Today was "R" Day. I had a busy day planned with meetings and other commitments so we squeezed in what we could...
We had a large jug of orange juice that needed to be used up so we tried a new refreshing recipe today with lunch.
Orange Julius
2 cups orange juice
1/4 cup powdered milk
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups ice cubes
1 tsp. vanilla
blend in the blender until smooth.
After lunch, we went to Reber Ranch which is near our home. There is quite a bit of history surrounding Reber Ranch which I've learned some from a Reber family member and other bits of info from doing some research on the internet.
It all started when Darrell Reber was an airline pilot for Northwest Airlines based out of Minneapolis/St. Paul. He flew for 25 years and whenever he would fly into the Seattle area he would marvel at the beauty of the area, especially Mt. Rainier.
In 1978, Reber moved his wife and children to Kent and together they built Reber Ranch on 46 acres of land. It became the largest horse-training center in the state, and had barns with stalls for 250 horses, a half-mile track certified by the Washington Horse Racing Commission, and a feed and horse-tack store. About 70 percent of the business - and a great deal of the Reber family's future -was tied to Longacres Park and a sport that relied on all the barn space, feed, equipment and training facilities Reber Ranch could provide.
In 1990, the Alhadeff family unexpectedly sold the Longacres property to the Boeing Co. and quickly Boeing made it clear that horse racing's days there were numbered. Longacres Race Track closed on Sept. 21, 1992. Ultimately, Reber had to sell 22 acres which was converted into a housing development and the county was pushing for another 14 acres to be designated as a wetlands habitat preserve. That left Reber 1o acres with a tack and feed store, stables and a half-mile track. Darrell Reber died from Leukemia in 2005.
I'm pleased to say that Reber Ranch is still a vital part of our community after all these years and is a beautiful landmark in our area. My children are so fortunate to live in an area where we don't have to travel far to be able to see horses and other animals on acreage versus densely populated housing.
The kids and I really enjoyed our time browsing through the Reber Ranch tack and feed store, looking at saddles, cowboy boots & hats, riding blankets and petting some adorable cats up for adoption.
We returned home to spend some time swimming in our pool and had some time for rest and relaxation in the backyard while we did some reading of the book "Nim at Sea" which is a follow-up to the book "Nim's Island" by Wendy Orr.
No comments:
Post a Comment