LOS ANGELES TIMES
LA.C M BY MELISSA HECKSCHER>LA.COM
YOUR GUIDE.
YOUR LIFE.
nightlife > perfect date
It's easy to forget that not that long ago,
California was America's Frontierland, filled
with cowboys and pristine rolling hills.
Well, now's the time to remember.
Strap on a pair of cowboy boots, don your
best (or only) cowboy hat, and try this cowboy-theme date.
Date region: South Bay. Total date time: 3 to 6 hours. Total date cost: $120 and up.
SADDLE UP
From the road, you'd never see the gently rolling hills that give Rolling Hills Estates its name, but a few horse clip-clops off the street and you'll discover a whole new side to the South Bay. There are over 100 miles of equestrian trails - many of them lined with white-picket fences and passing by green horse-filled pastures - crisscrossing the hills. Cowboy Boot Camp, run by Jim Moore, offers daytime, sunset and moonlight trail rides for every skill level through Rolling Hills Estates and around the Palos Verdes Peninsula. You have to admit: Nothing's more romantic than seeing the ocean on horseback.
> What: Cowboy Boot Camp.
> Information: (310) 872-9421, www.CowboyBootCamp.net
> Cost: $60 per person per hour.
EAT LIKE A COWBOY
All that time in the saddle is bound to build up an appetite. Why not combine a heartymeal with your ride? Cowboy Boot Camp can provide a saddlebag lunch to eat on the trail. Or, if you'd rather wait until you've gotten your land-legs back, stick around the stable and enjoy a Western BBQ Cookout. The owners will cook your meat over a charcoal fire while you play horseshoes, cow-rope bales of hay and listen to Western music.
> Cost: $55 - $75 for cookout; $15 for saddlebag lunch.
