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Sunday, July 2, 2006
We were scheduled to meet the rest of the Blount clan at the Tarryall River Dude Ranch at around 4 pm.
The Tarryall is a family owned and operated dude ranch. Lisa and Kevin Tesch are the owners and in addition to their own children, they have a staff of college kids assisting them and providing excellent service. Kelvin, their oldest son, is the head wrangler and his wife, Bridget, is the head chef. Kelvin and
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Bridget have three darling little children --Wyatt, Carson and Harlie Ann (and have another one on the way!) -- who all live on the ranch year round. The kids are all 5 and under and they are the cutest little cow hands ever! The Tesch's second son Kurtis owns and operates a stone masonry business in nearby Flourissant and occasionally helps out at the ranch. Kody their third oldest son and has one more year in college and is studying to be a secondary math teacher and plans to continue working at the ranch in the summer. He currently works in the office and does all kids of things around the ranch. Klayton is their youngest son and is 14. He works all around the ranch doing all kinds of jobs. We arrived at the office at 3:30 pm and were shown to our cabin. It is a great cabin with two rooms and a bath on each side of a large sitting area complete with a fireplace. We will share that cabin with Alan and Mary and the girls for the week while ME and Pop Pop will settle into a two room suite in the main lodge near the dining hall. We settled in and the others soon arrived from the airport.
We met for dinner at 6:30 and a wonderful dinner of flank steak was served. After dinner we received an orientation for the week. We are all so excited about all the fun opportunities we will have this week -- it will be hard to know what to choose to do!
The kids soon met some other children that are here for the week and were quickly off playing at the playground, in the tepee, and in the petting zoo. There is a wonderful miniature horse in the petting zoo named Chocolate that the kids seem to love. There is a little girl named Melody from Ohio that is about Maria’s age she has joined the girls and fit right in with them. There is also a little boy Ryan from California that is the same age as Grayson so they have already challenged each other for a game of pool in the Rec Hall. It is looking to be a good week. We decided to turn in early to get ready for an exciting and busy week.
Monday, July 3, 2006
This morning we arose at 7 am and prepared for our first day of riding. After a delicious breakfast at
8:00, we met in front of the lodge for our horse orientation. Kelvin, the head wrangler, gave us safety pointers as well as just general horse riding knowledge. He sent us off in the direction of the barn once the lesson was over and we were all assigned a horse for the week. My horse’s name is Seven; Mark’s horse’s name is Brownie; Darby’s horse’s name is Skipper; Grayson’s horse’s name is Hudson; Alan’s horse’s name is Rocky; Mary’s horse’s name is Pumpkin; Anna’s horse’s name is Radar; Maria’s horse’s name is Prancer; and Pop Pop’s horse’s name is Boxer. We adjusted our straps and the eight of us headed out for our orientation ride. The maximum number of riders with one wrangler is 8 so Pop Pop went with another group this morning. We rode for about 1.5 hours and then came back for a delicious lunch of black bean soup and quesadillas. Yummy!
At 2 pm we rode again. This time they allowed our group to have 9 people and Pop Pop was able to come with us. Klayton accompanied us as an additional wrangler so we could all be together.
We enjoyed another wonderful dinner and then attended the line dancing in the Rec Hall. We learned several dances which included the two step, and a good time was had by all.
Tuesday, July 4, 2006
Happy 4th of July! This morning we took an early ride. Bridget set out delicious pumpkin and chocolate chip muffins and juice to tie us over until breakfast, and then we met down at the stables at 8 am.
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Everyone at the ranch rode out an hour or so in the national park to have a cowboy breakfast in the woods. Mary Ellen rode in the truck along with the cooks since her bad knee has prohibited her from riding this week. It was a great cowboy breakfast out there – eggs, bacon, and Heart Attack potatoes. I think everything tasted better outside. When it was time to come back we had the option of a long or short ride back so we opted for the long ride headed up by a wrangler named Jess. It took about an hour and a half to get back to the ranch but we were able to see Pikes Peak along the way. We hope to get over there later this week. We returned to the ranch at about 12:30 and caught our breath before enjoying a light lunch by the pool. Bridget made veggie and fruit pizzas that were excellent and served them with cheese and crackers. It started to rain during lunch so we all had to gather under the pavilion. True to pattern the rain stopped quickly and we were able to carry on with our activities. Mark, Alan, Mary, and I all met down at the stables at 2 pm for an adult ride of trotting and loping with Meris. The kids participated in some Fourth of July games down in the arena with their horses and were supervised by ME and Pop Pop. The ride was fantastic! Meris took us completely off trail and into the national forest – up and down steep hills and through ravines. Seven was great and startled me once by leaping over a ditch that all the other horses in front of him just walked through! We arrived back at the ranch at about 5 pm and cleaned up for dinner.
For dinner we had of pork tenderloin, peas, and potatoes. At about 8:00, after dinner, we returned to the Rec Hall to enjoy cowboy singer, Will Dudley, serenade us for about an hour. It was excellent and we picked up his CD in the office so we could continue to listen to his western cowboy tunes after we headed for home.
Wednesday, July 5, 2006
This morning Mary and I arose at 5:05 am and met a few other brave souls in the Dining Hall at 5:30 am to embark on a hike up to Lizard Rock back up behind the ranch. It was a strenuous 3 mile hike led by Kody and Melissa but the view from above down on the ranch was spectacular! It was well worth the
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effort. Cody brought muffins and juice and coffee for everyone to enjoy and we watched the sunrise come over South Tarryall Mountain. The experience was breathtaking. We headed back to the ranch and arrived in time to eat a quick breakfast at 7:30 am before we all loaded up and headed out for some white water rafting. We traveled about 1.25 hours in the car with Eric, the staff member in charge of rafting, to the Four Corners Rafting Company. We were headed for a three hour trip down the Arkansas River forging some Class II and III whitewater rapids. It was a blast. Alan, Mary, Darby, Anna, Maria, Pop Pop, and I were all in one boat with out guide named Joel. Joel was a total bohemian dude that loved life. We had the best time and paddled hard down the river. Mark and Grayson went in another raft that was operated by the guide with oars so they didn’t have the opportunity to paddle but still had an excellent time! We ate the picnic lunch we had packed for ourselves after breakfast headed back to the ranch after our exhilarating rafting adventure. Driving back to the ranch we hit torrential downpours and lightning storms. It even hailed. The entire sky was gray, which is unusual for Colorado. It rained good and hard all the way back and we took cover and cleaned up once back at home. I spent a good bit of time that afternoon by the fire talking with ME and Pop Pop and then we all joined together for a delicious dinner. Tonight Bridget fixed delicious lasagna with salad.
After dinner we all met down at the Rec Hall for an relaxing hay ride into the national forest. The wagon was pulled by Dolly and Molly, two Belgian horses owned by the Tesch family. We turned in after another busy and exciting day.
Thursday, July 6, 2006
This morning we opted to do the trotting and loping ride again. Meris was our wrangler and she took us out into remote areas of the national forest and this time showed up an old gold mine that she had
discovered. I am not even sure the national park service knows it is there because it is unmarked like so many of the other gold mines in the area. There was quite a gold rush in Lake George in the late 1800’s. There is a good bit of quartz in the mountains here and usually where there is quartz, there is gold. Not so in this area and the miners eventually moved on to “golder” pastures! We enjoyed trotting and loping again and Seven really got his groove on a few times. Poor Pop Pop on Boxer just couldn’t get him to go!
The kids went out on the morning ride with the counselor for kids ages 6-12. Her name is Kelly and she is good with the kids. They took what was called the P&J ride which really meant that the counselor rode them out and then provided them with a yummy PB&J sandwich for a snack. They all had a great time and returned for lunch. For lunch Bridget prepared delicious BLT sandwiches which were served between thick slices of Texas toast and make your own chef salad. Darby was in hog heaven with the BLT.
In the afternoon at about 2 pm the three girl cousins opted to hang out with Counselor Kelly for crafts and they played and each created a customized bandana. Grayson accompanied Mark, Alan, Mary, Pop Pop, and me on the trotting and loping ride. Brandi was our wrangler and she did an awesome job also. Everyone that works at this ranch is really top notch. Surprisingly, Grayson not only held his own with trotting and loping, but did excellent. It started to rain just as we returned to the stable at about 4:30 pm. We took it easy for an hour or so – I did laundry – and then we sat down to dinner right on time at 6:30 pm. Tonight we had Thanksgiving dinner followed by peach pie and vanilla ice cream. They sure are fattening us up here as everything is too good to pass up!
We saw an incredible full double rainbow at dinner tonight. It was the best rainbow I ever saw in my life and we could see where it went down on each side. It was so bright. Tonight was the Barn Dance. We had an awesome time doing all kinds of dances that included the Chicken Dance, the Waltz, the two-step, Cotton-Eyed Joe, etc. It was a lot of fun and much needed after all that dinner. We turned in early since we plan to get up early for Pikes Peak tomorrow morning.
Friday, July 7, 2006
We arose at 5:30 am this morning and hustled out the door, collecting ME from the dining hall at 6 am. We were headed to Pikes Peak and wanted to be back in time for lunch and team penning this afternoon. We arrived at the toll gate at 7:01 am on the dot and were the first car up the mountain. They normally
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charge $10 a person or $35/car but we had a brochure that said $5 for adults and $2 for kids so he let our car go for $19. What a savings. We wound the 19 miles up to the top and the views were spectacular. It was about 30 degrees at the top when we reached it but we walked around admiring all the views in each direction. When the gift shop and cafeteria opened at 8 am we went in to enjoy a hot chocolate and pretzel for breakfast. We soon headed back down the mountain through the construction, which will eventually make the tight hairpin turns in the road easier to negotiate. We arrived back at the ranch by 11 am and I took a nice snooze in the hammock while the kids ran and played. It got hot so the kids all got into their bathing suits for a nice swim and a grilled hamburger lunch was served by the pool followed by delicious chocolate with peanut butter chip cookies. Mark threw Darby into the pool with her clothes on and she was not amused! We all got cleaned up and we headed down to the stable to partake in the team penning.
Team penning is when the group is split into two teams and each team tries to ride through the arena and separate certain cows into a pen leaving others behind. The cows are not entirely excited by this plan nor are the horses but the riders have a great time. Seven, Pumpkin, Brownie, and Rocky all seemed to dislike this game and we had no luck getting them to do much in the arena. Grayson’s horse, Hudson, and Darby’s horse Skipper seemed to enjoy it as much as they did and they were seen trotting all over the place. We called it a day at 4 pm with the team penning and the guys trotted off to try trap shooting with Eric.
They returned full of stories of the fun the shooting was and we all cleaned up and got ready for dinner. Tonight is what is called "Fancy Dinner" for adults while the kids had a hot dog party down in the tepee. The fire ban was lifted today so they were able to roast hot dogs and s'mores over the open fire. They did some crafts and had a great time with some of the staff while the adults enjoyed a chicken cordon bleu dinner up in the dining room. It was a wonderful evening.
Saturday, July 8, 2006
This morning was a little overcast. Mary, the three girls, and I all got up to watch the wranglers bring in the horses from the pasture. It is very exciting to see the horse race into the stable. Meris on her horse is very impressive. The wranglers along with the entire staff work very hard at the ranch all rising
before 6 am to get the day on the ranch started. If you are down at the barn any past 5:45 am you might miss the horses coming in from the pasture.
Mary and I decided to take a brisk walk down the road and walked at a good clip for about an hour. It is amazing exercise at 8100 feet elevation as the air is thinner and the breathing is much tougher. You'd think we would lose weight this week with all this exercise but not when you factor in Bridget's great cooking! We arrived back in time for breakfast at 8 am for the make your own breakfast burritos and then headed for the stable. Mark, Alan, Mary, and Pop Pop opted for the ride up to Lizard Rock and Darby, Grayson, and I went out on the trotting and Loping ride with our wrangler Brandi leading. It was just drizzling a little and Brandi wasn't sure if we would have the opportunity to trot or lope but luckily we were able to get some trotting in. It was getting muddy out there as the rain continued. We were soaked by the time we reached an area where there was an old gold mine. We got off of our horses for a better look and actually were able to go inside the horizontal mine. It was very cool! There was a lot of quartz near the opening of the mine and Darby and Grayson each selected a piece to keep as a souvenir. By the time we reached the ranch we were soaked through and through and freezing so we showered and searched for dry clothing. Mark enjoyed the ride to Lizard Rock and said the Aspen tree groves were fabulous.
After a delicious bowl of chicken and wild rice soup for lunch we headed down to the Petting Zoo for the big play all the girls worked on this week. It was called Peebles the Monkey starring Maria as Pebbles. Darby authored, directed, choreographed, and narrated the show and Anna, Melody and Maria played the main parts. It was a very cute show and the whole ranch turned out to watch it.
After the play, some headed out again on an afternoon ride. Darby went with Mark but Grayson and I opted to stay back and relax and get some laundry done while preparing for our talent this evening!
Our last dinner at the ranch was steak, baked potatoes, corn on the cob, etc. and as always, it was scrumptious! At 8 pm we headed down to the Rec Hall for a sing-a-long and a talent show. Several of the staff displayed their talents: Cody played a wonderful Beethoven piece on the piano, Melissa sang "Amazing Grace", and Meris, Katie and Melissa sang "Happy Trails" with Cody on the piano. Lots of different guest also got up to show off their talents between songs: Harry played drums with Eric playing guitar for back up, Ken played a beautiful piano piece, Darby did her monologue, Melody sang and signed "Jesus Loves Me", Mark and Grayson recited the 43 presidents, and Grayson and I did all the states and capitals. Everyone had a great time and it was a wonderful ending to a most memorable week. It was sad to say goodbye to all our new friends but alas all good things must come to an end.
Sunday, July 9, 2006
We got up early this morning and loaded the car. It was sad to say goodbye after all the fun we had but it
was time to get back to reality. We grabbed a quick bite of Bridget's delicious cinnamon rolls for breakfast and were on the road by 6:45. We arrived at the Denver airport with plenty of time to spare and headed for home. Wow, the end of a wonderful week! We sure are going to miss everyone at the Tarryall River Ranch! Maybe we will see them all again!
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