Smoke Rise Ranch..

Most of you will remember that one of last year's Christmas gifts was a trip to a cowboy camp. The camp was called Smoke Rise Ranch in Glouster, Oh. We were to spend 2 nights in their ranch house, with meals provided, 6 hours of riding, and cattle working lessons.

We arrived on Friday afternoon. They knew that we were coming, but other than spending 2 nights there, that's all that they seemed to know. This was despite me calling in the reservation several months ago and reading all the info on the gift certificate and calling back the monday before our arrival to confirm. First off, they tell us that there will be no dinner provided on Friday night, but they'll make up for it on Sat. Then they tell us that we should just go down to the house and make ourselves comfortable in the hot tub. Well, I'm not a big hot tub person - especially a public hot tub person - but we took a look. Gah! The area around the tub was filthy and there was an inch of scum on the top of the water. The picture posted below was taken after we complained and they sent someone down to clean and shock the tub.

The cabin itself was not what I would call rustic, but rather run down. It wasn't the cleanest, but I've stayed in worse places as well. I checked out the tiny tv set and it was hooked to an antenna. Lucky us, we arrived on the day that the country switched to digital tv. The tv didn't work. A complaint to the office got the response of "oh, no one installed a converter box yet?" They never did install a converter box. We ended up watching the Stanley Cup Finals (Go Pens!) at The Mine, a nice little bar in Nelsonville.






Despite the less than luxurious accomodations, we tried keeping an open mind since we were here for the riding. However, the staff didn't seem to know which end was up and couldn't put a schedule together. Finally, it was decided that we would do a trail ride on Sat morning. We would go out with a wrangler, who would give us a lesson after assessing our skill level. Well, we went on a trail ride. It was nice. It wasn't your typical nose to tail trail ride, just me, Milt & the wrangler. We were able to trot the horses, mine made a couple of unexpected jumps (yee-ha!) and it's really pretty in the hills. There was no assessment of skills, lessons, or even tips other than how to hold my reins.

We got back and the staff were trying to figure out when I was to have my "cattle working" lesson. They were running a clinic there all weekend and everyone was tied up. Finally, I was told to return at 4pm, which I did. I rode down to the arena and the person that was to give me my lesson said that he didn't have time for me now. I was with Gene, the wrangler from the morning and he asked when we should come back. The other guy, Lynn - who was the owner of this place, said later. Gene asks when later? Awhile. How long is awhile? Lynn says - can't say.

Milt and I went back to the "ranch house" and sat on landscaping timbers, since the lawn furniture was too dirty to sit on. We drank a couple of beers and decided to drive back to Columbus. Oh, the dinner that was supposed to be provided on Sat didn't materialize either.

When riding with Gene earlier in the day, we rode thru an area that had been logged out a few yrs ago. Gene tells us that the ranch had accepted reservations from a bunch of deer bow hunters and then had it logged out. Bow hunters sit in tree stands for the most part. He said the bow hunters were p/o'd when they got there and demanded their money back, but they didn't get it. Lynn (the owner) told them they had paid in advance and you got what you got. I think that pretty much summed up our experience.

I did some research on the web about this place and the reviews are actually pretty favorable. There is a complaint lodged against them with the Better Business Bureau, but I don't know what the complaint is, other than that a refund was requested. Milt has been trying to contact the ranch to lodge a complaint (complaining to the office staff was useless), but he has not received a response. The favorable reviews are all from people that camped at the ranch and had their own horses. As you can see by the following pictures, it is really quite pretty down there. With 3,000 acres of trails to ride, if you were just looking for a place to ride your horse, this place would fit the bill. It is not a dude ranch, as advertised, and in no way was able to accommodate our minimal needs.

I feel really badly for Milt who really attempted to give me a unique gift. I appreciate the thought and I thoroughly enjoyed the trail ride. I just thought the cost of the ride was a bit steep, considering. Oh, they charged Milt an extra $50 to ride because you could not spread the 6 hours among 2 people - even thought they did not have the horse or wrangler to give me for 6 hours.

No More Dogs..
Seems to be the refrain coming from my dad these days. My parent's beloved dog, Ike, was just diagnosed with diabetes and will be joining Tank, Cinders, Abby, Duff and a host of others on Tues. I can't imagine how hard this is for my parents. I have an indication of how difficult it is just from the tears that I've been shedding the past few days. In fact, they are freely flowing right now.

Dad told me yesterday that there will be no more dogs, this is just too hard. I, of course, had to respond with a smart ass answer and told him that at his age, he won't have to worry about it. In fact, Joe, Justine and I will probably have to draw straws to see who ends up with the dog. At least that got a laugh.

Why is this so hard? It's so hard because these little guys are such a very important part of our lives. Who else runs to greet you every time you walk into the house? Who will lay in bed with you all day - not saying a word - when you aren't feeling good. They just lay against your leg, letting you know they're thinking about you. Who else is going to brighten your day with their stupid tricks, quirks, etc? Who else sits there watching you while you're typing away, wondering why the heck you aren't taking them for a walk instead?

Sometimes dogs can be a pain in the butt. There's the whole poop/pee in the house thing. Why do they only vomit after the carpet has just been cleaned? Why do they always want to play when you are exhausted? But, for all the little pains, they truly only have one fault and that is that they don't live as long as we do. For this reason truer words were never spoken than by James Herriot who said, "all dogs will eventually break your heart."

Rest in peace, Ike. I love you.

The letter from LCpl Wesley Davids..

Thank you for my freedom!

This Memorial Day, I had the opportunity to escort Mr. O'Rourke to the Dublin Memorial Day Parade. Mr. O'Rourke was a member of the 101st Airborne Division. A paratrooper that jumped into Normandy on D-Day. He was invited to participate in the Dublin parade along with several other WWII vets including my buddy, George Fink, who I had met at the last veterans event I attended.

I met up with Mr. O'Rourke prior to the parade. His family was all there to give him last minute instructions. "Grandpa, practice waving like the queen!" He seemed tickled to ride in my Miata and kept telling me what a neat car I had. As we pulled onto the parade route, you could hear the crowd saying, "here come the WWII vets." The applause got louder and louder. People were yelling, "thank you, sir", "thank you for your service" and finally, "thank you for my freedom!" Mr. O'Rourke started with small little waves - smaller than the Queen's. As the crowd got louder, the waves got bigger. He was getting such a kick out of it. I tried in vain to hold back the tears as I drove. I was so happy for these guys, that were getting the recognition that they truly deserved.

We made a stop on the bridge into town, where a ceremony was performed for all those lost in the service of the Navy. It was then onto the cemetery where another ceremony was held and then onto the Grounds of Remembrance, a new veterans park in Dublin. A dedication ceremony was held there. The ceremony involved the usual politician speeches and was finished up by a local woman, Jody Davids, reading a letter that she had received in her son's belongings - 2 weeks after his death from an IED in Iraq. The happy tears shed during the parade were replaced by tears of pain. How this woman held her composure, I have no idea. She read of her son's pride in his service to the Marines, as her other son, also a Marine, stood at her side. It was truly an inspirational close to the day's ceremonies.

I ran into George's daughter at the picnic following the dedication. She introduced her son to me and they both thanked me and Milt for getting her dad involved in the day's ceremonies. She started to break down as she explained her dad's failing memory and how much he was enjoying what is probably his last Memorial Day. Milt walked over to talk to George, who seemed to be thoroughly enjoying his lunch and was tickled with all the attention.

Tonight, I got a call a from Mr' O'Rourke's daughter. She thanked me for taking such good care of her dad all day and said that he couldn't have been happier. He's been talking about it all day. He told his kids that it was his first parade. As for me, I can't say enough about how proud I was to participate in the day and give something back to what truly is The Greatest Generation.

A new friend...
A trip to the Red, White, & Blue Bash netted me a new buddy tonight. I was sitting at my table feeling mighty uncomfortable, didn't know a soul there other than Bubba. A woman walked up and asked if the chair next to me was empty. I told her to sit down and she sat down along with an older gentleman. I introduced myself to him and he introduces himself as George Fink and tells me that he was at Normandy. We immediately struck up a conversation that carried us through the next few hours. He was the communications officer on "the presidential ship." It turns out that his ship had carried FDR on a tour to Europe. He had an envelope sitting on the table and I asked him what he had. He pulled out an article that spotlighted him and told about his exploits in WWII. He also had a yearbook that gave the story about his ship and had pictures from FDR's trip. Not only did they carry FDR, but also Churchill & Eisenhower.

George wasn't all memory lane. He currently lives in Dublin at a retirement center. He's the bartender there and tells me that he has a host of women chasing him. He loves the place, since they are always doing something fun. He said that he actually got them to throw together a trip to Wheeling to hit the casino - where he won 1200 bucks on the penny slots.

I had a blast talking to George. He was funny and intelligent. A real pleasure. His daughter told Milt to thank me for listening to her dad, but why would I not? Milt got George's daughter's phone number and he asked if George would want to join the American Legion in the Memorial Day parade. Deborah, his daughter, about burst. She said her dad loves to go to the parade, and it's a special day since the parade ends at the cemetery and they stay to visit her mom's grave. Well, guess who gets to drive George around in the parade? Yep, he's going in the Miata with me.

George made my night. I hope that he enjoyed himself as well.

Family Room FixUp....

We've been working on the family room for the past week or so. Stripped off the cedar beam, wallpaper and replacing the windows with ones that open. We're happy with the way it's coming out. Here's the progress so far: