Back from the Dude Ranch

Just back from the trip to the dude ranch; lots to talk about after a very interesting week both in Wyoming and across the country.

I have definitely become a little addicted to the blogging gig, as I really missed the interaction with regular readers and the joy involved in plowing through mass media looking for interesting things to talk about.

Let's start with the dude ranch, otherwise known as the HF Bar Ranch in Saddlestring Wyoming.
What a wonderful six days it was. I highly recommend this style of vacation to those among you with an appreciation for the great outdoors and a simpler way of life. Let's be straight here...I'm no outdoorsman. I've spent by my reckoning, one complete night out of doors (courtesy of the USMC during a NROTC Summer experience) in my entire life. I'm a fan of the great indoors--museums, great cathedrals, art, castles....I'm kind of a Europe guy. But this ranch was superb. Far fromluxe , it provides you with a great rustic cabin to sleep in (ours was right on the creek) hearty meals three times a day and all the horses, fishing, skeet shooting and hiking you could possibly want. There's lots for the kiddies to do, and even if you're not a horseman (I'm not), they'll match you up with a horse who'll take great care of you.

I didn't give this vacation a lot of thought before we went. My Kitten bid on it at a school auction long before I was even a gleam in her eye, so I was really just the fourth to round up the foursome. That said, it was memorable, it was healthy, it was fun, and it was a great experience. Some random thoughts sprung up while I was there:

--This is a big country. You sometimes forget that, living most of your life along the eastern seaboard as I do. But man, we have a lot of room. Wyoming is a land of stark beauty; much of it looks like the surface of the moon, with rocky crags and miles of flat/rolling hills. Other parts of the state are mountainous, which describes the areal aroundSaddlestring . Nestled in the foothills of the Bighorn Mountains, one looks east at the moonscape and west at towering peaks. It was huge, and it was beautiful.

--This is not a homogeneous country. Think all you want about Hollywood, the Internet, Television...and how we think they homogenize us. Well, not out there. People in the west are just plain different than people in the east. They talk slower but no less eloquently. They do vastly different things (one of our wranglers had rodeo as a high school sport but not baseball). Many of the folks out there think nothing of working several different jobs a year, based on what season it is. I never once saw a wrangler wearing aniPod . There is a whole, huge, thriving subculture in the west that has no interest in being swallowed by the larger culture, and I think it is wonderful.

--I had not ridden a horse in nearly thirty years when I took to my mount (Ace). The bones of the lower body of a 43 year-old man are not made for infrequent forays into matters equine. I suffered after each ride, but only for about fifteen minutes. Then everything worked its way back into place and I was ready for the next one. I had not heard a full-throated horse winnie (sp?) in many years, and riding out through the grazing heard, I was treated to a symphony of them. What a beautiful sound.

--The proprietress of the ranch, Margi Shroth, is a big Obama supporter. The Dem convention was on the ranch TV each night...I will check next week to see if the Repubs get similar treatment. Due to a large number of college employees, there was also a fair smattering of Obama bumper stickers to be found. I don't think Republicans are as big on bumper stickers as Dems are. But I could be wrong.