrived at Rolling Hills Estates, it was as if we’d entered THE FARM ZONE. Pretty white fences, a barn in every back yard, and buttons at rider height to activate the crossing signals made this my favorite community in southern Cal. Lori had the best trail horses and made a great guide. Her friend Loren came along as well, adding to the trail banter. We’re used to the smooth gait of Kentucky Mountain Horses, but handled the thrill of cantering on Moleek, an Arab, and Buddy, a buckskin quarterhorse, just fine. The route took us past Roseanne Barr’s former home, Donald Trump’s private golf course, and a foggy view of Catalina Island. A shrimp baron lived in a home that featured twenty-two bathrooms and an underground tennis court. We also met Burrito, a sweet burro that 'talked' to us along the way. Lori’s farm might only have been a half-acre, but she kept three dogs, a cat, two bunnies, a rooster, and ten horses on her spread. We found a quaint deli on the corner and had our best lunch yet, a turkey sub with cups of chili and chicken noodle soup.

After our horse ride, we couldn’t decide what to do next. I looked on the map and saw Knott’s Berry Farm. I thought, what a nice way to top off a horseback ride, visiting a berry farm and riding on a wagon, and picking berries, and buying some jams. Craig said, “It’s not a berry farm.” I said, “It’s a berry farm. It says Knott’s Berry Farm.” We followed the signs and found ourselves at an amusement park with roller coasters named the Silver Bullet, the Xcelerator, and Supreme Scream. My gut told me there wasn’t any berry-picking going on in there. I was right. I found myself hanging in space twice on the Silver Bullet, the longest and tallest suspended roller coaster west of the Mississippi; going from zero to eighty miles an hour in one second on the Xcelerator – twice; and free-falling from thirty stories on the Supreme Scream – thankfully only once. My favorite coaster was the log ride, which reminded me of a good old-fashioned Tunnel of Love. We took a lemonade break in between thrills and found ourselves in a cantina featuring ‘Miss Kitty.’ It only took her a few minutes to snag Craig up on stage to help with the performance. While she tickled his nose with her boa, I gleefully snapped pictures. He claims all he could see was my sinister smile and the flashbulb.

Finally, it was back to the hotel and Italian for supper. What adventures will we encounter tomorrow?