Journeys›Photograph

Fish and Horses near Lake Berryessa

·Napa County, California·#summer#family trip#kids#aquarium#horseback-riding
Two children from behind watch many colorful fish in a large blue aquarium filled with coral.

Fish first, horses second — that was the order the weekend took, down in eastern Napa County around Lake Berryessa, a 20,700-acre reservoir about 30 miles north of Vallejo. Twelve miles long, four wide, Bureau of Reclamation water that manages to hold warmwater bass and coldwater trout in the same lake.

The fish the girls actually got close to were behind glass, though: a tank the size of a wall, blue tangs and yellow-tailed things streaming past in every direction over the reef rock. The two of them just stood at the glass, the little one's purple headband barely reaching the bottom of the coral.

Then horses. Helmets went on and each kid got walked around the dirt yard — ours in pink on a big chestnut with a white blaze, one hand on the saddle horn and the other parked on her hip like she'd been at it for years. A man in a plaid shirt and a felt hat led the horses around by the halter rope, one at a time, the whole yard full of families waiting their turn.

Afterward, three girls on the bench outside the office, arms over shoulders, one still wearing her helmet, dust on everyone's jeans.

A man in a hat assists a child on a black horse, with other riders and an office building visible at a ranch.A young child sits on a brown horse, holding the saddle horn, with other people, stables, and trees in the background.A young child in a pink helmet smiles while sitting on a brown horse at an outdoor stable with trees.A child in a pink helmet rides a brown horse in an outdoor arena with trees in the background.A child in a pink helmet sits on a brown horse with a white blaze at a tree-lined ranch.Three smiling children sit arm-in-arm on a bench against a wooden wall.Three young girls are sitting arm-in-arm on a wooden bench against a light wooden wall, smiling at the camera.Three young children sit side-by-side on a wooden bench against a light-colored wall, with a backpack.

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