The Resort Spa: A Moment for Me

One of my favorite things about working for resorts is getting to utilize the spa! So when Adventure Man asked if I wanted a facial I was like, "Hell yeah!"

I used to work as the office manager for a resort spa. Because we were in a remote town, our therapists would have to commute. And sometimes they would be running late. So we all decided it might be a good idea if I knew how to set up for their treatments. And to really be good at this, it would be good to experience the treatments. (You see where I'm going with this…) And because I was saving their butts, they were more than willing to offer services. Plus, I was just really cool and they liked me. 

This past experience has kind of made me a bit of a spa snob. But the spa here in our Wyoming town is awesome. We have a new manager who is changing things up. Change is always good. Especially when it means they have to practice. And that's where I come in!

This morning I got to enjoy an hour long therapeutic facial. We don't have an esthetician so we are limited on some services. But really, this is my favorite spa service. All our stress and emotions end in our faces and to have someone focus on detoxification, hydration and massage, well, it's just an amazingly relaxing thing. 

If you've never experienced it, you really do need to give it a try!

The Artist in Me - Stranded on The Mountain

I've heard that those who are artistic can be eccentric. Dramatic? A little crazy?

Living on the guest ranch in the off season is a very different experience. One day it's a busy little valley with people coming and going. The next day it's a ghost town.  A cold ghost town. And just as the summer nights meant hours of sun, the winter brings the endless darkness. Sunsets at 4:30 anyone?

Then comes the wind. Howling like a lonely wolf lost from it's pack. Whipping through the roof and the trees and the canyon. We get winter storm warnings that state 90 mile an hour winds in the mountain passes. Uh, yeah, that's our mountain by the way!

Adventure Man would take the kids to the bus stop. During one wind storm the bus was having a hard time keeping the door open. When Adventure Man lunged to save a little girl from getting hit with the flapping door he let go of Bear. Bear was picked up and flew three feet before Adventure Man grabbed him again! Granted, Bears not too big, but still! 

Then there where times when the wind would blow the snow in drifts into the road of our mountain pass and we'd be snowed in. Up here in the north, we don't have snow days. The schools don't cancel! But the two families who live up on the mountain? Well we had snow days! Sometimes for days and days! 

What did I do with my time while sitting atop that beautiful, dark, cold mountain? 

I started this blog, of course!  

And what did my kids do while the wind blew and the power flickered? 

Yeah, you get the idea... 

All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl. All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl. All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl. All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl. All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl. All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl. All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl. All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl. All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl. All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl. All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl. All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl. All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl. All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl. All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl. All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl. All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl. All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl. All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl. All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl. All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl. All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl. All work and no play makes Kristen a dull girl......... 

Photo credit to:
Top: Adventure Man
Bottom two: screen shot of movie The Shining 
All edited by me on Snapseed

Being Famous

When I was in high school I was really into the drama club. It was my life. I am a drama geek. A thespian. I was. 

The year after graduation I ran into an old classmate who actually said to me, that she thought I'd be a famous movie star by then. Really? Ha.

No, not me. I don't have the energy for that. I am not always in a good mood. I don't always look perfect. I don't want to always look perfect!

I see Hollywood families and feel sorry for them. I can imagine the Pitt-Jolie clan getting ready to leave there house. The pep talk to be on their best behavior. Keep smiling! You never know who's frown will make the cover of Star Magazine with the caption, "Clinically depressed, is her mother causing her heartache?" 

You ever give one of your kids a look to tell them to straighten up or their getting a wallop? You ever look in the mirror while making that face? Not so pretty are ya? Who needs that kind of stress!?

But this is starting to remind me of someone. 

Oh, yeah! Me! 

In the real world, when our kids are getting on each other's nerves, not to mention your nerves, you send them outside. Go get dirty, go swing, go climb a tree! What ever! Just get out of my hair! 

But we can't do that. When we emerge from our stuffy confides, we become either the spotlight, or the interrupters! You see, when I said we are raising our kids on a guest ranch, I meant it! 

Our beautiful home over looks most of the guest's accommodations. Several of them can see my kitchen door from their bathroom window. The horse hitching posts are straight out my living room. I love to watch them load up every morning. The trail starts at my driveway. We can wave them on as we eat breakfast at the kitchen table. Yeah, we're that close. 

We could also wave them on from our master bedroom. I could lay in bed and watch the guests ride by. (If I wanted to.) 

We have lots of beautiful views and big windows to take in those views. One of the first things we did when moved in was order window coverings! 

As amazing as this little valley is, and as great this excperiance is, I do sometimes feel bad for our kids when we want them to be on their best behavior. 

But I have to say, the guests do tell us all the time how well behaved our children are. 

And they really are great kids! If I do say so myself! 

Hanging Around The Garden

This little fellah was spotted behind the garden.  

My kids and I were out helping and the gardener pointed him out. 

His mama took off, but a cubs first instinct is to climb. 

And that's what he did.

He stayed up there long enought to put on a show for the guests. 

And when we were all done and had left, he took his leave. 

I'm assuming he met up with his mama. 

A big thank you to Adventure Man for the use of his photos. 

Counting Down to Opening Day

No, I'm not talking about MLB here, I know opening day has come and gone (Go Giants)!

Yeah, I'm a born and raised Giants fan. See, I told you orange is my favorite color!

I'm talking about here at the ranch. The Guest Ranch will open in 13 days!

Before that, we have our annual Volunteer Weekend to help get ready. We have a willing group of 80+ come stay with us and do some of the more labor intensive work. They bring their own sleeping bags and sleep wherever they will fit. They help chop firewood for each of the guest cabins, the lodge, the employee cabins, the office and our home. They wash windows and floors, they set up the furniture and unpack the kitchen, they plant in the gardens, and prepare their own food. This year they get to help put a new fence around the pool, lay sod in front of the lodge and put down a flagstone path throughout the property. We are still suffering the aftermath of the septic project of the the fall, namely in MUD! These people are amazing!

Bunny talking to the tomatoes in the greenhouse.
The back wall is full of sprouts waiting for their move to the gardens.

Now sadly for me, the weekend is the same weekend that my 7th grader has her last track meet. So I will not be there to help in all that. I'm sorry, but my kiddos do come first. Plus, I know they are in good hands.

It is also the day of the Walk MS that I am signed up for. I am signed up as a virtual walker, because I knew I wouldn't be able to be there. But I am still in need of donations! If you would like to make a donation, click on the green MS button on the top of my side bar up there. That will take you were you need to get.

U is for Up, or Under...

Which ever?

We went on a hike and had a great view of the ranch Under us.

We were Up hill from the ranch.

And as we claimed down, I was Up higher then them.

Yeah, I'm kind of reaching on this one !

But the pictures where stunning and I wanted to share. 

Plus, the next day we had blizzard, from which we got over a foot of snow. 

You gotta love Spring time in Montana. 

G is for Green

Our resort tries to be very environmentally friendly. There are many things that we do to decrease our footprint as we educate our guests. For starters, we are owned by a Nonprofit Organization. All of our profit goes right back to that Nonprofit, and we, ourselves are therefor, nonprofit.

To see the garden in it's late summer splendor go here.

We grow as much of our own produce that the growing season will allow and everything is organic. This means that when we buy from local farmers, they too have to be organic. We only use local, grass fed meats. And everything else is as local as we can get.

We have a greenhouse to aid us through the short summer months. And we use river irrigation to water the lawns and gardens. We compost as much a we can.

The office uses solar power. This photosynthesis panel produces electricity. (At least I think that's what Adventure Man called it?)

We also use wind power to make electricity for the office. Isn't the little wind turbine cute! We get a lot of wind up here!

The pool water is heated by solar as well as each guest cabin's water.

Our paper products are all from recycled paper. Even bathroom tissue. We offer locally made soaps for  our guests to use, and we give them a full sized bar of soap with the request that they save the box and take it home so we don't have to throw it out.

We use recycled paper plates and plastic wear as well as recycled cups when we have our Volunteer Weekend, to get ready for our opening. We rip these up and compost them. And we recycle everything that can be recycled but can't be composted.

As you can see from these shot's, this is not our prettiest time of year. The snow is just melting and the grass, where we still have it after our well work last fall, is still dead. The leaves have yet to make an appearance.

B is for Big

Big sky country that is!

Making Ready

Just as the farmers are starting to tune up their rigs and get ready to plow. Just as the ranchers are spending countless hours looking after mama cows as they birth their calves. 

The guest ranch is starting to hire summer staff, 

open up cabins that have been closed up for the winter, and make last minute repairs. 

It's that time of year. It's time to start getting ready. 

The Day Keith Richards Stole The Playground Pirate Flag

Getting ready for the Rich and Famous is a lot of work. Although, the Rich seem to be harder once they are here then the Famous. The Famous usually have a staff who informs the Resort of all the things that must be ready and in their cabin for them to be happy. The Rich, aren't necessarily famous and they haven't quite figured out that if they give the Resort a list of needs before hand, they would have far less to complain about once they reach their destination. 

The best complaint I've heard of was: "The rocks outside my cabin are dirty. Can you please send housekeeping up here to clean them." I kid you not. 

The longest list of requests was from the Rolling Stones. We were busting our butts to get ready for them.

Did you know that they have Casablanca lilies wherever they go. As the in-house florist, I got to do the flowers for their rooms. However, Casablanca's have a vary strong scent. Not everyone wants that smell in their room. Some of the arrangements HAD to have Casablanca's and some of them had to have ANYTHING BUT. I can so see them fighting over the placement of the flowers. There were Casablanca's back stage as well. Someone really loves their Stinky Flowers, as do I! 

Jolly Rodger on the beginning of
Pirates of the Caribbean 4

Now the tale I will share didn't happen at our current Guest Ranch, no, we used to work and live at a ranch outside of Missoula Montana. When the Rolling Stones performed at MSU they stayed at our ranch. And however stressful it was to prepare for our special guests, they were by far, the most fun group to have stayed with us. They didn't want to leave. We didn't want them to go.

During this time, the kids in the employee housing had a playground between their homes. And one of the families had a big Jolly Rodger. A homemade pirate flag that they hung on the fort of the swing set.

Now most of the guest lodging was on the other side of the Blackfoot River. But there was one beautiful home over looking the river that was just below our houses. Keith Richards was there. When housekeeping went out to make up the room after the first night, there was a Jolly Rodger hanging over his door. Pandaemonium struck. Radios were cracking and phones were ringing. Finally my Darling Adventure Man called me and asked, "Did Keith Richards take the Pirates Flag off the playground???"

I had no idea! I looked out the back door to see. It wasn't there! Where was the flag? Adventure Man said that housekeeping said that it was over the River House! 

OMG! THAT IS SO STINKING COOL! By all means! Keith Richards CAN steal the kids Jolly Rodgers! What a great story that would make….

As it turns out, the Mom who made the flag, and who's boys it was, took it down that day. The playground flag had been lowered that day. Probably out of respect for the legend on the banks of the river, who apparently always travels with a pirate flag and flies it where ever he goes. 

But Keith loved the story. And that our kids played under the Jolly Rodgers, as well. 

Cleaning Up

The crew is in the last leg of the construction. 

They are cleaning up. I know they want to be done by tomorrow, Thanksgiving. 

It's been quite the show for the past two months.

Meanwhile… This is what I will be cleaning up all winter long until the grass comes in again.

Keep'n Our Poop in a Pile

That is one of my favorite "funny mom things to say." My mom never said that one, but she has some really good ones. That is something I say, a lot. Every time we go anywhere, I see coats and shoes and what not all over someone else's house, or at church, or the lodge. I start saying, "Keep your poop in a pile, People! Poop in a pile!" The kids know, it means keep your stuff together. So that's what we're doing here at the Ranch. We're get'n the poop and putt'n it in a pile!

As I have mentioned before, this Guest Ranch is 82 years old. We just finished our 82nd season. Not that we have been running it that long. No, the original owners have past away. Their only son didn't want to continue in the business. Before they retired they sold the property to a company who had "keeping it up and running" in their dreams for the land. They bought the property in the 1980's. We now work for that company.

For the most part the property is the same as it was back in the day. Well, since the flood that wiped most of it away, but that was in the 60's and the owners were the ones who dug down in there boots and rebuilt it. Unfortunately, for us, not them, there have been a few building code changes since it was built. That happens to anyone who is running a business in or living in an old building. Or in our case, a lot of old buildings. So we've been making some changes here and there, over time. We've gotten tin roofs on all the buildings. I think it's just the outbuildings left to go. We've got to get rid of the diving board. The pools not big enough for the size of the board. The dinning hall needs a new floor. You know, things like that. But there is this one thing. This one Really big thing. I mean Big. We're talking poop sized!

So the day after the guests left, and the season was officially over, we started the most dreaded of the upgrades. The septic system. Up until next month, each cabin has had it's own septic tank, even ours. But now we will be up to code with a commercial drainage systome. And a centralized well, to boot! Woo hoo!

Even in the snow!

Why do you care? Well, you probably don't. But for us, it means this place is a mess. A loud-crazy-covered-in-construction-road-full-of-wholes mess.

Clearing a place to start the well

That's getting deep

Now every time little Miss Bunny hears the well drilling or the backhoe hit a rock, she leaps into my lap with fear. Poor little mouse!

I know, your life is better knowing this is what we're up to. Your welcome!

Our Orange Aspen

We have a section of aspen trees in the grove just to the south of our field that have orange trees in it. Not orange trees as in the fruit, but aspen trees that turn orange instead of yellow, in the fall. The grove has some of the oldest trees in our area. I have heard, however that orange aspens are a sign of illness. I have no idea where I heard this from. I guess I need to do some homework! 

Adventure Man wanted to take some pictures of them before they blow away. It's very windy up here on this mountain and a good wind storm will strip the fall color in one night. Leaving behind the stark, gray winter forest that makes me think of a Witch's forest.

Adventure Man wanted to take some pictures of them before they blow away. It's very windy up here on this mountain and a good wind storm will strip the fall color in one night. Leaving behind the stark, gray winter forest that makes me think of a Witch's forest.

The view of our house and the guest ranch from the trees.
All these pictures where taken by Adventure Man

 I want to share with you the beautiful color with Sarah 

for Orange You Glad It's Friday at Hood Photo Blog. 

Enjoy!