Ostrich Land ... Yep, that's right, I said Ostrich.

I've always wanted to go to Ostrich Land. Well, always ... after I heard about it. I think I must have seen it on PBS, but I'm not sure. It was apparently in the movie Sideways, which I don't remember.

My sister left my nephew, with my parents, recently. It was for a few days, while they went to see my niece graduate from NYU. (We are going to celebrate that, in Ojai, this weekend! Unfortunately, there were very few tickets available for the actual ceremony.)

Anyway, we thought it would go by faster for Benjamin (who is 7) if we took a day trip somewhere. We decided on Solvang and OstrichLand U.S.A.

Turned out that OstichLand is only about 10 outside of Solvang. 

 

The feeding pans ...

Definitely, click to enlarge the feeding instructions, but basically, you hold on to only the handle for dear life! When they peck at the food, if it's windy, the dust up of food will definitely blow in your face.

Here is my dad, feeding the ostriches and cracking up!

It was very windy that day ...

After watching how aggressive the ostriches were, while my Mom and Dad were feeding, Ben was pretty much against the idea of feeding Ostriches. Then I told him, I would cover his hands with mine ...

A gust of wind (below) blowing the food dust, back in our faces. The funny thing is, was when I got back to the car and licked my lips ... 
Let's just say, I now know what ostrich food tastes like. My advice, skip the lip gloss. The food sticks. 

This video was taken by another guest. It gives you some idea, but I think that the day we were there, they were even crazier!

You probably know, that ostriches are the largest and fastest birds. They weigh up to 350 pounds. But, did you know they live up to 75 years? And, they they co-parent, which is nice. 

The ladies sit on the eggs during the day, and guys at night, which is why the males have the darker coloring and the females blend with the sand, for during the day. Nature ... so smart. ;)

Ben decided to take a break from feeding and do some photography ...

They also have Emus at OstrichLand ...

I think these were baby Emus.

As it says on the sign above, the emus are much more gentle. Ben was a fan of that trait. (The bowls of food are a buck a piece.)

Ben and the baby Ostrich ... so cute!

Isn't she cute?

Here is younger one. The full grown ostriches are 8 or 9 feet tall, and the little ones grow a foot a month ... so with her head up, she was maybe 6 months old? 

Back in the shop ... the meat they sell there is NOT from OstrichLand. That would be weird and awful.

Ostrich eggs are equivalent to 24 chicken eggs and are 3 or 4 pounds! I didn't by any, but I did by a few black feathers for my Hollywood glam bathroom. ;)

I love doing something I've never done, or going to a place I've never been. This would definitely go in that category. 

After Ostrichland, we headed into Solvang to walk around and have aebleskievers ... Yum!!! Oh, and we ended up at one of the nearby California Missions, so I will post that later. 

In case you in the neighborhood ...

OstrichLand USA  
4 $ for adults 
1 $ for kids 12 and below
It opens daily, 10 am - dark
Here is Website Link

We live in a wonderful world

that is full of beauty,

charm and adventure.

There is no end to the adventures that we can have

if only we seek them

with our eyes open.

~Jawaharlal Nehru