I am spending my summer on a dude ranch out near
Steamboat Springs, Colorado. For those of you who don’t know what
exactly a dude ranch is, neither did I until I got here. And I don’t
think words can ever totally describe it; this is a place you must see
to understand. Beka Adam, Jonathan Thiel and I have been here since May
22nd working hard, playing hard and entertaining hard in a valley
surrounded by beautiful mountains.
We have around one hundred horses here, and I could write an entire
blog on what I have learned from their upkeep and personalities. We
have around fifty staff here, and I could write for hours on the
numerous individuals that have changed me just by their dynamic
personalities.
But what I want to share is about the guests (“dudes”) we have
hosted at Vista Verde Ranch. I was slightly disenchanted when they
showed up the first week. Since our ranch costs about $3,000 per family
member for a week, it is a very select group of people we are
entertaining. Sometimes I lose heart when I’m around people with a lot
of money – I tend to think they are demanding, have high walls around
their heart, or are uninterested in what a twenty-something has to say
about anything.
However, our managers assured us that by the end of each week, we
would see a change in our guests. They promised us that as we worked
hard to serve them and genuinely get to know them, they would be more
grateful for us than for any activity we offer (rock climbing, horse
back riding, hiking, biking, fly fishing, hot air ballooning, kayaking,
rafting, etc).
It has been incredible to watch it week after week. Not all of our
staff are believers, but many are, and even those who aren’t have a
servants’ attitude and make conversations about the guests rather than
about themselves. Our guests blossom at our ranch. They feel loved,
served and at home among us. Every Saturday night, our guests’ last
evening, they share how meaningful the relationships were they created
in such a short time. And it keeps them coming back.
