In a town next to ours there are several life size statues of children and adults. This one is one of my favorites, especially, because it reminds me of John Wayne. If you click on the picture a second time after it has loaded it will show up even bigger and you can see the detail in these wonderful works of art.

All of the statues in Rancho Santa Margarita have children in them and they are all in one large shopping center within walking distance of each other, although they are spread pretty far apart. These statues are sitting on an actual bench in front of a Borders store in Rancho. The man reading to the children reminds me a lot of my father, George.

I do need to make a comment on the photos from this particular expedition. I’ve recently decided to spend a little extra time and learn how to use my awesome camera, which I’ve mostly been using in the automatic mode. My sweet hubby has, along with my great son Matt, been patiently teaching me over and over again what all those little dials do. So, if some of my photos look out of focus or the color looks off, yup, that’s why. I don’t know what the heck I’m doing!

The trails are steep, rocky, and often narrow on the Eagle Trail. Tall oak trees reach for the skies, their branches hanging down and by doing so create a dark canopy, obscuring the path ahead in certain sections of this trail. A wide variety of plant life begs to be given a closer look and a welcome bench pops up here and there for those who grow tired or just want to enjoy being among all this nature. The uphill climb coming back gave a great cardiac workout at times.

The driving force that spoke to me to get home was my anxiousness to see the photos I had taken of the horses at Harmon Camp. In this photo that I took from the hilltop before we started down Eagle Trail, you can see the horse stable and corral area. I was so excited and hopeful that Jerry and I could make it down and see the horses.

The hike down Eagle Trail in Arroyo Trabuco Wilderness was gorgeous, but honestly nothing could compare to what awaited us at the horse corrals. A beautiful 7 1/2 month old Paint named Colby. He was quite interested in me, coming up to the metal fence, poking his youthful head through the bars, his mane whipping in the wind his eyes looking a bit on the wild side, nuzzling me and hoping to get a treat of some sort. I could have stayed and visited with this young seemingly wild colt named Colby for a long time. The hike had been somewhat hard and he was the treat, certainly worth every step of the way. The air had taken a chill, the wind was up, the clouds were moving in, it was starting to get dark. Colby was anxious, the light was perfect. I felt in a spiritual moment. Something I guess I had been looking for the last few days. It was time to head back home with my sweet hubby. Thank you Colby. Thank you Jerry. I had a beautifully spiritually uplifting afternoon.