I am staying and working at The Alisal Guest Ranch. During the summer this place is its own city. Right now I'm almost one of the only "guests" staying here.

This is my room. It's hard to take a picture that expresses the scale of it. It's referred to as an Efficiency. It does have a refrigerator. But there is no microwave, although I briefly considered trying to cook in the fireplace. All meals here are expected to be taken at one of the restaurants or Guest Dining. Unfortunately, not much is actually open during the week (because there is nobody here), and it is insanely formal. I have been too frightened by the dress code to even attempt dinner.

There is a petting area that allows the city folk to get up close to animals. In the afternoon many of the critters are let out into a pasture. There are two of these pigs.

As far as I can tell, this is a working ranch, though it is definitely geared toward its guests. There are a pile of horses for riding, and branded cattle inhabit every pasture. The ranch is surrounded by low mountains. At any time of the day clouds might be rolling in, over, or around them. I'm told that if I were to climb to the top I could see the ocean.

These cattle don't actually like being petted. But after a few days of offering them green grass they have become quite friendly. BTW, it is really hard to take a picture of yourself feeding cows.

There are a number of signs warning not to feed the animals. I choose to interpret this as: don't feed the animals anything but grass. It seems you can get just about any critter on the ranch to come to you if you wave a handful of juicy grass at them.

The only thing this goat likes more than a good scratching is eating grass. It has enough grass available that I couldn't bribe it with my own.