Wild Weds. 26/52 The Inn at Benton Hot Springs

Copyright ©2018 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

I thought I’d change it up a bit and show you the Inn I stayed in the night before the Wild Mustangs trip.

The Inn at Benton Hot Springs

It’s lovely! The Inn features 7 rooms in an Historic 1940’s building, along with two private historic houses, with private hot tubs, and 10 private tubs for day and overnight use, and a wonderful breakfast in the morning.

The Inn is housed in a 1940’s block building constructed with local pumice materials. It was built to replace an old hotel where 10 small rooms shared one bath. The Inn was renovated in 1998, however the original structure integrity was retained. Therefore, all rooms except the Marquessa Suite (Room 7) share a bath. Two additional unique bathrooms with showers are available in a separate, adjacent building.

Prized for it’s western history, hot springs, remote settings, and  dark skies.

The family has owned and operated the ranch for more than 90 years.

This is their Mission Statement:

“Our mission is to provide
guests with a tranquil and
peaceful respite from their
fast-paced, chaotic worlds.
During their visits we
encourage calm reflection
while lingering in natural
soothing hot mineral water.
We desire that our guests
leave in a restored and
reinvigorated condition,
returning to their worlds with
enhanced balance and harmony.”

Each room at the Inn is decorated in a different theme. I was in the Victor Room, but first let me show you the place setting and crumb cake we had as a starter to our breakfast. We had eggs, and hash browns, lots of coffee, and the conversation was delightful. You eat with other guests all at one table. There are two seating’s for breakfast. 8 o’clock, or 9 o’clock. Don’t be late!  I wasn’t quick enough to get a photo of the whole table. 😕

IMG_8829

Now, onto the Victor Suite. My room was on the end of left side of the building with a street view. There was a lovely chair outside my door with a view of the front courtyard. That image is still on my cell phone.

Brass bed… pardon my jackets on the chair please!

Victor Suite Rm 2

Each room had a Teddy Bear on the Bed(s)…  after meeting some of the other guests that were also doing the Wild Mustang Trip I asked if I could see their rooms and decor and I said I’d be happy to show them my room too. We all did a little tour of each others rooms. It was neat to see 4 of the 7 rooms, plus the Miner’s cottage. The first question one of the ladies asked me was ,”Do you have a Teddy Bear on your bed? 😊

Victor Suite Rm 2

I loved the antique furniture, and collectibles in the room. That black door is to the shared bathroom. I didn’t take any photos of the bathroom.

Victor Suite Rm 2_IMG_8806

In this image below I don’t know if the thing under the table is for magazines or boots. I’m hoping it’s for boots!  Oops, forgive my Ray-Ban’s too please.

Victor Suite Rm 2

Victor Suite Rm 2

…and a closer look at what’s on the white table. I love old bottles, and railroad spikes and do-dads.

Victor Suite Rm 2

 

For the History Buffs, here’s a bit of history on the town of Benton from the Inn’s website.

~://benhttptonhotsprings.org/history.php

Benton is one of the oldest existing towns in Mono County. Benton was founded by the western Indians who came to make use of its hot springs. As the nearby towns of Bodie and Aurora grew, Benton became a check-point for travelers on the way south in 1852.

Silver was discovered in the hills of Benton in 1862, and its population quickly grew. After hitting the initial strike of silver, not much more was found, but Benton’s profits were soon primarily from silver.

Unlike other mining towns, Benton was able to provide enough for the town to thrive and flourish for about 50 years. Most of the main activity took place between 1862 and 1890.

The Carson and Colorado Railroad reached the region in 1883, and made a stop at Benton Station, just four miles away.

I have some images of the old town that’ll be sharing in the future.

I’ll be staying here again in July, and hope to get a photo of the whole breakfast table all set up for breakfast, and if I get a different room you know I’ll be taking photos to share.

Oh, and I’m packing my bathing suit this time so, I can partake of the Hot Springs tubs!😀

Nikon D810| Nikkor 20mm f/1.8G|  iPhone 7 Plus| PS CC 2018

more to come…

 

“Dreams are like stars…

Copyright ©2018 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

…you might never touch them but if you follow them, they will take you to your destiny.”~anon

Dreams are like stars...

This is a 19 frame composited image.  We had a fairly clear night the first night of my Wild Mustangs trip so I set up outside my tent to photograph the stars.

Funny story. I was doing my test shot and my frame came out completely black…set up another one same damn thing! Now, I’m mumbling to myself and asking myself why is it all black, my friend Dan who also went on the trip said from his tent,” you left the lens cap on”.  Doh!!

Connie another camper was chuckling in her tent.  It happens even to the ole timer’s.

I cleaned up several airplane trails that were in the frames, but I was tickled to see I caught a Shooting Star on film down near the mountain ridge. See it?

I hope you all have a lovely week-end!

Nikon D810| Nikkor 20mm f/1.8G| SanDisk Digital Film| Stacked in PS CC 2018

more to come…

 

Wild Weds. 25/52 Family moments

Copyright ©Deborah M. Zajac  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

While out in the meadow observing the Wild Mustangs, and waiting for something to happen…because mostly all that horses do is eat! I happened to see this little family scene.

Family Unit

The horse on the far right wasn’t impressed so walked away and must have gestured or said something to the other adult because it started to get up…

Mare and Foal

Then I heard the rumble of horses hooves to my left and turned my camera to find it and saw this-

Get off my Dung Heap!

I missed what started it, but it was a mare, or a dung heap I’m guessing.  I learned a few things about Horse Behavior on this trip.  Stallions will fight over a pile of dung…their version of King of the Hill.

The Hazelnut brown horse chased the dark one all the way to the other side of the group.  Then all was calm again, and they went back to eating.

Nikon D810| Nikkor 200-500mm| SanDisk Digital Film| PS CC 2018

more to come…

Wild Weds. 24/52 Wild Mustangs of Adobe Valley Pt 1

Copyright ©2018 Deborah M. Zajac.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

I’m back safely from my trip to Adobe Valley to track, see, and photograph Wild Mustangs!

It was a fantastic trip.  We stayed in two camps; a lower one the first night then we rode for 6 hours up to the upper camp in the high country.

Here’s a look at the kitchen and some of the other photographers. We were assembling for a walk out to the herd of Wild Mustangs that were in a huge meadow a mile and half from camp. The kitchen/hangout is on the far right under the tarp like tent.  Penny our cook had quite a camp kitchen set up.   The paddock the horses and mules were in are just to the right of that out of the frame.

Happily, I can report there wasn’t a hot dog, or hamburger to be found on the menu!

The food was awesome. I wanted to bring Penny home.

We had BBQ chicken, corn puddin, and fresh fruits, Stuffed Pork Chops, fresh mixed salad, homemade applesauce gravy, and summer squash sauté just right, and steak, baked beans, corn, and anything left over from the night before was set out to be eaten.

Breakfasts were hearty and kept us going until our lunch stop along the trail.

We had sausage and egg  comme Mcmuffins, steel cut oatmeal with all sorts of topping choices; raisins, brown sugar, syrup, nuts, fresh strawberries, and bacon, and French toast.

Snacks and lunches we made and packed for the ride each morning. We had turkey, or ham, or roast beef and assorted cheeses, chips, nuts, cookies, and fruit.

Snacks were nuts, dried and fresh fruit, chips, dips, OH, and desserts! Fresh baked berry pie, carrot cake, and oh, I forgot what we had the last night already!  I should have wrote it down. Penny made the cake in a dutch oven on the grill, actually most the meals were made via her huge Dutch Ovens.

We didn’t go hungry!

 

Lower Camp Adobe Valley

I’ll show you some of the camp. My tent, and others.  That cabin is deserted. A rancher lived there once. They told us it’s about 150 yrs. old.  The horse paddock was made of stone fencing instead of wood.  That’s one way to clear the rocks.

Cowboy/Wrangler Patrick setting up my tent.  The pack company provided tents, the cook, wranglers, horses, and tack.  We had to bring our own sleeping bag, and sleeping pad that was weighed in as part of our 40 pound dunnage limit. Patrick setting up my tent

Tents set up at Lower Camp

Do you want to see the Privy? Inside there is a box with a lid. Open the lid to find a hole cutout. It was just a hole dug out of the dirt under that box.  It wasn’t bad.  I don’t see a ziplock bag with toilet paper clipped to the tarp so someone is using it at the time I took this image.  That was the signal. 😊😊

In the upper camp we had two of these privies, and two showers with hot water!

Lower Camp Privy

My trusty steed Tip. He’s a 25 year old Gelding. They told me he’s a mutt. A mix of Draft, and Thoroughbred? He’s a gentle, and easy going horse.  Up in the rocky lava strewn hillsides I would get a bit tense;especially going down. I tighten up his reins a lot, but he’d ask for me more, and I gave him the slack on the condition that he kept me on his back, and didn’t fall.  He stumbled a few times, but he has four legs, and rebounded quickly.  I learned to trust him pretty fast.  He kept me on his back every ride.

Tip

We didn’t find any Wild Mustangs in the high country, but it was fun to explore and ride despite that.  We rode all the way into Nevada!

I took a pair of He-Man’s cycling shorts with a nice gel pad, and lots of butt butter.  My butt was fine, my thighs, and knees on the other hand not so much.  Riding up and down mountains on horseback is a workout! My thighs are still sore.  I hate sage brush! We were riding single track trails between the brush and too often my stirrups or toe would get caught in it and it would pull my leg backwards.  My knees are so bruised.

That is my only complaint about the trip.  The bush is brutal! Nevertheless, if Ken will have me I’m doing this trip again next year.

Okay, I know you want to see some wild horses.  Here’s one of my favorite images.  Taken just as the sun was going down.

Wild Mustangs at Sunset

Aren’t they beautiful?  There were several foals, but only 3 Yearlings.  The mortality rate is awful.  Not many foals will survive because of the mountain lions. 😢

I have tons of images to share so I’ll be sharing for awhile. I hope you don’t get bored!

I’ll be catching up with your blogs!

Happy Wednesday!

Nikon D810 w/ 200-500mm, 20mm f/1.8G. and iPhone 7Plus

more to come…

 

 

Wild Wednesday 23/52 White-tailed Kites

Copyright ©2018 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

On and off for a few weeks I’ve been going to over to a nearby park to photograph and check on a young family of White-tailed Kites.  The adults have two Fledglings.  They aren’t quite ready to be on their own yet.  Mom and Dad are still hunting, and bringing in food for them.

I had hoped to see a mid-air food transfer between parent and fledgling, but that didn’t happen. Mom dropped the food in the nest on this evening.

White-tailed Kite with Prey

Myself and several friends went back the following morning bright and early.

Here’s a look at the Fledglings in the nest:

White-tailed Kite Fledglings

The Fledglings have been flying around the big fields practicing their hovering, spying prey, and diving, but I don’t know that they’ve actually caught anything on their own yet.

I went back again this past Saturday hoping to see and photograph the mid-air food transfer. It happened, but I missed it! After the oldest fledgling left the nest and it didn’t look like anything would happen following it, I set my camera back on the smaller fledgling still in the nest thinking it would follow shortly as it had before, then I heard oooh’s, and ahhh’s to my right and looked just in time to see the transfer but didn’t get my camera on it in time.  I didn’t anticipate that. 😥

Here’s one of the Fledglings in flight on my last visit June 2, 2018:

White-tailed Kite Fledgling in Flight

I fear they’ll be own their own and kicked out of the territory when I return next week.  Mom and Dad have already set up another nest across the field from this set of Fledgling’s nest, and they’re making the fledglings wait for longer periods of time between feedings.

I’ll be offline by the time this post goes live. I’m leaving the house in He-Man’s, and #1 Grandson’s capable hands while I’ll be camping in the wilderness with a group of photographers. 12 of us plus guides, and a cook are going to be tracking by foot, and horseback Wild Mustangs.  I can’t tell you how excited I am about this trip!

As I type my bags are nearly packed. I’m waffling on which wide angle lens to take, and worrying about staying within my dunnage weight limit of 40 pounds!

Wish me luck that I don’t get thrown from my horse, we find the team of Wild Mustangs, get loads of wonderful images made,  Hot Dogs don’t make an appearance on our dining menu.  Some of you know I don’t like Hot Dogs, and I don’t get so saddle sore I’m unable to ride.  I’m packing Butt Butter! ☺

I’ll catch up with you all when I get back.  Until then I hope you have a wonderful week, and stay safe!

Nikon D810| Nikkor 200-500mm| SanDisk Digital Film| PS CC 2018

more to come…