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At This California Dude Ranch, A Horse Girl’s Dream Comes True

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At This California Dude Ranch, A Horse Girl’s Dream Comes True


If you’ve never sat on a horse, that first moment in the saddle can feel a little awkward, even intimidating. But for one young wannabe cowpoke, it was more like a dream come true. My college-age son’s girlfriend, Lana, has loved horses forever. But she never had the opportunity to ride one. Over winter break this year, she unlocked that new level at Alisal Ranch.

Tucked away in the sun-kissed hills of California’s Santa Ynez Valley near Solvang, the 10,500-acre family-owned property is an old-fashioned place to stargaze, fish and canoe on a 100-acre lake, and shoot arrows at decoy elk and boar. It’s also home to a stable with over a hundred magnificent horses.

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Jack is a sweet, chestnut-colored stallion with a touch of grey between his gentle eyes. When Lana first swung her leg over and carefully set her feet into the stirrups, Jack looked back with a kindly, “You’re doing just fine, girl” kind of nod. Alisal has more than 50 miles of trails for beginner, intermediate and advanced riders age seven and up, and the ranch gets even first-timers out on two-hour starter rides. That might sound like daunting for a newbie, but Ben, the genial wrangler, made it a manageable introduction, and definitely one to remember. Out on the trails, you get to see wild turkeys, coyotes, eagles, foxes and more than a few adorable cows, which makes even a greenhorn feel like an extra in an old Western.

If Lana was anxious, it was hard to tell. The giant smile on her face told a different story as Jack clip-clopped up a golden slope past ancient sycamores to take in the epic view (you can spot the Reagan Ranch — once known as The Western White House — on a hilltop across from the property.).

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Alisal meets riders wherever they are in their ability. Kids as young as four can take 30-minute riding lessons in the controlled environment of the corral. There’s a one-hour starter ride for those who aren’t quite ready to commit to a longer outing, a three-hour picnic ride with lunch carried in your saddlebags, and a new three-hour distance ride, for those craving higher views or to see more wildlife. Horsemanship 101, for any level of rider, pairs you with senior wranglers to improve your individual riding skills in an arena setting (there’s even an obstacle course if you’re willing).

One of the most popular offerings is the morning breakfast ride, 45-minute to one-hour horseback ride each way with breakfast in the middle. Think of it as flapjacks on horseback, an outing that lasts approximately three hours, and is open to non-riders, too, who can take a hay wagon ride to brekkie instead of a horse.

Alisal’s been around longer than California’s been California, but opened as a luxury working ranch in 1946 and owned by the Jackson family ever since. Today, it’s a stylish dude ranch with benefits: 18-hole golf, tennis and pickle ball courts, axe throwing, mountain biking and a spa. The accommodations are too rarefied to call “glamping”—especially the more recently remodeled estate houses lining the front driveway. For example, the 1,620-foot wood and stone Turner House, with Ralph Lauren fabrics and Pendleton accessories, sleeps ten and has claw-footed bathtubs and wood-burning fireplaces.

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Meanwhile, up on the trails, Lana found herself bonding with Jack while also gaining confidence in herself after tackling an adventure she’d put off for too long. It’s one thing to read about horses or to play with those adorable little Schleich collectibles. It’s quite another to be on the trail in a place like Alisal Ranch and let out a great big ‘yee-haw!”



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Northern California’s House of Clocks has stood the test of time for 55 years

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Northern California’s House of Clocks has stood the test of time for 55 years


While we may lose an hour of sleep this coming weekend, one clock store in California is gearing up for one of its busiest times of the year: daylight savings.

It’s the House of Clocks, the largest clock company in Northern California, which was recently celebrating 55 years of business.

It’s a place frozen in time. Just visit the store’s 240-year-old grandfather clock. It’s got plenty of stories to tell, dating back to 1780.

“This is the oldest piece we have right now,” clocksmith Joey Hohn said.

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The House of Clocks is on the outskirts of Downtown Lodi in San Joaquin County.

“We have new, we have vintage, we have antique,” co-owner Sandy Hohn shared. “Honestly, it feels like not a day goes by that we don’t get a phone call or an email of somebody wanting to sell something for 100 different reasons.”

The clock store has been with the Hohn family for three generations. It’s all thanks to one family heirloom.

“When the first war started, [my grandparents] left everything and had to move,” Joey Hohn explained. “After the Second World War, my grandpa was stationed in Germany. They went back to the house that had been abandoned and the neighbor who they left the property to said, ‘As far as I’m concerned, everything in the house is still yours.’ They went back and got this, so this is my great-great-grandparents’ clock.”

You can find just about anything in the House of Clocks, from old grandfather clocks to clocks that can fit in the palm of your hand.

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What you can’t find anywhere else is the Hohns’ love for Lodi.

“We’ve made so many friends over the years out of customers,” Sandy Hohn said. “Friends that are just wonderful, that love collecting, and we keep them repaired for their families, which is awesome. They have sentimental value that’s passed down.”

That same love for the city and their community runs in the family.

“We had a customer that wanted to repaint their dial,” Joey Hohn explained. “We told them no because it was her father’s who had passed away. Every time he went to wind the clock, he placed his thumb in the same spot. When we told her that smudge there on the dial was her father, she said, ‘Back away, don’t you dare.’ It was just a good memory we have.”

While you can’t turn back time, what we can do is keep memories alive and treasure the present moment.

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“There’s so many personalities,” Sandy Hohn said. “We just try to find a good home for them.”



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Signs of spring blooming at Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve after wet, warm winter

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Signs of spring blooming at Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve after wet, warm winter


It’s beginning to look a lot like spring!

The warm and wet weather this winter has led to the start of a dazzling super bloom at the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve.

“We had an unseasonably warm winter as well, so there’s actually a lot of growth,” said Callista Turney with California State Parks. “We’re having early wildflowers that are already at the park. So if you look at the poppy live cam, it shows a lot of orange already.”

The rain has helped the early blooms, but it’s actually the heat that accelerated the growth of the flowers.

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“It will actually speed up the growth of the plants, so some of them were already blooming and that’s going to cause those blossoms to accelerate faster towards seed production. And the blossoms that are in the process of being formed, those are going to open up soon as well.”

We also sometimes see great super blooms in Death Valley National Park, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Joshua Tree and the Mojave National Preserve.

“It’s definitely a rare occurrence because we don’t always have the right conditions. It’s gotta be the weather, the wind, the rain, all coming together,” said Katie Tilford, Director of Development and Communications with the Theodore Payne Foundation.

If it continues to stay unseasonably warm, we’ll see a shorter bloom. The key to a longer season is milder weather.


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Republican governor candidate Chad Bianco says he’s the ‘antithesis to California state government’

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Republican governor candidate Chad Bianco says he’s the ‘antithesis to California state government’


We are counting down to the California governor’s race. Chad Bianco, the sheriff of Riverside County, is one of the two biggest names running on the Republican ticket.

In a one-on-one interview with Eyewitness News political reporter Josh Haskell, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said, “I am the antithesis to California state government because I am going to take a nuclear bomb into that building and absolutely destroy everything that they do to us behind closed doors.”

Although he’s been elected by the voters twice, Bianco says he’s not a politician — which is why he believes his campaign for California governor is resonating, as reflected in the polls.

“President Trump, in one year, from 2025 when he took over, until now, did absolutely nothing to harm California. What’s harming California is 30 years of Democrat one-party rule that have created an environment here that no one can live in anymore. They’ve only been successful here in California because we vote D no matter what. You vote D or die. I mean, that’s it. Charles Manson would be elected in California if he was the only Democrat on the ballot,” Bianco said.

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Bianco isn’t the only conservative Republican running for governor, and according to polling, he’s neck-and-neck with former Fox News host Steve Hilton.

SEE ALSO: CA governor candidate Steve Hilton says ‘everybody supports’ Trump’s immigration policies

Leading in some polls in the wide-open California Governor’s race as the June primary creeps closer is Republican and former Fox News host Steve Hilton.

“Steve has no chance of winning in November. The Democrats know that I’m going to win in November, and so they have to do everything they can to keep me out of that,” Bianco said.

When asked about the affordability crisis in the state, Bianco said, “Almost the entire issue of affordability in California is because of regulation, excessive regulation imposed by government. Every single regulation can be signed away with the governor’s signature.”

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“It is a drug and alcohol addiction problem that, and a mental health problem,” he said about the homelessness crisis. “Every single bit of money that is going to these nonprofits that say ‘homeless,’ zero money. You’re getting absolutely nothing. I can’t tell you that we would end what we see in the homeless situation within a year, but I guarantee you we would never see it again after two years.”

When challenged on that prediction, pointing to how the state doesn’t have the facilities to treat the number of people living on our streets, Bianco responded, “We have been conditioned to believe that buildings take five years to build. It takes 90 days or less to build a house, but in California, it takes three to five years because the government won’t allow it. The regulations that are destroying this state are going to be removed with me as the governor.”

Bianco also said California jails shouldn’t have to play the role of treatment facilities.

Although he says he supports the Trump administration and wants the president’s endorsement, Bianco has been traveling the state — meeting not just with Republicans, but Democrats and independents as well. He says all of our state government officials have failed.

The primary election is June 2.

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No clear front-runner in race for California governor, new poll shows

A new poll shows there’s still no clear front-runner in the race to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom.

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