Sleigh ride was a perfect fit during Saturday snowfall. 250News photos

Prince George, B.C. – Living in this part of the world provides an abundance of opportunities for pleasurable experiences in natural surroundings.

And many people have taken advantage of the excellent winter weather in the central interior to go for a sleigh ride this holiday season. They’ve been heading up Cranbrook Hill to Noah’s Ark Adventureland, where teams of horses have been taking the sleighs out six times a day over Christmas, and will continue to give rides until the end of February. Just about right for Winter Games visitors.

A coating of fresh snow and a temperature just below freezing provided ideal conditions for an outing on Saturday.   Of course the facility also has a number of other attractions, not the least of which are the more than two hundred animals of all sorts and sizes that inhabit the petting zoo and surrounding corrals and barns on the grounds.

There are plenty of horses. Some like to get up close and friendly.

Others enjoy a scratch so much that they appear to have a contented smile on their face.

We also ran into a couple of ostriches, Mufasa and Zambia by name. The female, Zambia, was quite mild-mannered while the big male, perhaps 9 feet tall, was very serious about controlling his territory, bending down on his legs and fanning his immense feathers out as far as possible in an apparent attempt to make himself look big and imposing. He did not appear as though he’d enjoy a quip about the two turkeys that escaped the Christmas dinner table.

There is a wide array of animals, four and two-legged, that you and the kids can enjoy. And of course the big attraction, the sleigh rides, provide an opportunity to head out into the tranquility of a natural setting which seems like a world away but is only a few minutes from town.