The Avocado Capital of the World!

With only minor travelling difficulties, the whole US team has congregated in Fallbrook, CA which happens to have the distinct status of being "the Avocado Capital of the World." We are being generously hosted by Sandia Creek Ranch Riding Center families.

Last night when Robyn and I arrived we were greeted by Mary Collier, a SCR mom and were taken to dinner in "Old Town." We found the most amazing and quite authentic Mexican restaurant. We got back to the Collier's house and met up with Susan Thomas who had gotten in earlier in the day. We were all exhausted from the day of travelling and the time change (east coast to west coast) so we promptly crashed! This morning Mary treated us to homemade strawberry filled crepes.... yum!!!

This afternoon we met up in La Jolla with the rest of the team that had flown in today- Kelsey Hamilton, Alexa Wolf, & Kaleigh Quinn. La Jolla looks over the Pacific and has some of the priciest real estate in the US. As a team building exercise we got to go sea kayaking in tandem kayaks. We saw a pod of dolphins, sea lions, and lots of really long strands of kelp. We got to kayak up to the entrance of the sea caves but couldn't go in because the water was too rough today. We even got to see Dr. Seuss' house which sits right on the cliff overlooking the bay.

This evening we rode horses at the Wylie's ranch so that I could get an idea of each rider's style. They have so many different types of horses so it was a wonderful variety and really gave me a feel for what horses to pair the girls up with in New Zealand. We had a wonderful BBQ to finish the night off.

Tomorrow we go to Palm Springs to meet up with the Modern Pentathlon coach and have a training session on his horses... should be fun!