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 . . .