Bison Ranch

Awhile back I mentioned our family vacation at Bison Ranch, so I thought I'd share some pictures from our trip. Thanks to the $4.00+ per gallon cost of gas, we chose to vacation close to home this year. Bison Ranch is located a short 40-minute drive away in the little mountain town of Heber-Overgaard. There are no theme parks in the area, but we did enjoy swimming, fishing, exploration, horseback rides, restaurants, and relaxation in our roomy 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom condo with full kitchen and laundry room. (We are WorldMark owners in a vacation club similar to but better than a timeshare. If you're interested, I'll hook you up!)

Dylan turned 11 on July 1st, which was during our stay (June 28 to July 5). His Aunt Dana and several cousins (also WorldMark owners) spent 2 days there in their own condo, and they were able to celebrate Dylan's birthday with him. His cousin Brinley taste-tested a goodly portion of the birthday cake while we were all down at the pool! That's my disgruntled boy on the right, glaring through the candle-smoke.
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That's also Dylan at the top of this entry, about to be trampled by a cowboy-and-rearing-horse statue. Don't you love it! I thought we were terribly creative . . . or maybe just terrible?

We were reunited briefly with our missing son, Jacob. We picked him up from Camp Geronimo, about 1.5 hours away, on Wednesday and we took him back very early on Saturday morning, just hours before we had to check out of the resort. It was a special treat to get to see him in the midst of his summer job.

Posing for these Old West photos was an unexpected challenge. The first few poses were easy, but by the time we got to the 9th picture we were fresh out of ideas!

This is Dylan again, with his catch-of-the-day, a whopper of a rag-fish! He really thought he had The Big One on the line, but it turned out to be nothing more than a stubborn rag!

We went horseback riding twice, once for Dylan's birthday on Tuesday, and again after Jacob joined us, on Thursday.

We loved the time we spent together in the quiet forest and fresh air. We rode through some charred areas where the Rodeo-Chediski Fire destroyed large stands of pine back in June 2002. It was sobering, but still so beautiful and peaceful.

It was a wonderful vacation. The only rough patch was when I came down with a vicious stomach bug.

It knocked me off my feet for the last 2 days of our vacation (not much fun driving Jacob back to Geronimo while in that condition). Thank goodness for my beautiful friend Gwen, who spent Friday with us. She entertained my children, gave me a neck rub and put me to bed, helped the kids prepare meals and clean up, and helped them start packing for our return home. I honestly don't know what I'd have done without her sweet, helpful spirit.
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Now we look ahead to our next summer vacation. We're making plans to spend 2 weeks traveling to Branson, Missouri, just a short drive from my baby brother Darryl's home near Springfield. We can't wait to see him and his family! Family trips are great--yahoo!