One week in the country

We have been living in Ramona for a week now and as I reflect on all the new things in my life the thing that stands out the most is that I really don't care for long commutes. I've always liked road trips because they usually involve a destination or ending point when you get back home, but traveling in my car up to 100 miles each day (depending on how many times I have to go up and down the mountain) is really exhausting and sometimes obnoxious. When the kids are quiet or having a good time it's no problem, but when they are fighting and screaming, the road seems to never end. I have had moments when I felt like screaming "Don't make me pull this car over!" but I can't really threaten them with that since the roads are too dangerous for me to actually stop the car and give a lecture. :)
Another thing I have reflected on is how "country" Ramona really is. When you finally get out to the Country Estates it feels jut like RB (without all the shopping centers, but the same neighborhood feel). I have experienced some things this week that prove to me that I do live in the country. Here is a few of the things that I have seen when driving to and from civilization:
1. There are horses in almost every yard
2. I got stuck behind a milk tanker as it blocked the two lane road to back into the cow farm
3. I've seen the cattle spread out over huge fields
4. I noticed how the farmers move them around to graze on different patches of grass
5. I saw a new baby calf in the field two days ago, it was really tiny compared to it's mom
6. There are two chicken/egg ranches along the drive
7. Sometimes the chicken farms stink and sometimes they don't
8. There are more bird species on my back deck than I've ever seen in my life
9. I hear the coyotes howling all the time (it's really creepy late at night)
and finally, you know when you live in the country when...
10. You drive by the small market in the Estates and someone has tied up their horse at the hitching post to go inside the market. I thought I was in an old western movie for a second there. I wonder though, how do they carry the market items back home and hold onto the reigns at the same time?

I am slightly intrigued by the whole farming lifestyle. It is something I have never been exposed to much in my sheltered Carmel Mtn Ranch upbringing. It is really impressive when you see hundreds of cows grazing, knowing that someone has to move them all in and out of the fields. I don't think I will be buying any horses or livestock soon though. It seems like a lot of work. :)

Still no camera link, I really miss my computer and am so sad that this post didn't have any visual references.