Making Memories Through Travel - A Different Spin



Cindy, Daddy, Me;  October 2010 - Thank you Suzy Hanzlik Photography!


Making memories with family, as you know, is the premier reason Jeff and I run Legacy Family Travel.  The past few weeks I have been making memories with my Daddy.  After working 46 years at the Delta Jetbase in Atlanta, he sustained extensive damage to his lungs in the form of pulmonary fibrosis.  Granted, none of us knows how many days we have to walk this earth, but for Daddy, this incurable disease may result in a lot less days with us than we would like.

I have been traveling back and forth to Atlanta (with and without our girls) to spend time with Daddy.  Every minute I get to spend with him goes in the memory bank that holds my most cherished treasures.  I have so many wonderful memories of my relationship with him.  And yes, so many of them revolve around travel. 

I remember once we rented a car at the Los Angeles airport.  It was right when new cars started coming equipped with that little button next to the ignition that you had to push in order to remove the key.  It took Daddy the longest time to get the key out,  meaning it took the longest time to get the trunk open to load the luggage.  Then we went to the wrong hotel.  We had reservations at the University Hilton, but we went to the Universal Hilton.  (I think he and I both have the gift of confusion.)  Cindy (my sister) and I knew when to be quiet in the backseat, and this was without question one of those times.  Daddy was frustrated - he didn't really want to hear "I'm hungry, I have to go to the bathroom, When are we going to get there?".  I still think about this day everytime I rent a car!

In Victoria, B.C., we spent the day at Butchart Gardens.  The flowers were so beautiful.  I couldn't understand why Cindy didn't seem to be enjoying the gardens as much as Daddy and me.  When we got to the hotel, the explanation came out all over the parking lot - in hind sight it is clear that she had been struggling with a migraine.  At the time, Mama probably didn't even know what a migraine was.

Other memories include the following:

• In Boston, I remember walking onto Old Ironsides, the USS Constitution, and seeing the North Church.
• In Bremerton, WA, we stood on the USS Missouri, Big Mo, in the place where Japan surrendered to GEN Douglas McArthur.
• In New Orleans, we saw the treasures of King Tut the first time they came to the United States.
• In  Washington, D.C., we visited our U.S. Senator from Georgia, toured the White House, walked through Arlington Cemetery, and saw as much of the Smithsonian as we could.
• I think the first time I had a taco was in San Diego after we spent the day at the San Diego Zoo.
• The year Walt Disney World opened, Daddy took us to Orlando.  Like many of you, we were stuck in It's a Small World for what seemed like hours due to an afternoon down pour.  For lunch that day we had really bad tuna fish sandwiches - the only thing available at the snack stand during the rain.
• And my first memory of any kind is watching a bird ride a bicycle across a wire at Busch Gardens in Tampa.  I was about 3 years old.

Daddy was always the tour guide.  He didn't have the luxury of the internet.  He would write to the Chamber of Commerce for whatever city we were to visit.  Then he would pour over brochures and newspapers to plan our adventures. Often times we would land at an airport, and he would take advantage of the bank of phones in which communication with dozens of hotel front desks was available at the push of a button.  And sometimes he had to make LOTS of calls to find a room for us.  His philosophy: stay cheap, eat well.  Consequently, there were some fascinating hotel experiences, and some equally fascinating restaurant experiences.

I looked so forward to our annual vacations.  Many of our friends would spend a week at the same beach in Florida every summer.  But because Daddy worked for Delta and we could fly for free, our vacations were far more exotic.  We never flew over the ocean, never went to Europe or the Caribbean (mostly because Mama wasn't as much the adventurous sort like Daddy - she preferred to stay over dry land, as if a crash there would be less traumatic than a crash in the ocean!).  But we saw things other kids only dreamed of or read about in books.

Seeing different parts of the United States helped mold me into the person I am today.  I believe all that travel has made me a better parent.  I remember Mama saying that the most fun she had on vacation was watching my sister and me.  At the time I thought that was kind of a stupid remark.  Now that I have my own daughters, I understand.  I sure wish she was still living so that I could confess to her that there was great wisdom in what she said.

Daddy and I were kindred spirits in our traveling.  We loved anything new, fast, high, risky, colorful, historical, or outrageous.  I was the quintessential Daddy's girl.  As I got older, things happened.  I became an Army wife, moved away. Mama passed away in 1998.  We went through a very difficult period adjusting to her death.  My relationship with Daddy, while still strong, is more adult now.  Kind of makes me sad that I grew up.  But I still have my treasure trove of prize memories.

One last memory for you:  In 1985, Jeff and I moved to Amberg, W. Germany.  In August of 1986, Mama and Daddy flew to Frankfurt, then took the train to Nurnberg where I would meet them.  I remember standing on the platform waiting for their train.  When it came in, I probably looked like I was watching a high speed ping pong match, my head whipping from left to right, attempting desperately to look into each car to spot my parents.  After an eternity, the train stopped.  What seemed like thousands of people burst from the train. On my tippy toes, I strained to catch a glimpse of a familiar face.  I didn't see that.  But what I did see through the throngs of legs was a familiar light blue suitcase being swung back and forth.  I followed the suitcase handle to the hand that was holding it, up the arm, to the shoulder, and finally to the face of my Daddy, beaming.  I took off running and hurled myself into his arms.  I don't know if I had ever been so excited to see him.  Even today, that old light blue suitcase still lives at my house.  It represents a time when travel created one of my best memories ever.

As always, I urge you to take time to make memories with the folks you love.  Especially during this holiday season, say the things you need to say, take lots of pictures, be purposeful about creating memories that will last a lifetime.  Memories don't necessarily have to include a cruise, an airplane trip or an amusement park.  Just love and let yourself be loved.

As for me, I have another trip to see Daddy in a couple of weeks.  I'm going armed with purpose; to cherish the time with him and MAKE MORE MEMORIES!

The World's Largest Cruise Night is THIS TUESDAY!

Coming up this week, Tuesday, October 12, is The World’s Largest Cruise Night! This will be an exciting night for you to bring your family and learn all about cruising.

Our event will be held in Colorado Springs at The Solaris Center (3815 N. Academy Blvd., near the intersection of Austin Bluffs and Academy, next to Harmony Bowl). Read more about The Solaris Center below.

I realize that some of you are not in the Colorado Springs area, so for you, I have launched a website for The World’s Largest Cruise Night especially for you. I will update it frequently with extraordinary offers as I get them from the cruise lines. This site will be available until the end of October. That web address is
http://wlcn.cruising.org/legacyfamilytravel

There are several special offers that will only be available for a few days surrounding my World’s Largest Cruise Night, and these WILL be available to you even if you can’t come to my Real Life World’s Largest Cruise Night event. Please check this website daily so that you don’t miss out on the family cruise vacation you have been waiting for.

 Now back to our World’s Largest Cruise Night here in Colorado Springs. During our evening together, you will be able to familiarize yourself with both Deep Water (Ocean) Cruising and River Cruising. AND by booking your next cruise with Legacy Family Travel on this night, you will save money.
• You will be able to peruse displays from my favorite family friendly cruise lines (Royal Caribbean, Holland America, and Disney), as well as a few other cruise lines that you may find appealing.
• River Cruising has become the hottest way to see Europe, Asia and South America – I will introduce you to two River Cruise Lines that are offering astounding sale prices and perks for the World’s Largest Cruise Night.

• You will be able to take advantage of limited time offers to help you realize your dream family cruise vacation. These offers will include onboard credit, reduced deposit, hundreds (in some cases thousands) of dollars off your booking, and last but absolutely not least – special group rates on select sailings.

• There will be informative cruising videos running (provided by my favorite cruise lines) on two huge television screens, refreshments for everyone, and door prizes (you must be present at the time of drawing to win). Now, these aren’t your ordinary, run-of-the-mill door prizes, rather they are restaurant gift cards, gift baskets, beautiful Disney posters for the kids – you’ll have to see it to believe it.

• And, of course, I will be available to answer any questions you have about cruising!



Legacy Family Travel is very proud to support Military Community Youth Ministries (MCYM) and amusekids! Family Worship Ministry. During our World’s Largest Cruise Night, you will have an opportunity to meet representatives of these two wonderful organizations and find out how they are positively impacting the lives of the next generation. When you allow Legacy Family Travel to help you make your family vacation dreams come true, you are contributing something valuable in at least three major ways:
- by helping the teenage children of our military cope during difficult times – not just here in Colorado Springs but all around the world. Teens of families in which one or both parents are deployed are often overlooked. They desperately need encouragement, too, and MCYM does just that.

- by giving children of all ages an opportunity to worship in their style - a service with high octane, fun music, encouraging talks with skits and hands on demonstrations, a coloring wall for the littlest ones, and people who have a heart for family worship. Amusekids! Family Worship provides all this and more!

- You will also be supporting The Solaris Center itself, which is a much needed outreach to the children and youth of Colorado Springs.

Even if you have no plans to book a cruise now or ever, may I ask you to come to our World’s Largest Cruise Night and meet the men and women who are diligently pouring into our community? You will get your socks blessed off!



Remember, Tuesday night, October 12, 6:30 – 8:30 at the Solaris Center. If you bring friends and they book a cruise with me during the month of October, I will reward you!


Thank you in advance for allowing me to be your travel agent. I appreciate your trust and your business.

Cave Dive, Part 2

Part 2 of my friend Les Knotts' cave diving story.  Just so you can picture the person this voice is coming from, here are some photos of the dive. 

This is Les and his beautiful, sweet wife, Monika.  Together the Knotts family
ministers to teens worldwide who have been affected by their parents'
military deployments.  They are affiliated with
Military Community Youth Ministries. 
If you would like to be a part of this vital ministry, please visit


www.mcym.org

Without further ado - here's the man himself:

Shortly we surfaced. It was an expansive cave. An air-filled one, for one by one, following the lead of our guide, we removed our regulators and breathed what seemed to me to be remarkably fresh air, considering the circumstances. We had eight feet of headroom here, but that narrowed toward the edges of the irregularly-shaped room. Protruding from the surface of the cave were the thick, intertwined striations of roots from the trees above, seeking the life-giving, life-threatening waters below ground. In the near distance was a bright electrical floodlight that gave some light to what would otherwise be lit in deep silence only by our lanterns. I could see the cable running to it from the surface, and wondered how often such a thing would have to be replaced, given the constant wetness of the conditions. I rolled onto my back and finned gently over to check the condition of the lamp, which turned out not to be a light at all, but a brightly lit hole to surface. That was our wonderful above-ground sun punching a serpentine aperture through to this depth, right through the rock. It was about 20- inches wide, and had a smattering of greenery lacing the porous sides. Mesmerizing. The cable I had seen was not cable at all, but a thick root that had come down from above, found only air, and was snaking its way back into the cave roof rock near the opening. Again I lingered, looking.



Others explored the length and breadth of the cave. It was quiet—reverently so. Sergio, our guide, admitted that he came here to float in the quiet darkness for long periods of isolated meditation. I could see that. I was ready for a nap, myself.


No nap was immediately forthcoming. After checking our air reserves, we submerged to continue the journey. Predictably, Heavy Breather was at 500 pounds, which is normally when we’d head for the surface. That’s in the red zone of the dial, and we had agreed to use a third of our air on the way in, a third on the way out, and keep a third in reserve. It wasn’t strictly that we had violated that rule, as we had opportunity to return to the surface after the big screen panorama to retrieve new tanks for the cavern portion of the dive. We chose not to, and now we were only five minutes from the opening, so there was not any real risk, as the other divers all had 1000 pounds of pressure each. Plus Sergio had a spare tank on his back with a spare regulator. I indicated my low air, and Sergio paired with me for the swim out.


In three minutes of swimming, it was clear that Sergio could not, indeed, swim this cave network with his eyes closed as he had earlier claimed. He searched calmly, then more vigorously for the familiar underwater markers he had used for ten years of diving in this, his favorite cave site. He did not see them. We were swimming the wrong way. Our guide jerked his head left and right, up and down. He was actively looking, but not finding, that which he sought. Sergio grabbed my harness to keep me close, then we reversed direction.


We emerged once again in the now-familiar cave, no closer to the exit than we were three minutes earlier. He got his bearings, and then he took us beneath the surface in the opposite direction from where we had just come. Sure enough, five minutes later, we were on the surface, glorious sunlight poking through the trees into our faces. Sergio admitted the obvious as we stripped out of our wetsuits: that he had been lost. We knew. He remarked about how calm we had all been, and we just shrugged. Panic never helped in difficult circumstances before, why start now? Later, Arnie asked me how much air I had in my tank when we emerged from the dangerous beauty of the cave. I had not even looked. Obviously, I had enough to get out.





*this tidbit was withheld from the group until we had emerged from the dive.

Cave Dive

Today I am posting something written by a friend.  Les and Monika Knotts have been friends of ours for about 20 years.  We (meaning my husband was the active duty one, I was the proud Army wife) served in the military together and were stationed together three times.  Les is an adventure junkie,  Monika, more subdued.  I thought nothing ever rattled Les.  But after reading this, I realized that I just had not been in the right place at the right time to see this side of him.

By way of commercial for Les and Monika, they serve with the Military Community Youth Ministry, an organization dedicated to serving the sometimes forgotten population of our military - the teenaged children of deployed service members.  Club Beyond, their primary vehicle for this ministry, has saved many a teen from a life of lonliness, fear and despair.  If you would like more information on MCYM or know of a military family who can use this type of help, please go to their website, http://www.mcym.org/.

So back to the post - Les went to Cozumel with some friends and did some scuba diving.  Here is his description of the dive.  And Thanks, Les, for letting me share this!

Cave Dive



As advertised, the water at the entry was especially clear and placid, save for two inexperienced (cocky?) divers floating on the surface after their dive. I say inexperienced because, as our dive leader noted, the male left his gear floating on the surface and dove down into the cave without his breathing apparatus. That’s zero-defect diving. After all, 320 divers have expired in Mexican caves—and most of them were experienced dive leaders*. That was, of course, what the submerged sign of the skull and crossbones was about at the cave exit at the far end.


Stalagmites and stalactites threatened to chomp any diver who had not assumed neutral buoyancy. Our dive lead had donned not one or two, but three layers for this dive, plus an additional tank for back-up air. And a hood. I had none of these additional accoutrements, and I was working my legs the entire dive in an attempt to remain horizontal (as the rest of the group appeared to be doing easily), to stay below the stalactites, and because violent and continuous kicking is the routine that I am accustomed to when I am below the surface of the water during a lifetime of seeking the life-giving air up there in the direction of my last bubbles. “Heavy Breather” is what I have been dubbed on this trip. He-Who-Kicks-Forever is my Indian name. I have been a sinker for much of my life, and I quickly revert to old habits of survival even when the means of survival are strapped to my back—a tank and BC.


And so we dive. 3000 pounds of air seems enough for the 45 minutes we plan to be looking at fossils and Karst formations. We switch on our lamps and explore side to side as we follow the guide. Our easy movement near the surface is to get us comfortable with the potentially claustrophobic conditions soon to greet us. Monika would surely hate this: Dark. Closed in. Under water. Any of us can call off the dive with a simple signal at any point. I know that I am the most likely to do so. And Monika? For her part, she has elected to call it off from the remote safety of Colorado, a thousand miles north and 6000 feet higher and drier than where we are at this cenote.


We make a slow clockwise loop beneath the surface. Rounding the stony and irregular subsurface column gave us the sense that we were going to need our lanterns for the remainder of the dive. Not so. If a man took the time to stop fussing with gauges, his perpetually flooding mask, and the constant struggle to maintain neutral buoyancy, a dramatic vista in hues of aquamarine presented itself on the left flank. An absolute cathedral of angular rays penetrated the green water after plunging through the thin canopy of deciduous greenery covering the opening like a gigantic translucent umbrella. The scene was brighter at the top, and shifting to darker, but no less luxurious, tones in layers of shifting greenish hues as the eyes were cast deeper—a visual parfait. If this had been my big screen television, I would not have changed the channel for a long time. I nearly lost the group lingering over the playing of the lights—an underwater aurora borealis, moving with gentle air currents above and the mild aquatic current below. We were moved with it.


I rejoined the group. We propelled ourselves slowly through wider and now narrower and next wider formations. Prehistoric fossils were embedded in the rock, and the guide was careful to point them out as we glided past. For the more adventurous, gaps of varying widths to left and to right beckoned for closer inspection. They explored with head, hands, and lights, hoping to see—what? To the less adventurous, the caverns appeared as gaping, open maws of death with thousands of still-forming stony teeth above and below that would grab your vest and rake at your breathing apparatus, robbing you at once of breath and means of escape. . . .

Part 2 to follow!

Beaches of the Gulf STILL open for business!

In light of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, many condominium complexes and beach homes were without a single renter this Summer.  While that is sad news for them, it is helpful news to you.  There are specials running now to try to attract tourists to the area.  Some beaches were completely untouched by the oil. 

In searching for luxury condos for a client recently, I ran across a gorgeous resort called Phoenix West.  It is fairly new, has indoor and outdoor pools complete with water slides, beautifully decorated condos, and is right on the water - Gulf side.  The Perdido Key location can't be beat for sugary white sand, clean water, and fresh seafood.  It is my favorite beach in the world!

Next time you are looking for a relaxing beach vacation, try Phoenix West at Perdido Key.  If you are looking for a Southern beach vacation this Fall, there are some amazing offers out there right now that you don't want to miss.  It would be my privilege to plan something for you and your family!

DVR: It's Not Just About The Horses

Friday's are always hard at DVR because you know that night means packing, and the next day means leaving.  We are so blessed to live right here in Colorado - we can actually visit the ranch in the Winter time, too.  Last year we stayed over there for a few nights and skied at Monarch.  DVR is a totally different place in the snow.  The mules hang around and actually do work on the ranch, but the horses are in Winter pasture.

Back to Friday: at dinner, Harold presents the Mule Certificates.  If you are blessed enough during the week to ride Sugar, Cricket, Ruth or one of the other mules, you get a Mule Certificate, entitling you to brag all year about your exploits. 

After dinner, the kids put on their skit at the old western town.  Usually the same plot, good guys live in the town, bad guys cause trouble, good guys throw them in jail, but never the same experience. 

Later in the evening there is ice cream at the lodge.  Lot of folks take their pictures up to the office to be loaded onto the DVR computer and Brock puts together a slide show.  During the ice cream reception, there is a continuous slide show of all the pictures taken that week.  It's really fun to see other people's pictures - especially if they happen to be of your family. 

Friday evening gives us a chance to say goodbye to old friends and new ones.  It's also a time to say goodbye to the staff, who by then are like family.  It's much like the end of a family reunion when you say "Y'all come see us!".

This year we are very blessed to have one of the staff girls from a few years ago going to graduate school right here in Colorado Springs.  It's like having a niece move to town.

Saturday brings a quiet breakfast as many of the guests leave before breakfast to make out of state flights.  And then, well, we have to leave. 

Another Strickland family vacation comes to a close, but for this one, we KNOW we'll do it again next Summer. 

We have committed to going to Deer Valley Ranch every year no matter what our financial situation is.  (We prefer the whole enchilada - the ranch package where everything is included.  But some years, like this one when finances are lean and mean, we do a la cart and that saves us some money.)

We  measure our growth by the ranch, both physically for the girls - we have their picture taken next to the same fence every year, and relationally for all of us. It is an anchor for our family, a fixed point.  We may be all over the place (figuratively speaking) during the school year, but during that one week of every Summer, we 4 are able to take our focus from the chaos of the world and turn it to the family that Jesus has made us.  Sometimes it is a place of healing, sometimes it is a place of respite, sometimes it is just plain fun, and sometimes it is a week of non-stop worship of the One who spoke such a beautiful place into existence.  But everytime, God shows up to each of us in the way we need that particular week.

So here is my sales pitch:  If you are looking for an extraordinary vacation for your family next Summer, please consider DVR.  I am working on a group rate for their opening week next Summer, June 4 - 11.  I hope you'll check back here for details through the year.

Thank you for taking this journey with me.  I know a week turned into 6 weeks, but that is okay with me.  The longer I can draw out my Deer Valley time, the better!

Please look at our Legacy Family Facebook page for a slideshow of our week.

Whitewater Rafting at Deer Valley Ranch???

Well, yes, sort of.  Included in the Ranch Package is a half day of whitewater rafting at a terrific rafting company called Noah's Ark.  The employees there are screened similarly to the staff at Deer Valley Ranch, so they are of similar caliber. 

For about 2 hours the Strickland and Post girls floated down the Arkansas River with Zach, a young single man that we tried to fix up during our trip.  Personally, I was trying to attach him to Niece #1, but for some reason it embarassed her so her mom made me stop.

Here are a couple of pictures from our afternoon.

After the rafting trip, and after the comedy show put on by two staff members from Noah's Ark on the bus back to their business, we headed back to DVR for yet another yummy, homecooked dinner.

I forgot to mention that Thursday lunch is one of my favorite meals.  We have a BBQ on the deck, and a husband and wife team from nearby play some beautiful mountain music.  I keep saying every year that I'm going to buy a CD, but I never remember.

Lots of things about Thursday are my favorites.  Thursday night is the Western Party.  For about an hour and a half, the wranglers and staff folks entertain the guests with stories, skits, music, and sometimes spitting (depending on the year).  We laugh more on this one night of the year than any other.  Just goes to show us all that you can have fun, entertain, laugh until you have to go you-know-where (especially at my stage in life) without any racy humor, inuendo or profane language.  Again, this is Deer Valley at its best.

Thursday night is also a sad night, because it means we only have one more day at the ranch.  But even then the plan is formulated to come back next year. . .

Wednesday in the Collegiate Peaks

'What are the Collegiate Peaks?' you may be asking.  Well, once upon a time a group of folks from the Northeast came out to survey this mountain range, and they were permitted to name them.  And they were from, you guessed it, Princeton, Harvard, Yale and Columbia.  There you have it.  For free.

Our little trip into Buena Vista last night caused us to oversleep this morning. Our niece came to our cabin in a panic because we weren’t at breakfast, and the girls were due at the barn in 15 minutes. So they quickly got dressed and headed down while I went up to the lodge to see about getting breakfast for us lazy people. Sue and her crew fixed me right up with cereal, milk, coffee, coffee cake and monkey bread. They are the most accommodating group of people I’ve ever seen.


Jeff spent the morning resting and working on his book. I worked a little bit and spent some time in the hot tub. Sage gave my shoulder muscles a work out on Tuesday at Cogan’s Ranch. She kept trying to graze, which is a no no, and I kept trying to pull her head up. So the hot tub was just the thing I needed.

Lunch was a cook out at a neighboring ranch. Wednesday lunch means hamburgers, Sue’s famous Cowboy Cookies, and John demonstrating his stellar watermelon cutting skills. He cuts watermelon faster than the eye can take in. Seriously, he cuts a quarter of a watermelon into even slices in probably 2 seconds. It is a sight to behold. Parker, the founder (pictured here), has been to every cookout lunch that we have been to. He seems to enjoy watching all the guests having such fun. 

After lunch is the Deer Valley Ranch family softball game. John’s son pitches, John catches, and everybody who wants to play can. If a kid under 10 gets out, it only counts as half an out. And I think they get something like 5 strikes. It’s so much fun to watch and probably even more fun to play. I have zero hand eye coordination, so I just sit on the sideline and cheer.

As usual, we had to leave the cookout a little bit early to get the girls back for rides. Today they were doing a Level II Instructional Ride. Level II serves to introduce and improve jogging your horse. The same wrangler has taken out the girls’ rides for a couple of days, and they really do harass him. He’s a good natured guy and seems to enjoy the attention, or at least he seems not to mind it.

One of the options available at DVR every year is to have family pictures taken. They bring in a photographer from Great Outdoors Photography who takes family portraits with no sitting fee. He also comes to Wrangler’s Breakfast on Monday and takes pictures of everyone on horseback. On Wednesdays he uses Mt. Princeton as his back drop. We have some of the most gorgeous pictures of our family from him. Each year we have the girls stand behind the rail fence in front of the lodge and he snaps their picture. That is the picture we use to gauge how much they have grown. He does incredible work. We’ve already seen this year’s pictures – as usual they are wonderful. We usually wait until we’re home and can study the pictures on-line before we order.


During the hour before dinner, the staff served appetizers on the deck. Imagine sitting under a big blue sky at the foot of a mountain having juice and appetizers made just for you. Another one of those small things that makes me feel special and appreciated.


Dinner was trout filet or chicken cordon bleu. Dessert was cheesecake which made Mariah very happy. Our sweet server brought Jeff Peach Punch. They are just too good to us.

Usually on Wednesday nights there are hayrides all around. The kids have one and the adults have one. Mother Nature poured some liquid sunshine on all of us and lit up the sky pretty good causing our hayride to be cut short. The kids had a short ride then went back to Centennial Hall to play kickball. I really don’t know how they did that inside, but I’m just telling you what #2 child told me.

Our hayride got started alright. We went up the ridge in an open bed trailer filled with hay bales. Kent, our singing cowboy from the Wranglers’ Breakfast, serenaded us with some beautiful cowboy songs on the way up. Once the truck stopped we got out and walked a few hundred feet to a campfire, sat on logs, and had hot chocolate and molasses cookies. More music and some entertaining cowboy poetry followed. The poet, Big Dave is a jack of all trades around here. I can’t even tell you what all he does, but my favorite thing he does is recite cowboy poetry. You just have to see and hear him to know why he is so popular with the guests. After he finished his second poem tonight, the rains came. And then the vans came. Always thinking of their guests, the folks got vans from the ranch and came to pick us up rather than having us get soaked while riding in the open bed trailer.

There have been years that we had the hayride on nights that were as clear as could be. On those nights you can see a gazillion stars. Us city slickers don’t get to see a night sky like that too often. It looks like God just threw a handful of glitter out there. So beautiful.

Tomorrow we are supposed to go white water rafting on the Arkansas. With rain in the forecast, it could make for an interesting day.


So we don’t miss breakfast again, I’ll call it a night. Thank you for taking this journey with me. I sincerely hope that you can experience this in person with your family soon.

Two Cowgirls and a Misfit

You would think that in our fourth year here, we would have experienced everything there is to do by now at Deer Valley Ranch. Well, as Trail Boss Harold says, if you try to do everything they offer here in one week, it’ll kill you. So Tuesday morning I got to do something brand new to me.

 Mariah and one of my nieces were going on the Cogan’s Ranch ride. This particular ride is not a trail ride like most other trail rides. The riders are permitted by a local ranch owner to walk, jog and sometimes lope their horses through a huge pasture and into a Pinion Pine forest. The fun thing is that you get to make your own trail. Jeff was planning to go with the girls, but he wasn’t feeling up to it. Early Tuesday morning I made arrangements with the wranglers for me to take his place. (And being the benevolent guys they are, they allowed me to do that. More evidence of how wonderful they are!)


The first thing that happens is that the wranglers load up the horses in trailers to drive out to Cogan’s Ranch. I find that a fascinating part of the whole thing. Horses are naturally claustrophobic, but somehow the ultra-talented wranglers over the years have managed to train Deer Valley horses and mules to just walk right in. Then we riders pile in the trucks for the short ride out to the pasture.


So for two hours, between Mt. Princeton and Mt. Antero, the girls and I got to pretend we were real cowgirls. I think my favorite part was watching these two girls that I love so much socialize with the other girls on the ride, which in itself isn’t too unusual, but they were doing it on horseback. They would gather with a few other girls, talk and laugh for a minute, and the next thing I knew, they would go flying by me to get to the front of the pack. And then they would repeat. Now call me sentimental, but when I see my girlies enjoying themselves like that, and I see the looks of pure delight on their faces, their hair trailing behind them as it is caught by the wind, it really makes me hope that their grandmothers in heaven can see how beautiful they are. It is one of the most sacred moments I experience as a mom and an aunt. God must love me a lot to let me be a part of these young lives.


On the way back to the horse trailer, our two perspective sons-in-law, uh, I mean, wrang-u-lers allowed us to jog some and lope some. I loved watching the girls lope (or gallop). When their horses lope, they revel in it. When mine lopes, I hang on for dear life! Kind of reminds me of one of those roller coasters that shoots out of the loading area at 60 mph. Rock-n-Rollercoaster anyone?


During our ride I was attempting to take some pictures. Since I was mostly snapping pictures while my horse moved, some of the pictures didn’t turn out exactly as I’d hoped. I got some good pictures of the ground, a really clear shot of a horse’s head but no rider, and I have several of the back of Sage’s head and ears. Sage was my horse for that ride. I did manage to get a few good ones, and I’ll post them here.

Shoofly the Mule and Favorite Wrangler #1 having a talk while Dustin loads somebody  into the trailer.

 

Loading the horses into the trailer at Deer Valley Ranch.

Our Super Excellent Head Wrangler, Dustin, giving us 'the talk' before we ride.

My two beauties, their horses, and Sage's head.

For these two, this is what Deer Valley Ranch is all about.

 

Our new friend Brenda and authentic-looking cowboy Matt.

A real horsewoman, Mariah and her favorite horse, Misty.

Cowboy Matt from Texas and a beautiful Colorado Sky.

A Nameless Wrangler who is a fantastic trick rider.
Yes, his horse is moving while he stands there.

One of these things is not like the other.
As promised, Two Cowgirls and a Misfit - me.

Our last picture at Cogan's Ranch.
Notice the future wrangler holding Shoofly, Brenda's mule.

We got back to the ranch in time for Mexican Buffet – a legend in the annals of Deer Valley History. I love all of Sue’s cooking, but if we had Mexican Buffet every day, I’d be happy. Another legend here is Sue’s Peach Punch. Now you have to know that every day she makes a different punch. But every day, Jeff asks for Peach Punch. Well today, one of our super excellent hostesses managed to procure Jeff a top secret glass of Peach Punch. We’ve decided to adopt her.



Tuesday afternoon was a restful time. The rain was falling a little bit, which dictated that I have a nap. So I did. I was able to work up an appetite with my nap. Dinner was homemade pizza. The kids sat at one table, the teens at another, and adults got to sit with other adults and have adult conversation.

We sat with some Texans, a native of Vermont who once lived in Texas (She told a hysterical story about tying dogs around her waist to protect her from snakes while hanging out laundry. It became even funnier when someone at the table with us didn’t understand that she tied their leashes around her waist, not the actual dogs themselves.), and a lady from South Africa. What a great dinner it was. As always, the food was over the top, and the company was just as satisfying. Sitting with a group of adults who share your faith while on vacation is a real treat. There is no profanity, there are no crude and offensive jokes. Just Jesus loving people who know how to have fun.

Guests also have the option to choose the Steak Ride on Tuesday evening. Harold takes riders up the Colorado Trail to a clearing where a steak dinner is cooked and served by the staff, followed by some Harold-driven entertainment. Harold reminds me of Wilford Brimley, the Quaker Oats man, except he has a very good sense of humor. After dinner the group makes its way back to the ranch via a pretty steep path down the ridge – lots of switchbacks, but well worth it when you see the Colorado sunset.


John’s history talk takes place every Tuesday night. We try not to ever miss that. He seems to know everything about every Colorado explorer, every Colorado town, and every Colorado mine there is. Last night was my 4th history talk to hear, and each one has been different. I’m dying to put together a home school field trip out here and let our kids experience a real historian.


After the history talk, we uncharacteristically did not go to bed but went into Buena Vista in search of a high speed internet signal. Never did find a good one, but we got some fabulous ice cream at K’s Dairy Delight.

Oh, one thing about Buena Vista. The lady who named the town was not of Hispanic descent. She named it to be pronounced with a ‘ue’ sound, like in the word Beulah, not with a ‘w’ sound. And Vista is to be pronounced with a short ‘i’ sound, not ‘veesta’. So if you think you hear the locals mispronouncing it, well, it’s us from the outside that don’t know how to say it.


And then we caught some z’s.

Marvelous Monday at Deer Valley Ranch

Monday morning always means an early wake-up time as it is the first of two Wranglers’ Breakfasts. It’s like living in the Old West, except at Deer Valley Ranch, all the work is done by somebody besides the rider. (I’m liking that!)


The basics of a Wrangler’s Breakfast are the following: get on a horse, take a ride to a beautiful meadow, eat breakfast (off of tin plates) that is freshly prepared by the extraordinary young women and men on staff, socialize with the other guests, admire the gorgeous view of Mt. Princeton, then take part in another of my favorite activities during our week here.

Kent, the cowboy minstrel of sorts (who, by the way, was a wrangler here once upon a time, met his wife here, and now works here as the official guitar player and song leader) starts out the gathering time with a song that says something like ‘If God doesn’t live in Colorado, then I guess it’s where He spends most of His time’. Which I happen to agree with, by the way.

And then, here comes Favorite Wrangler #1, riding from a clump of trees yonder with the Colorado flag whippin’ around beside him. (At this point I felt the need to slip into some cowboy-ese.) Once the Colorado flag is in place, Harold and Jake bring in Old Glory, and we have the privilege to pay due respects to her while Kent and a few others sing ‘America the Beautiful’. I just love that part. And it gets even better. Each week a wrangler is selected to share a short devotion. This week, we got to hear from a good ole Georgia boy. His main message was to let God lead, and don’t try to negotiate. He must have known I was in the crowd.

Our family loves the Wranglers’ Breakfast. The staff girls make everything feel so authentic, but they are much prettier than the Cookies of the Old West. And I am sure they are much nicer! It’s an experience that will stay with you for a long, long time.


After everybody rides back to the barn, the wranglers continue their work – they start the hourly rides right after that and work until lunch. Harold does give them the afternoon off since they have to get up so early. The last 3 years we would hear them walking down to the corral around 5:30 or so to start catching horses for the first ride out to Wranglers’ Breakfast. By then they would have already eaten breakfast, so who knows what time they had to get up, and what time the kitchen staff had to get up in order to feed them.


Monday night is Sue’s Famous Brisket night, followed by the Square Dance on the deck of the lodge. Even the kids get to take part in a few dances, then they are whisked away to do even more fun stuff with the children’s counselors. The past 3 years Jeff and I danced as much as we could – last year he gave out early so I had a lady-partner. This year, well, the Square Dance is one of the things we let go of in light of Jeff’s health. But next year – we’re there!


Another beautiful, starry night sky between Mount Princeton and Mount Antero. And another night falling asleep in our favorite place in the world.

Sunday at Deer Valley Ranch

There was a nice hike this morning that Jeff and I intended to take, but instead, we took a short walk and stopped back by the corral to visit with the horses and mules. On the way to the lodge, I snapped one of my favorite pictures here – the American flag and the lodge with the Chalk Cliffs in the background.  I hope it comes out right below here, but who knows?  And here is a picture of Jeff with a very friendly horse.

 

Around 8am the breakfast bell rang and we headed into the dining room. We had French toast and Canadian bacon for breakfast, along with oatmeal, cereal, homemade granola, yogurt, fruit, like last night there was too much to list here. And lest I forget to mention a vital part of the eating here, I have to tell you that the ladies who work in the kitchen and the dining room look like they just stepped out of the Red Door. And they are as kind as they are beautiful, without exception. Some of these young ladies are permanent dining room servers, and some rotate through housekeeping and another job that I can’t remember. I can tell you that no matter what job they have, they do it joyfully and as unto the Lord, just as Scripture admonishes us to do. Can you imagine the amount of time John, Harold, and the nice ladies in the office spend putting together a crew like this?


After breakfast the children’s program and teens’ program had orientations for the parents. Yes, I’d love to have ALL those who work in the kid/teen area as Sparky leaders!


I have to take a minute and gush over the staff. They come from all over the country to work here. And those who can come back year after year, just like the guests do. We were so afraid one of our favorite Regular Wrangulars wasn’t going to make it back this year, but much to our delight, he is indeed back for his 4th year. We have many favorite wranglers. We really love them all, and it is hard to play favorites. (I’ll take any one of them for a son-in-law.) And we love all the staff girls who are models of grace and joy.


Onto the next thing. Now, here is where Deer Valley Ranch differs from most other guest ranches. No horseback riding takes place on Sunday morning. Sunday morning is reserved for worship. Our ranch host, a third generation Woolmington, led us in a worship service right here at the foot of Mt. Princeton. The staff led the music, one of the guests gave a powerful message about being in a valley and how God can turn that around, then there was more food. Sunday dinner is oven fried chicken, homemade mashed potatoes and gravy, peas, biscuits, salad and strawberry shortcake for dessert. Yumm-O!


While all the guests were enjoying more of Sue’s cooking, the Regular Wrangulars were already down at the corral, catching horses and saddling them for the rides that began at 1:30. Rides left during this window about every 10 minutes, either instructional rides or trail rides. All rides at Deer Valley are led by one of my potential sons-in-law, and some have a wrangler in the back as well, especially if the ride is a kids’ ride. It boggles my mind to think of how many things these young men have to be good at – riding, encouraging, protecting, nurturing, teaching – it seems like everything I talk about regarding the ranch involves a list of Godly characteristics.


At my insistence, Jeff did not have one of his favorite horses – Hondo or Crockett. He had a nice mule named Shoofly. I am not too keen on the idea of something under Jeff getting easily spooked and throwing him and his thinned out blood to the ground, and mules just seem to be more sure of themselves than horses. I had one of my favorite horses, Steamboat. Our wrangler was the Head Wrangler, and he was assisted by a great wrangler from the state of Alabama, who I had a great conversation with about Milo’s Sweet Tea. This ride was a refresher ride. We reviewed skills we had learned in previous years – walking, jogging, loping, not falling off, etc.


In the kids’ ride, Mariah had Adobe and Evie had Sugar, another mule. That made them both happy! The wranglers try very hard to give folks their favorite horse or mule when they can. Some horses and mules are the favorite of about a dozen people, and to be fair, everyone gets a turn with their favorite. The lesson to be learned here is that the wranglers are most concerned about safety, not with making everybody happy. Believe it or not, guests sometimes forget this and are less than kind to our sweet boys. I feel very protective over the wranglers, and it frustrates me when they are mistreated.


And then, more food. Sue and her ladies had prepared a sandwich buffet with homemade cookies for dessert. Delicious!


And then, more worship. One of my favorite activities here is the Sunday night Hymn Sing. I’ll have to admit that I’m not crazy about some of the songs (I know lots of folks love anything by the Gaithers, I don’t). But I love that the people here share my heart in appreciation for this beautiful setting and the One who created it.


After the Hymn Sing the teenagers, wranglers, some families and one 11 year old (ours) went for ice cream in Buena Vista.


And now, in the coolness of the mountain night air, I’m turning out the lights. Tomorrow is Wrangler’s breakfast. We have to be at the barn at 6:45am. Good night.

Our Deer Valley Tradition

We learned early on in our military career that we needed to establish traditions for our family. So we did. And, of course, our traditions often involve travel. Like this one.


Beginning in 2007, we have spent a week each summer at Deer Valley Ranch in Nathrop, Colorado. Deer Valley Ranch was founded 55 years ago by a Young Life staffer with a dream of a family guest ranch. Parker Woolmington moved his family out from the northeast to work for Young Life, and eventually built this ranch. Parker’s son, John, and daughter, Sue, still run, and own the ranch, along with Sue’s husband, Harold. For the past several years, the third generation has begun taking more responsibility for the ranch. Even after all these years, it is 100% family friendly. There is nothing that goes on here that isn’t morally appropriate for every age.

We love Deer Valley Ranch. To us it is a home away from home. Yes, it is only 3 hours from our house, but it feels like we are half way around the world. (Although this time we’ll be in and out of Colorado Springs and our house due to Jeff’s numerous doctors' appointments resulting from his latest pulmonary embolisms.)


I thought I’d try to bring you along with us during our week here. Because of Jeff’s recent stay at Penrose St. Francis Resort and Spa (that is what he calls the hospital where he was a patient), this year is a little bit different than most. We’re taking it a bit slower for 2010. No long hikes, spirited horses or multi-hour rides for Jeff, and therefore, me.


So here are the highlights of Saturday:


We arrived at Deer Valley in time for the Saturday night dinner, but more importantly, the Saturday night Dessert Buffet. The Saturday night meal is my favorite of the whole year because of what follows. Sue and her staff of gifted college-aged young women whip up, from scratch, Key Lime Pie, Snickers Pie, Oreo Ice Cream Pie, Chocolate Chip Mocha Pie, Raspberry Cream Cake, Chocolate Dream Cake (or something like that – it really IS a dream come true for a chocoholic like me), Buttermilk Pie, Chocolate Covered Strawberries and pretzels – I can’t even remember what else. Oh my goodness, what a spread. And at my age, ‘what a spread’ means two entirely different things as one spread contributes to the other. None the less, it was fabulous, just as it has been the 3 years before.


After dinner we waddled down to the corral to see Harold, Sue’s husband and the Deer Valley Trail Boss. Harold love mules, especially Jake. He also likes horses, but he loves his mules. We had about a 1 hour orientation with Harold and Jake, in which Harold demonstrated some do’s and don’ts of the equine world. Simple things like you don’t kick your horse to make him go forward while pulling back on the reigns. Yeah, that might be simple for some of you, but I, of the novice group of riders, need to hear that at least once every year. We had a chance to be introduced to most of the Wranglers, the young men who handle the horse riding part of Deer Valley. In our family we call them ‘Wrangulers’, and they are either Regular Wrangulars or Irregular Wrangulars. The regular ones are here for the Summer, the irregular ones are here for a few days, having served as a regular wranguler before and just can’t stay away. For the reader’s sake, I’ll try to be normal and write ‘wrangler’.


We love the wranglers. They are incredible with ALL the riders - all skill levels, all ages, and all temperaments, even the really grouchy riders we’ve seen in our 3 years past. Every year, including this one, we are amazed that Harold has managed to put together such a stellar team of wranglers. And, as our Aunt Susan said last year, the wranglers are a potential son-in-law smorgasbord. Between us we have 4 daughters that will, at some point, be of marrying age. We feel it is our duty to canvas creation in search of the perfect husbands for them. And let me tell you, this is a GREAT place to look. Yes, it embarrasses our daughters and the wranglers, but truth be told, we mostly use this as one more way to pay high compliments to these young men who love Jesus and serve Him well. We’re not really serious about the whole son-in-law thing. Sort of.


So, back to Saturday, after Harold’s orientation, we had a meeting all the way up the hill at Centennial Hall with John. His 45 minutes was spent going through the week’s schedule and answering questions from first time and returning guests. Here is a testament to Deer Valley Ranch: This week, all of the guests except a few are returning guests. Many of us return year after year. One of the women here this week drives down from Montana every year that her schedule allows, by herself, to come to the ranch. And she is over 90 years old! I met a young lady last night who told me she has been here 11 times, starting when she was 5 months old. At the end of this rabbit trail we find the point: once you come here, you’ll want to come back, so in John’s meeting, you’ll often know a lot of what he’s going to say before he says it. Things like drink lots of water, give yourself time to acclimate, don’t go hiking alone without telling someone where you are going (I know from personal experience that this one is a good tip to remember), don’t climb the chalk cliffs, etc.


The teens had some sort of activity last night, but since we don’t have teens in our cabin, my family hit the hay around 10pm.


Stay tuned for Sunday . . .