Camels for Sale

Hi Everyone,
I added some new text to the website which outlines a few of our wonderful camels we have for sale. Tomorrow, I'm going to add photos! I love doing the photos... the camels are such hams in front of the camera!

Camel Dairy Diary: VISITING WITH HUELL HOWSER

Camel Dairy Diary: VISITING WITH HUELL HOWSER

VISITING WITH HUELL HOWSER

A California Treasure helps us turn the Oasis Camel Dairy into California Gold.

I've never written about our visit with Huell Howser. Huell came to visit our farm seven years ago before I knew about blogging or facebook or instant messaging...
He is re-airing our California Visiting episode March 22 at 7:30 p.m. on KCET and KPBS.

We ran into Huell at the Western Fairs Association annual convention this past January where he announced the beginning of a new series: California's Golden Fairs, set to debut in 2011, the 200 anniversary of American Fairs.

Seeing Huell again was fantastic. He hugs like a big teddy bear and his smile melts write through to your spine. Getting to talk with him reminded me of the great time we had with Huell here at Oasis Camel Dairy seven years ago... an encounter that started us on the road to hosting tours of our dairy and literally put us on the map.



I am trying to remember how Huell found us in the first place. I think the story goes back to fall of 2000 (I think) when Gil took Clyde to the Family Expo at the California State Fairgrounds. It was Clyde's first ever camel ride gig. A camel ride is not all that uncommon at fairs and festivals but Gil had lots of signage about our fledgling Oasis Camel Dairy. Gil met a scout from California Gold at the event and talked to him about our Camel Dairy and our Camel Milk Soap.

Intrigued, the scout took the information and a couple of bars of milk and honey soap back to Huell. A few months later we got a phone call from the man himself. I remember it was pretty surreal to hear that famous smooth, southern man on the other end of our telephone. We set a visit date for some time in February. We planned to milk camels and go for walks through the pastures... unfortunately, we wouldn't have any new babies.


As the visit date grew closer, the weather was not cooperating. In addition, none of our camels were currently milking... we were still waiting for new babies. So I tentatively called Huell and asked to change the date. I knew that would be a pretty big deal... filming schedules are very structured and changing one day can effect countless others. Huell was reluctant to change the date. Luckily, he did have another opening for a film visit in late May. I was ecstatic ... we should have a new calf born by then! So Huell agreed to wait.

Three days before Huell's arrival, Cleopatra gave birth to Guliver. Cleopatra wanted nothing to do with being a mother (and still doesn't) so we took Guliver into the garage and began to bottle raise him.


We were a bit nervous when the day came to meet Huell. We still felt uneasy about "putting off" such a big star and hoped he would see Guliver and deem him worth the wait. Guliver was in a giant "play pen" when Huell and his camera crew drove up. It was love at first sight!


Huell barely had time to shake hands and say hello before he exclaimed, "Oh my gosh! Look at that little guy! Get the camera - lets start right away!" The day was fantastic. We milked camels, we took a beautiful stroll through lush, spring green pastures and met all the animals on the ranch including Stormy the wonder sheep and Scarlet who, thanks to Huell, will forever be known as the "camel dog".


Huell is a great interviewer. His questions are genuine and intelligent. But beyond being very smart, it is his infectious enthusiasm that makes his shows so watchable. And that accent.... priceless! I can listen to that man all day long!


Near the end of the day, Huell sat down with us, cameras off and very candidly offered his sage advise. He said "listen you two, you need to get your tours going right away. My viewers like to visit the places I visit and they are really going to want to come here."


Well, Gil and I had been thinking about offering tours, we just weren't sure what the tours would be. Huell leaned back, opened his arms wide and looked around, "its all here you guys. Just be yourselves and share what you love and the people will love it!"


So that's what we did. Two weeks after Huell first aired our Oasis Camel Dairy Visit on his show, he held our first public tour. It was everything he said it would be. Gil and I just were ourselves. We shared our animals with our new friends. We walked and talked and brought animals out of their pastures and enclosures to meet and be touched by our guests. We laughed and joked and hugged camels.


And Gil and I have been doing tours here at the Oasis Camel Dairy ever since. So many of our visitors come to the dairy to see Baby Guliver (who is now gorgeous, huge and living at the Living Desert Zoo in Palm Desert.) Luckily, there are always new dairy residents to meet: new babies (we have one due in the next two weeks!) New camel dogs (Noodle the Chiweenie is a big favorite! Her little feet never touch the ground.. everyone just wants to hold her!) and more.

The question we get asked most often about our visit with Huell Howser is probably the one you are asking yourself right now. So, what is he REALLY like? I'll tell you. He is really that guy you see on television. He is enthusiastic, full of energy and very positive. He is a gracious host, a magnificent guest and I am very happy to say, a dear friend.

be sure to tune in to KCET or KPBS March 22 at 7:30 p.m. to watch us with Huell Howser on California Visiting. Visit our website: http://www.cameldairy.com/ for more information about tours, upcoming events and latest news.

GOING POSTAL... in a good way

Today's nonstop sunshine was punctuated with a truly action packed trip to the post office!
Gil is away from the farm for the week. He took our cow, Holy, and our donkey, Liberty, to Santa Cruz to be bred. After that, he is headed off to Yuba Sutter to an amazing private ranch who is getting knee deep in new camels and needs some training help.

I am home holding down the dairy... which I do love to do. The weather feels like early spring and every chore; from feeding animals, cleaning the fish pond, mowing, weeding.. even hanging laundry is a joyful excursion into sweet sun-drenched heaven.

Before Gil left, he boxed up three very special, overseas parcels and asked me to mail them when the post office opened after Presidents day. I am always kind of squinky about international mail... what insurance to do, what form to fill out... Gil assured me it would be a snap... all the info was already printed on the mailing labels.

So today, on my way to pick up hay, I grabbed the boxes and took them to town. I stood in line with a variety of forms and, being unsure of which ones would be required, I decided to fill out all of them.

After rifling through my purse for a pen (I was thrilled to dig out my Maricopa County Fair pen... it has nice ink flow I began copying the information from the labels to the forms.

That's when I switched abruptly from walking on sunshine to panic. Gil had labeled the two parcels traveling to his niece and brother in Israel in HEBREW!

For those of you are are unfamiliar with the language, the letters are dots, squiggly lines, dashes and more squiggly lines. They are also written backwards... right to left instead of left to right.

I laughed out loud and asked, "I don't suppose anyone here speaks Hebrew?" To my astonishment a lovely young blond girl in her very early twenties responds, "I do.. a little."

So she joined me at the counter and together we sort of phonetically figured out what the addresses might be. What are the odds! It was actually a lot of fun and she knew the language very well.

My panic cloud lifted as I walked to the truck loaded down with hay, flipping through the mail in the warm sunshine. I paused to open a beautiful red envelope addressed simply to "Clyde the Camel" at the Oasis Camel Dairy. Inside the envelope was a beautiful Valentines Day card from Floyd and Dianna from Carlsbad; Clyde's unofficial, self appointed, totally enthusiastic "fan club". Being a HUGE fan of Clyde myself, I am very proud of his popularity.

Tucked inside the card was a check for $50.00 with a note that read, "Clyde's Valentine gift - let him "treat" the herd! I turned right around and went back to the feed store and picked up some oat hay and orchard grass... special treats indeed. What a sweet gesture from such lovely people. Gil and I (and Clyde) will enjoy paying this forward.

This may seem like an odd little day. But that is the beauty part... it's really pretty much a normal day around here!

Mozel Tov!

CAMELBACK AMERICA PART 2 ... Exploring Personal Limits

Although the official date and location has not been set, our camel trek is most definitely on.
The preliminary response has been so overwhelming, funny and positive even at this early stage, there seems to be no turning back now.

Being away from our farm for two solid months while we "trek away" seems to me as though it would possibly create strain here at home. But one month... that seems quite do-able. I am trying to talk Gil down to one month.

We have determined from the get-go that this trek is NOT to be a test of the camels' limits. They will not be asked to go without food or water. The trek will be an adventure. And the only limits to be tested will be ours... the human participants. And as Gil and I discuss the trek in more detail I am discovering, I have limits.

Please forgive me if you were looking for a more GI Joe, Survivor type rendering... my mom took my sister and I camping at National Parks as a kid... but that was long, long ago.

Here are some of the "limits" we've discussed so far.....

Eating nothing but dried dates and camel's milk:
Bedouins crossing the desert have done this for centuries. I am kind of excited to do it. I teeter on the brink of high cholesterol and think this might actually be an awesome way to counteract it! Gil and I are going to get complete physicals and blood work done before the trek so we can compare our condition before and after.
We are also planning on a trek-less trial... perhaps at the State Fair or the Riverside County Fair? We can lock ourselves up in our Camel Dairy Adventure Exhibit for the run of the fair and eat nothing but dried dates and the camel milk we "milk" during the run of the fair. How is that for weird fair food. Riverside is 10 days... State fair is 18 days! Hmmmm. I am anxious to try either one!

Heat:
well, that one might not be too bad. We are planning the trip for fall or spring. And I like heat. I do. As long as its a dry heat. And I'm sure the desert will accommodate that.

Cold:
I'll bring a sweater

Lots and lots of walking:
At the risk of sounding like a Tums commercial, "that's something my body needs anyway!" My doctor has prescribed lots of walking for me. What ever my health issue is, hip pain, some joint and leg pen become pretty unbearable when I don't walk regularly. I can walk the camel ride for six hours and feel better than if I stood at a came display for one hour.

Dirty hair, face, feet, etc:
Did you know that it isn't good for your hair to be washed daily? It robs your hair and scalp of natural oils. So, going long stretches without washing your hair is in actuality a type of spa treatment. (and that will be my mantra every day) And besides, the many years of Survivor contestants have eased us into the wilderness grunge look quite nicely.

Chapped lips:
errrrr. I hate that! This might more than I can stand. Chapped lips are the worst! Gil has great desert lips and just doesn't have a problem w/ any of that sort of survival stuff. But I am so dang white! And I have yet to find a single lip treatment that doesn't make chapped lips worse the moment it wears off! (I am open to suggestions people!)

No bathroom:
Ok that's it! I'm out! When Gil and I started talking about the "facilities" of the great outdoors... we definitely hit a snag. I just can't see squatting in the bushes for anything other than to secretly observe nature. And even then, I would probably not squat, I would sit. So there it is, my limit. I am not a bear and I do not do THAT in the woods or the desert.
So Gil and our friend Lori and I sat down to a brainstorming meeting (translation: pizza dinner at Momma Rosa's in Ramona... best pizza EVER I might add) to figure out a solution to the bathroom dilemma.
All I need is a seat and some privacy. That's it. And some paper. A seat, some privacy and some paper.
So here is what we're thinking. I can get one of those camping toilets! Not like a porta potty or anything like that... I can rough it a little better than that! No, just one of those folding thingy's w/ a toilet seat and a bag! There you go! There's my seat! The camping toilet would be very light weight and could pack on one of the camels. The trek is back on!
But what about the privacy. I know we may be in the middle of nowhere and Gil can just turn his back... but still. What if we aren't in the middle of nowhere? In fact if you think about it, it is pretty much nearly impossible to be int he middle of nowhere ANYWHERE in the U.S.!
So here is Gil's idea. One of the camels will be the "bathroom" camel. We'll call him Lu or maybe John. On the lower edges of John's saddle pack, would be long swatches of material that can be rolled up or down like a window blind. When I need to use the bathroom, we simply stop, I set up my toilet under John and we drop the curtain.
Is he SERIOUS?! How do you train that?! As intriguing (and functional) as the idea sounds, I would sure hate to be in the middle of something when the camel decides to go. Or for that matter.... to GO!
So here is my idea. I will purchase one of those little, nylon kids folding play tents! They fold up in seconds (like those car windshield thingys) don't weigh much and "spring" into action as needed! Ta Da! I will make my own, automatic, "johnny on the spot" So now I will search for the perfect springy kids play tent.
.... the trek is on!

CAMELBACK AMERICA part one ... the BIG IDEA

Gil is full of big ideas. And I love him for that. If it wasn't for Gil and his big ideas, we wouldn't be a camel dairy, we wouldn't have this ranch and our lives would not be as interesting and rich as they are.

But this idea is VERY BIG. He mentions it every once in a while, kind of like... wouldn't it be neat? But then reality crashes in and we are busy doing so many things... until it drifts in again... wouldn't it be neat.

Years before we ever squeezed out our first drop of camel milk from our first milking camel, Latifa, Gil was intrigued by the idea of Bedouins crossing the Sahara Desert, surviving months at a time with nothing to eat but milk from the caravan's camels. Now that we are milking camels regularly, I think Gil's big idea spends a lot more time in the front of his mind.

As we add more and more milking camels to our herd, Gil revisits the idea from time to time. "We could do this" He'll say. "We can make a desert trek right here in the U.S. for two months and bring Goldie and Tula with their babies for milk, and ride the geldings like Boo-boo, Camelot, Jamal... there are a lot of great candidates. He talks about having a camel outfitted w/ solar power and web-up links to bring the world along on the adventure. He talks about visiting schools and historical sites along the way. He usually loses me more than a bit when he mentions things like Bedouins washing there hair in camel urine and burning the dung for campfires.

The last time Gil uttered the words, "wouldn't that be neat" was this past October, while we were driving to Ridgecrest California with the Wild West Turkey Stampede to perform at the Desert Empire Fair.

Winding our way through gorgeous, endless desert, Gil gazed out the window for a long time before turning to me and saying once again, "we could do this... we could really do this"
And as I looked out the window across the quiet desert, I have to say for the first time, I also thought; wouldn't that be neat. We could do this, we have the camels now and it would be an amazing adventure.

Time to start planning....

Oasis Camel Dairy working on our web store

Still in love with our new website but not thrilled with some of the features.

The web store is problematic.

It is fancy and flashy but the shipping rates just don't fit our needs.

The store wants to add a shipping price per item; the first item being the bulk of the charge and then a small price for each additional item.

The problem is, each soap is a different item! So if you want one each of all seven varieties, you pay the initial fee SEVEN TIMES!

So here is our temporary fix:

We don't allow the store computer to calculate ANY shipping. Instead, simply go through the store, select your soaps and other items and then YOU can select the appropriate shipping fee after that.

Stop by http://www.cameldairy.com and check it out. Let me know what you think!

Thanks

Nancy