My Story
by Pam Calderwood

We've always been "city" people. My husband, Gregg, is a physician in private practice and I am a mom. We were both raised in Iowa, but in towns with little exposure to country life.

Our daughter, Sarah, was close to turning four and we were looking for a memorable vacation for her and our ten-year old son, Collin. I was thumbing through a magazine of the 100 best family vacations and noticed that there were a wide variety of adventures available, such as rafting, hiking, biking, climbing, and riding.

We really wanted a ranch vacation. We read and re-read the descriptions of the six ranch vacations in the magazine. Honestly, the reason we chose the ranch in Idaho was because they accepted four-year olds in their kid's program. Yes, this was meant to be a family vacation, but it was a vacation for the kids as well as for us. Having a kid's program was important. We made our reservations for two weeks after Sarah was four.

The drive to the ranch took our breath away. All four of us kept "wow-ing" and "look-ing." Then we rounded the last curve and there was the lodge and the ranch laid out in front of us, and our hearts were captured! The beauty and peace all around us was something we were so unaccustomed to.

The staff greeted us so warmly and our luggage was whisked off to our cabin. We were given a tour of the lodge grounds, were offered a snack, and then we had our pictures taken. WHEW! What a whirlwind! After an hour or so of quiet time to ourselves, we were treated to a wagon ride around the ranch. Thus, our week began...

From the centered riding lessons to the hiking, from the trail riding to the hot tubs, from the fishing to the cabins, from cowboy coffee to branding the barn--from Sunday afternoon to Saturday morning, our stay was incredible! So there is where the "usual vacation" ends. Well, this was no "usual" vacation for us!

I'm not sure exactly when, during the week, it happened. Maybe on the porch watching the horses. Maybe up in the hills enjoying the silence of the horses' hoof beats. Maybe it was the serenity of the sunset. Maybe it was the views of wild turkeys and deer. Maybe it was the smell of fresh air. Maybe it was the smile on the kids' faces when they got their horse to canter. Whenever it happened, we were smitten. We fell in love with the ranch, its staff, its surroundings, its peacefulness of life, and the horses. We vowed to be back.

Before we went to the ranch for the first time, we had routinely vacationed in Hawaii for three weeks. A week at the ranch shines far brighter than three weeks in Hawaii.

Well, we did return to the ranch the next summer and enjoyed seeing old friends and meeting new ones. We were not disappointed. That fall Gregg and I returned to the ranch. Gregg went in hopes of finding an elk (they are very elusive) and I went to participate in a centered riding clinic.

At that clinic, I visited with all the students and questioned instructors about horses. I asked all kinds of questions: "Do you own or lease horses?" "Do you board horses or have them on your property?" "How much land do you have?" "How much time do you need to devote to your horses?" The horse bug had bitten me and I was doing research! That was October 1998.

By December 1998, we owned our first horse, "Red." We lived in town, so our only choice was to board. Having one horse was fine, but who wants to go riding alone? We bought another, and another, and another, and another!

That was the beginning of our new life. We bought fifty acres outside of town, put up a barn, built stalls and feeding stalls, and fenced in about fifteen acres of pastures. Then, we built the house. Priorities!

Five years ago we were perfectly happy living in town with our manicured lawn, flower beds, and cement driveway. Five years ago I enjoyed gifts of jewelry and clothes. Now, we're perfectly happy living ten miles from town in our alfalfa field, no flowers (yet), a gravel driveway, and lots and lots of mud. Now, I am thrilled with a gift of new fly traps (to replace the much used old ones) and my favorite piece of attire is a pair of muck boots! Five years ago my husband Gregg tried to play golf once a week, and spent many hours grooming the lawn and flowerbeds. Five years ago the children enjoyed riding bikes, swinging, and sledding in the snow. Five years ago, we, as a family, would spend a weekend day together doing errands, going to lunch, or maybe going out of town for the day. Now, Gregg has traded his golf clubs for a tractor and harrow (still looking for that manure spreader). Now, the children each have their own manure fork and like to ride in the bucket of the tractor and play in their "fort" in the woods. Their favorite "sport" is horse hockey (played with a chunk of frozen horse manure and a log of wood from the wood pile). Now our family spends a weekend day cleaning stalls, installing fence, fixing fence, or mowing pastures. (Sometimes we even get to ride!) What a difference!

All these changes couldn't and wouldn't have happened had we not "stumbled" onto our vacation ranch. Their willingness to share their home, their knowledge, encouragement, and philosophy has gotten us to where we are today, and for that we are grateful.

Pam Calderwood is a mother, a wife, a farmer, and a changed woman.