MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE RANCH
Yep. I was away for awhile. Out in the wide open spaces. Riding the range. Don’t fence me in. Back in the saddle again.
I’ve always had that cowgirl thing, because when I was growing up, the most popular TV shows and movies were Westerns. Westerns-westerns-westerns. I think we O.D.’d on Westerns but it took a long time. My heroine was Dale Evans. Sure, she was Roy Rogers girlfriend on TV (and wife in real life), but she was a great role model for girls. There weren’t many other spunky cowgirls out there. For a while, I believe I thought I was Dale Evans. Especially when my parents got my sister and me these cool cowgirl outfits. And Janet even had her own horse - Golden. The fact that Golden was made from a cardboard box did not lessen my fascination with him. Or was it a her? Anyway, my talented, artistic dad created a winner. (I definitely have to dig up a picture from the Wheel Parade where I wore that costume.)
This past weekend I finally got to live my fantasy for a little while. The whole family: children and spouses, granddaughter, Frank and I, went to the Rankin Ranch, about 2 1/2 hours from L.A., in Caliente, CA, not too far from Bakersfield. http://rankinranch.com
It’s a working cattle ranch that also is a fabulous spot for a family vacation. Through our dear friend, Carolyn Hart, we had met Helen Rankin, the matriarch of the family now sadly gone, and her son Bill and daughter-in-law Glenda. This ranch has been in the family for over 100 years and the family still runs it. So nice that the younger generation is still there!
It was my husband’s birthday. We celebrated by riding (okay, I didn’t), swimming, holding ping-pong, archery and pool tournaments. With two year-old Remy, we spent a lot of time with the baby animals. The pigs were especially entertaining. The highlight of the visit was a hayride, a barbecue in the meadow, followed by a horseshoe tournament we all loved. (But you do learn how competitive your family members are in an event like that.) It might have been the first time I’ve worn a cowboy hat since the picture above. Here I am with Walshe (that cowboy just moved to NYC) on the haywagon. We were just so sorry that his girlfriend, Ania, couldn’t leave her new job to join us …. but we’re going back.
Oh, and I got yelled at by a cow. There’s no other way to describe it. She wasn’t just yelling. She was yelling at me. I just wish I knew why!
I love the California landscape. I have more pictures I’ll share… and a special story about Sassy, the ranch dog.
Back to Dale Evans, I spoke in Victorville, CA in June. A huge, fabulous event! At lunch, I mentioned that the only time I’d been to Victorville was to visit the Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum (now moved to Branson, in Missouri, my home state). My hostess said they had gone to her church and they were just as wonderful as they seemed in their movies. I don’t think I would have believed her if she’d told me otherwise - they were just too genuine. And you can still get their DVDs!