Deer Valley Ranch Extraordinary Offer!

No, seriously!  If you book the ranch package at our favorite place on earth by April 15, 2011 for your family, you can save up to 25%.  In the words of Barney Fife, "That ain't nothin to sneeze at!"

Here are a few photos to get your attention:

Crossing Chalk Creek with Adobe

Campfire up in the Rocky Mountains



Wrangler's Breakfast - paying respects to The Stars and Stripes



White water rafting on the Arkansas - included in your package!

Cogan's Ranch ride

Happy horses, happy girls

Tiny Town and the Deer Valley Ranch Players

The lodge, the Chalk Cliffs, Mt. Princeton and Old Glory

Square dancing under the stars.

This horse loves Jeff!



Sunset over Deer Valley



Our Hero! Founder of Deer Valley Ranch, Parker Woolmington.  In his 90's and still going strong!

Give me a shout and we'll fix you right up!

Space is limited so don't drag your boots, uh, feet!

719.683.8733

888.87LEGACY

Laurie@LegacyFamilyTravel.com

Journies

I never intended to contribute to this blog only semi-annually, but here I am, almost 6  months after my last entry.  My world has changed since the day I wrote that.

If you'll remember with me, I wrote about some of my travel memories that surrounded my family as I was growing up, and specifically, my Daddy.  Just a few days after writing, I got on a plane and headed for Douglasville, Georgia, to see him.  I made 3 more trips after that to see Daddy and Anne.  It saddens me to write that the next trip I made was with my husband and daughters to attend Daddy's funeral.

On January 23, 2011 he took the greatest journey of all - he went to be with Jesus.  His crossing was not as easy as I would have like for it to be, but it was time.  His lungs just couldn't support him any longer.  With the completion of his life here on earth, a new journey began for Anne, Cindy and me.

For Anne, it's kind of back to square 1, where she was when she and Daddy began their 'more than a friendship' relationship.  Her first husband had passed away in 1986 in a plane crash, so she was single for quite a long time.  Now she's single again.  I have learned so much about grace from watching her handle this whole thing.  She could have come down pretty hard on the funeral home for forgetting to take Daddy's wedding ring off before he was buried, but she was amazingly gracious.  She seems to have the right balance of grieving and living.  Her journey is a familiar one.

Cindy and I are still getting used to the fact that Daddy's gone.  He didn't look at all like himself at the funeral home - he was actually the spitting image of our Granddaddy who died in 1966 or something like that.  Neither of us have gotten past the point where we unconsciously question if all this really happened.  We still have the tendency to pick up the phone to call and tell him something.  And the realization that you don't have either of your natural parents is a pretty tough thing to deal with. 

All these steps we must take are part of our new journey.  Grieving is a journey.  But it isn't an ordinary one where you start at one place and go straight to another.  This one involves backward steps, circles, long and drawn out stops, lots of tears, and there is no rhyme or reason. I much prefer a cruise with an itinerary that shows you what port you will be at on which day.  Grieving is SO not like that.  Sometimes it's hard to put your finger on when it begins, and I'm not sure it really ever has an end.  What do you think?

My Mama passed away in 1998 from cancer.  She was 59 years old.  Her life journey was far too short in my eyes.  Psalm 139 tells me it wasn't, so I have to believe it was her time.  After her death, the journey I began was very dark, and I experienced a kind of hopelessness that I'd never felt. Often times I would say that I wished I had died with her.  I sincerely thought that I would never be happy again.  I couldn't come up with anything that I thought would ever bring me joy.  Further along in my  journey I discovered that I was wrong - we found out just 3 months after Mama's death that our Mariah would be joining us the following January.  The journey was still very difficult, but our merciful Lord gave us some sunshine to help us traverse those darkest places.


You may think this subject inappropriate for a travel blog.  I disagree.  Our lives are filled with journies.  Some are thrust upon us, others we choose.  In either one, there are memories to be made and to be held on to.

I am grateful that every time I land in Atlanta and roll past the Delta jetbase I can almost smell the jet fuel.  It brings back vivid memories of visiting the jetbase with Daddy and running through the airplanes looking for loot - playing cards, peanuts, Delta pilot wing pins, anything left behind by a forgetful traveler or stewardess (it was okay to call them that in those days).  I am grateful that Daddy cared enough about his little girls that he wanted to show us the United States.  I can't fathom that he was philosophical about travel like I am, but nonetheless, my memory bank is in good shape thanks to him. 

Having said that, oblige me by letting me say that this journey is just a little bit less traumatic.  Every day I know that God is good.  I have come to appreciate my Stepmother in a way I would never have dreamed.  The bond between my sister and me grows steadily stronger.  My extended family gives me stability like never before.  I treasure my aunts, uncles, cousins of 3 generations, and the family that God has given us through our years of moving around.

A little analogy:  I began my journey long ago expecting to end up in, say, Florida.  Everyone goes to Florida. But as my family has changed through time, I feel like I have ended up with something kind of foreign and exotic - a Disney Cruise instead of Florida.  Both are fabulous, both can offer extraordinary rewards and experiences.  A Disney Cruise is not what I expected and can be a little scary at first. After all, my friends went to Florida. But once I get used to the idea I will begin to find its positives. For now, it is my job to make the most of my Disney Cruise.  My Florida may await me in heaven.

I have waxed on and on about life's journies.  In my next blog (which I hope will be written in less than 6 months!) I want to share with you about a journey of another kind - our recent Western Caribbean cruise on Holland America's Nieuw Amsterdam.