It's been almost 5 months since my Wyoming dude ranch odyssey began last May. This week, it's wrapping up and while I'm ready to move on to a new adventure, I will definitely cherish and miss things about this wonderful place. Our final guest week wound down with a Friday night sing-along in the lodge, with performances by 2-3 of our talented ranch staffers.
Saturday was the last outdoor cookout for lunch and then Sunday morning, the guests were gone, and we had the ranch all to ourselves again. It felt strange and quiet. We worked from 8-noon, then broke for lunch and a few hours of rest before the Sunday evening wrap up meeting, pizza & wings dinner and crew party. For the first time, the 70+ horses were wrangled in from the pasture and allowed to graze on the front lawn. What a beautiful sight to see... I've never seen them so happy!
The ranch owners put together a nice crew slide show, thanked us all and presented
us with a fleece pullover, embroidered with the ranch logo.
That's the Tetons, trees and horses on the cake! ;)
We wrapped up the night with some drinking games...
On Monday, we began stripping cabins of linens, trash, kindling, coffee, curtains, rugs, mattress pads, etc and then restocking, unplugging and covering furniture and windows. The piles of laundry that accumulated back at the lodge were mind blowing, to be processed at the ranch, sent out, dry cleaned, and/or stored in totes until next season. The kitchen staff began organizing, breaking down and cleaning out the walk-ins, ovens, pantry and crew dining room. Going forward, we would be eating in the main lodge dining room again. Nice!
The maintenance guys also had their to-do lists, fixing outlets, drips and a punch list of other things before winterizing guest and crew cabins. Crew members had varying departure dates and began cleaning their cabins and bathrooms, doing laundry and packing their cars. Tuesday involved putting together huge airtight bins of clean towels and bed linens to be dropped off at each guest cabin so they'll be good to go next May. When that was done, it was hours of ironing on the industrial press... shower curtains, sheets, curtains, bed skirts and more. None of the ranch closing jobs are glamorous, but they have to be done. The weather had turned cold (40s), rainy and muddy on Monday, so I was thrilled to have an "inside job." It had snowed in the mountains the night before, and more was predicted.
Wranglers began cleaning and storing tack, taking the shoes off the horses and preparing them to be trailered to lower elevation pastures south of here for the winter. They leave within the week. At lunch time, and again at 5pm, there was a big bear in the crew cabin area.
I clucked at him as he crossed the road behind my cabin, and he turned around to look at me, then ran down the road. They're so cute and fat and fuzzy, especially when they're on their hind legs eating berries out of trees, that it's easy to forget they can kill you. ha-ha.
Tuesday night, the ranch owner (wife) took a few of us girls out for a drink before dinner back at the ranch. Then it was back to my cozy little cabin to plan my route home, finish packing and get some sleep. My final day on the ranch, I awoke to a blanket of snow! It had been sunny and 70 degrees just last weekend but winter had officially arrived in the Tetons.
Time to get on the road... after my last day of work, it was dinner and goodbyes and time to contemplate my life here. The ranch and its owners are the best in the industry. I can't say enough about how wonderful it's been. They treated us like their own children, making sure we were nurtured body and soul. When someone was sick, they brought soup, heating pads, whatever was needed. When they cleaned out their closets they brought piles of great "stuff" to share with the crew. They, along with the ranch manager, dealt with drama, hookups, breakups, guest issues, cabin issues, broken bones from riding accidents and more. Dude ranches receive hundreds of employment applications every year from all over the world. I feel privileged to have landed a spot on this ranch!
While my job here wasn't particularly glamorous, it was great, outdoor physical labor in one of the most breathtaking places in the world, and I am a little amazed that I met the challenge at my ripe old age (51). I was able to get on a horse any time I wanted. I ate like royalty... homemade bread, cookies, muffins, lamb chops, duck, crab legs, scallops, ribs, halibut, mahi and more. Italian, Asian and seafood buffets along with a fresh salad bar and fruit every day at lunch and dinner. Bacon, sausage, eggs, wild rice pancakes, scones, French toast, smoked trout and more made up our gourmet breakfasts. Somehow, I didn't gain an ounce with all my activity!
I was able to get off the ranch to explore Jackson, visiting Miller Ranch, Elk refuge, Mormon Row, Teton Raptor Center, a 2 day Yellowstone trip with overnight in Montana, pouring wine at Taste of Jackson, Ballad of Cat Ballou musical, fly fishing, a boating day at Jackson Lake, modeling in the Western Expo fashion show, art gallery shows, Elkfest, Brewfest, the National Wildlife Museum, Lockhart Ranch party, Chamber Mixers, paddle boarding, a couple of fun dinner parties with new friends, a date in a Polaris, drinks at Dornan's, white water rafting the Snake River, 20 mile bike rides to Wilson and Moose, breathtaking mountain and lake hikes in or near Grand Teton National Park, six Teton Music Festival performances, a Sunday service at the Chapel of the Transfiguration, driving over the Teton Pass to Idaho, lectures by Michael Adams and David Quammen, outdoor Shakespeare and more! Wow... what a summer. Just for fun, these are the horses I rode:
And finally, the wildlife and "white noise" on the ranch... elks bugling, coyotes and wolves howling in the wee hours, bears foraging, moose wandering, geese squawking, donkeys braying, horses whinnying, huge owls hooting, grouse clucking, and the bell that was rung 3 times a day to summon us to meals. I feel a bit like Pavlov's dog, not sure that I'll be able to eat back home unless a bell is rung. ha ha. Then there was the bonfire outside my cabin most evenings where crew that came here from all around the country congregated to laugh, drink and socialize. I will definitely stay in touch with some of these people, not to mention some of the guests that I got to know. Thursday morning, assuming the road through Yellowstone is open after the snow, I head north, then east with overnights in Gillette, WY, Sioux Falls, SD, Mount Vernon, IL and then home sweet home to TN. Stay tuned for one or two more blog entries about my stops at Devil's Tower, Mount Rushmore and Badlands, SD!
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