RACCOONS

THIS IS MOM ON THE VERANDA ROOF

MOM LOOKING FOR FOOD

We had a family of raccoons that lived behind headquarters house and under the hot tub. Mom raccoon raised several families during time at Penobscot. They were almost always out of sight but occasionally we would see them. One afternoon we came home from the field and there was mom. She was holding the lid to the dog food container up with one paw and reaching into the food  container with the other hand and helping herself to the dog food. She was just having a nice lunch when we interrupted her. When she saw us she ran away and we watched her run out the back yard and up a tree, there wre three little baby raccoons waiting for her in the tree, and peeking out from behind the trunk of the tree. Holding on and watching us intently as we were watching them and commenting on how cute this scene was. The babies must have thought that they were behind the trunk of the tree and we could not see them, but they were plainly visible and it was a joy to see them even though they were pesty getting into the cat and dog food and playing games in the attic at night so we could not get a good nights sleep when they were having that kind of fun. Once in a while they were on the veranda roof as the pictures show but usually they were under the hot tub in the back yard and stayed out of sight.
Just another animal story from Penobscot

HOT AIR BALLOON



"A BALLOON"

                 Story by Fajer      

It was a hot summer morning July 15 1992

"COMING DOWN"

WE ARE OUT OF PROPANE

  I was just finishing with the camp dishes when our friend. Steve Conklin drove up  the dusty road to finish building our cookhouse. He stopped and was talking to my grandpa when all of a sudden, we heard a noise. Grandpa stood up and announced that a dragon was paying us a visit. There was a great whooshing noise as if a dragon was breathing and blowing flames and smoke. We all looked all around trying to figure out what the noise was. We ran to the top of the hill and we could see the hot air balloon floating down.  It was a navy blue and cream colored huge balloon, the people waved to us and asked if they could land in our pasture and we replied "OK".      


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WE ARE UP HERE



After we agreed they could land they started lowering the large object and were successful. Grandma gave permission to go down, when I saw the sheep in the field, they were running in panic seeing this strage monster coming down and their solid backs packed so close together looked like a smooth rolling ocean. When I met the people, they presented themselves, they were from England and France but they really came from Coloma in the balloon. The aroma of the propane had become more and more distinctive, and I questioned them about it. Their answer was clear once they had told me that they ran out of propane.

They got the air out by tearing open the top of the balloon and got it all folded up. The  man  thanked my grandparents and then talked for awhile, as most grownups do. The people said their goodbyes and left for Coloma Ca. and oh yes They offered me a free ride in the balloon.
                                         by Fajer Qassem

SECET SWIMMING HOLE

On very special occasions, we would schedule a "secret swimming hole" excursion. This was a big deal an all day trip on horse back, we needed sack lunch and some stout hearts. The riders needed to be experienced as the trail was more than a mile long one way. Of course the horses had to be tethered or usually hobbled as we were in the wild and not a hitching rail to be found for several miles. The horses were tied to a bush or hobbled as i mentioned before. It was on one of these trips we learned that Charlotte, one of our favorite horses could almost run with hobbles on. She would raise both front feet at the same time and could move along very well. Of course once we learned that we had to take other measures like tether her front leg to a back leg and hobble her like that and that outsmarted her. The trip was long and the weather was hot if it wasn't hot it not be fun swimming and the water was very nice and cool after a long trail ride.

From the tethered horse it was short trek across the rocks and through the chaparral to the swimming hole. It was all worth the effort the place was exotic, unbelievable, was like fantasy land only in movies had i ever seen just such a place.

The pictures are not coming out as i would like but the story is OK (I THINK)

 I was reminded of a movie with Hedy Lamar

the rock formations were really something!

the water falls

It was great fun

Such a wonderful time we had swimming and splashing, water fights and then on the rocks drying off.

then of course we had to go back to reality.

but the fun and enjoyment was way more than worth the trip.

Horses

The Sample family came to visit us as well guess who this is?

This is the picture I was looking for she is so pretty in this picture. but they are all nice.

horses

At one time we had a pair of beautiful Belgian blond sorrel draft horses. They were so big and so gentle, a big hit with every one, and they each had a baby while we had them, it was fun.

WATER FUN

We had lots of fun in the water, three different places, the pool, the pond and then our secret place was so beautiful I will do that one later.

GIRL LOVING A CALF

 This is a newspaper clip of a small girl loving a calf



This is Joyce teaching the children





..... these photos are extremely difficult to position... so sorry about the format

Wild Horse Trail: Wild Horse Trail: Free Spirits

Wild Horse Trail: Wild Horse Trail: Free Spirits: "Wild Horse Trail: Free Spirits: 'In our local vicinity we have many free spirits. These are people who are themselves , honest , and not wor..."

School 1996

In the spring of 1996 these children came on an overnight field trip and had a wonderful time. It was good for Penobscot staff as we were booked in the fall and the children had the experience's that they could talk about the entire school year and the opportunity to make friends of their classmates for the coming school year.

LETTERS 1996/1997

These are a couple of sample letters we received from a third grade class 1996 I think the letters not completely composed until April 1997 as one is dated

Tours

A picture drawn about her tour at Penobscot ranch. The time was the begining of the school year, the school 1991. This was the Folsom school district and the teacher was one of our favorites Leslie.

Our son Tom lungeing a pony with fifth grader on tour. 1991

Wild Horse Outpost: Wild Horse Outpost: Wild Horse Outpost: SPRING IN ...

Wild Horse Outpost: Wild Horse Outpost: Wild Horse Outpost: SPRING IN ...: "Wild Horse Outpost: Wild Horse Outpost: SPRING IN JANUARY: 'Wild Horse Outpost: SPRING IN JANUARY: 'Nearly every year that I have lived in C..."

GATES PENOBSCOT RANCH STORIES: FOLSOM SCHOOL 1991

GATES PENOBSCOT RANCH STORIES: FOLSOM SCHOOL 1991: "We have abook sent to us by one of our favorite teachers Leslie. It has many pictures and drawings from the school children it was the fifth..."

GATES PENOBSCOT RANCH STORIES: LETTERS

GATES PENOBSCOT RANCH STORIES: LETTERS: "A letter from Tara West 1991 Penobscot Ranch: At Penobscot Ranch I had TONS and Loads of fun !!! Although milking a cow was a first experie..."

LETTERS

A letter from Tara West 1991 Penobscot Ranch:

At Penobscot Ranch I had TONS and Loads of fun !!! Although milking a cow was a first experience for me. I didn't like it that much!!! Round up, (the dog) helped me in many ways. He reminded me of my dog, Tasha, and even though I missed Tasha, Roundup made it so I had a dog around and really, really, really, I love dogs (especially my dog)
It was and wasn't like home. We had sodas, food, dogs, cats, fish, hot dogs, spiders, and Grandmas & Grandpas, like home, but we had, horses, cows, goats, harness shop, llamas, coyotes, outhouse, and spinning wool at the Penobscot Ranch. Even though I missed my family I still had all my friends and the teacher there. Jaime Hunt my best, best, best,  friend and she was there for me at Penobscot when I needed her, (as usual). I liked Penobscot ranch and I hope to go again. Tara West

FOLSOM SCHOOL 1991

We have abook sent to us by one of our favorite teachers Leslie. It has many pictures and drawings from the school children it was the fifth grade class of 1991 and they came at the begining of the school year. If yuo know of any one in that class we would appreciate it if they would contact us. Jack (Grandpa) Gates at j_jgates@hughes.net

other blog

If you read this one try granfolks.blogspot.com as well that is our daily blog and local happenings. We also post prayers for the Roadhouse Community Church which is up country in Chiquita.

When Acorns Fall

When August arrives with a slight chill in the air, and the acorns started falling you knew that summer was about to end and the Penobscot  camp would be coming to a close.  You would   have the feeling that every one at the ranch was trying to savor each moment by cramming the days full of swimming, horse riding fishing & just clinging to all the wonderful stories that the staff share.  The bunk houses are looking like they could use a good cleaning and face lift, the cook I know, is probably so tired of Monday spaghetti Tue gummy rice etc etc. but he always has great smile on his face & greets each child with a wink  as if they were  his very own.  We must not forget the horses, 57 of them of all kinds of breeds.  The requirement to be a Penobscot camp horse was to be gentle.  Some came without love & by the end of the summer they knew just what to do. Stand to be saddled , knew the trail better than the trail master, and oh yes stand for that well deserved bath.
What a sight to see the children trekking down the hill to the barn with a bucket of half eaten breakfast, to feed the chickens, heaven help the dogs if they try and eat out of the bucket, "that's garbage"  they would say, as if once it was out of their plates it was not good for anything else except the chickens.  This was such a learning experience for all of them.  A new concept.  Parents would just be amazed at the change in their children.  So many memories for all of us at the ranch.
When the last group had left I would go to the camp ground and experience such a strange, lonely almost homesick feeling. The horses would show up looking for the children, the ponies were ready for their grooming, this was such a rewarding time. Memories were made, seeds were sown.  I would walk under the large oak trees and know that winter was on its way as the acorns were a plenty.

FOLSOM SCHOOL OVERNIGHT TOUR

I have the 1991 Folsom School overnight tour book written by the fifth grade class and assembled by the teacher Leslie. She was one of our favorite teachers we loved her and she must have liked the Penobscot as she kept coming back with a new class each year.