Little Ranch in the 'Burbs

The Wrangler and I spent the past week getting sort of serious about relocating the Rainy Day Ranch from the beach to the 'burbs. Yikes, right? Well, it's a little exciting! We've been checking out two equestrian communities located about 20 minutes inland. Smack in the middle of everything one associates with The O.C. (shopping malls, strip malls, chain restaurants, SUVs, and all the other trappings of Stepford living) are planned ranch communities with riding stables, acres and acres of trails, mature trees of the non-Palm variety, and spacious residential lots zoned to allow chickens and goats! It's hard to believe that the land in the picture posted above is just five minutes from a 20-movie stadium theater, Best Buy, Borders, and Home Depot.

We'd be trading the marine layer for ceaseless sun. Depending on who you are, this is a bummer (me) or a bonus (Wrangler). But we'd say goodbye to tourists and hello to easy freeway access shaving 20 minutes from the weekday commute. We'd probably miss the unique beach town shops and restaurants, but the unfortunate reality is that we love Target stores and Yogurtland. Most important, we'd be able to try our hand at keeping livestock without having to make huge lifestyle changes like finding new jobs and moving to the country. One of the communities apparently allows bison. No joke. Our friends have seen a resident on several occasions walking his leashed bison around the neighborhood. We don't have plans to keep bison--yet.

We're going to keep looking until we find the perfect place, so who knows what we'll end up doing. I'm still nervous about getting too settled. I have to hand it to the Wrangler, though. He found two places nearby that could scratch the itch for ranch life without actually having to move to one. That guy will do anything to stay here.