It’s a rainy day here at the 7D, and the air smells like fall. The rain gives the ranch a fresh, clean, and rejuvenated feeling on this Monday morning. We are halfway through our guest season for the summer, and change is in the air. Yesterday we said farewell to Peter, our beloved ranch hand and goat whisperer. He boarded a 48 hour bus bound for upstate New York. The ranch will not be the same without him. Valerie, one of our great wranglers, finally returned to us after two weeks away, so that lessened the sting of Peter’s departure at least a little. We are nearing the end of our time with Katie the cook, who will be leaving us shortly to begin working as the head of the school lunch program in Newcastle, Wyoming. Meade and Andrea will be leaving us for the week to take longtime friends on a pack trip. Fortunately, we are lucky enough to have John and Lynn Dominick here for the week in their stead. We’re all excited to get to spend a little more time with them.
We had a truly wonderful week with our guests last week, and with some visiting family members. We had a number of returning guests, although some had not been with us for a few years. People left saying it was the best vacation they had ever been on, which is such a special thing for the staff to hear. Marshall was back for a lamb roast on Thursday night, and the weather was perfect this time around. Angie, who worked as head housekeeper for many years and who now has her own dance studio in Cody, came up to the ranch that same night for some square dancing. Cordelia followed her up with a full on dance party with the kids, complete with worm races. It was great fun. Chris and Carol ran another successful pack trip with a family from Arizona, who got to experience some intense horseriding and camping, as well as a tremendous storm their first night out. Fishing conditions improved greatly, and one of our guests got to eat the fruits of his labor on Saturday evening at the barbeque. The only unfortunate part of the week occured on Saturday, as Kyle was splitting wood. He got hit in the face by a piece of wood and broke his nose. Kyle is a trooper and nevet utters a word of complaint though. After a late night trip to the hospital on Saturday night, he was back at work yesterday, being as helpful as ever.
This week we have a mix of new and returning guests. One of our guests has been coming here for going on fifty years! He has experienced all three generations of Dominick management, which is a pretty cool thing. It certainly is a testament to the ranch that people keep coming back for so long. We have a number of guests who are here all the way from Europe, and quite a few from the New York area. Everyone seems excited to ride, hike, and soak in all that beautiful Sunlight has to offer.
