MONTANA and MANDORLA RANCH – July 2 – 8, 2008
In February I was asked to be the opening keynote speaker for the Travel Learning Conference in Baltimore, and through that experience, I became friends with Mara Dellipriscolli, the founder of the organization. Because of a tight budget, she offered me a week at her B and B ranch outside of Missoula, Montana, this summer as part of my speaking fee. Since my kids were all busy with other plans, I decided to have a girl friend’s week to celebrate my 65th birthday. This is our story:
The attendees:
Annie Gourley from Belfast, Ireland, my parttime condo neighbor in Sarasota
Penny Davoren from Chicago, IL, my former next door neighbor in IL
Nancy Cobb from Western Springs, IL, one of my traveling friends
Barbara Sadek and Nancy Woolever from Alexandria, VA, friends from the Society for Human Resource Management
And Annette Dubrouilllet from Morris Plains, NJ, a speaker friend
(My daughter, Erin, had planned to be with us, but just a few days before leaving, she was asked to audition for the TV show, “Project Runway,” which was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity since she has just graduated in Fashion Design. By July 9, she needed a 5 minute video, photos of all her creations, her portfolio, and a 10 page application finished, so we decided that this was her first priority. We really missed her, though. BTW, please keep her in your thoughts. The actual auditions are July 21 – August 21 and then filming starts in September. We are all pulling for her to make it!)
All of us who came are very different and have different lifestyles, ages, interests and marital situations. Only a couple of people knew each other ahead of time, but we all shared a similar spirit and joie de vivre, and everyone truly enjoyed everyone else…which is amazing when you think of seven very strong women who did not know one another before, being all together for 24 hours a day for 7 days and not having any issues.
July 1 – Annie and I stayed overnight at the Renaissance Hotel in Tampa since we had a 7:00 am flight to Spokane (YUK!) We shopped at the International Mall, had dinner at a lovely restaurant, and then got up at 5:00 am to get to the airport.
July 2 – Flew from Tampa to Denver to Spokane where we met Nancy and Barb from DC and drove the 3 ½ hours to the ranch, arriving about 6:00 pm. Driving up the long, twisty gravel roads with the cows all around, fields stretching for miles, and the mountains in the distance made us realize we really were leaving “civilization as we knew it” behind! Mandorla Ranch is at the top of a hill, set off by itself for almost as far as you can see. It is truly “Big Sky” country, The lovely log home and new barn gave us such a deep feeling of beauty and peace that we knew this was going to be a wonderful week. Interestingly, it is built on an Indian reservation, so nothing can ever be built around it.
The first “people” we met were Mac and Hobo, the resident puppies, and then Penny, Nancy, and Annette with wine glasses in hand. They had arrived the day before from Chicago and had appetizers ready on the back deck with LOTS of wine! We were shown to our rooms while Matt carried in our bags, and we met Mara, our dear and gracious hostess, Terri, the person who was really in charge of all our needs, and Lisa, her sister who helped with the cooking.
That night the early group prepared a wonderful dinner of turkey tettrazini, a beet, peach, and goat cheese salad, and we did lots of “getting acquainted.” They had a wonderful birthday cake from the bakery in town for dessert, and Carole, the conference director who lives in Missoula, and her husband, Vern, joined us for a little party. Annie brought me butterfly wings to wear, and they all gave me lovely and memorable gifts. Mara had just returned from Peru and brought me a beautiful Inca cross which I will always treasure. I got a massage gift certificate, a Swarovski crystal butterfly, a “Red Hot” beaded wine glass, a lovely ceramic heart, and a book of photos that Nancy Cobb made for me from our trip this spring to India, Thailand, and Vietnam. What a blessing that first evening was – to be with wonderful friends at a beautiful, peaceful place completely free of stress!
As the guest of honor, I was thrilled with my lovely room which was just newly finished. It had a corner fireplace, a sitting area, a little separate desk area, a lovely four poster huge bed, oak floors and beams, and then I opened the door to the bathroom – it was almost as large as my bedroom with a HUGE Jacuzzi tub by a window looking out at the mountains! I knew I would sleep well here.
July 3 – Terri and Lisa prepared a wonderful breakfast of fresh fruit and quiche for us at 9:30. There are wonderful porches all around the house, so the early birds could get up, have coffee, and read or just enjoy the views. Later that morning we drove to Whitefish and then back to Big Fork, Montana, doing lots of sightseeing and shopping. We had dinner at a lovely restaurant in Big Fork and then went to see a summer theater performance of “Kiss Me, Kate”, a takeoff of Shakespeare’s “Taming of the Shrew.”
July 4 – Had another wonderful big breakfast and then later in the morning Mara took us to a place where she said they had the “best huckleberry milkshakes” in the country! This started our rather scandalous tradition of having ice cream for lunch each day!
We went on to the rodeo in Arlee, MT, where we saw calf roping, bucking broncos, and miniature bulls-the real wild west! We probably embarrassed Mara by asking lots of “dumb” questions to the people around us as well as feeling sorry for the little calfs. 😉 It was HOT that day, but we were inspired to begin our “Hot Men of Montana” calendar here as we scouted cute cowboys in the stands and riding in the rodeo. (When Barbara Sadek and I did this in Egypt, my daughter’s comment was, “Mom, that is so JUNIOR HIGH!” 😉
We left early evening and had dinner in downtown Missoula with Matt and Mara and then went grocery shopping for the rest of our stay. Some went on the fastest carousel that they had ever seen while the rest of us watched kayak lessons in the river. Mara beat Matt to the gold ring, assisted by our energetic “activities director,” Annie.
Then some of the folks went back to the ranch and watched a movie while the rest of us went on to the Indian Powwow back in Arlee. The main tribe here is the Salish; however, all the tribes in the area were invited to the powwow, so it was quite a sight to see. Although a bit chaotic, we saw some of the dances and really enjoyed the elaborate costumes, handmade by each dancer. Most of them were male, of course. We also had fun taking photos for our calendar! We’d hoped for good shopping, but the few booths were mostly junk.
On the way home later that night we saw 6 or 7 different fireworks displays in the distance, an amazing sight with the mountains in the background. We were blessed that Nancy Woolever did almost all the driving as well as ongoing entertainment related to the other drivers on the road. (We all think she should go on “Last Comic Standing” with her driving routine as she constantly kept us laughing!)
Somehow today Annie got bitten on the ankle by a spider, and we were all worried as it swelled up terribly. She is fine now, and we’re grateful that that was our only “mishap” except for Penny tripping and falling on her bad knee. For “old” gals (always relative as the age range was 47 – 65), we did mighty well!
July 5 – Another wonderful breakfast at 9:30 (I LOVE that time!), then several of us went with Mara and Matt, the dog, Mac, and the horse, Pony, for a hike to McDonald Lake. We saw beautiful scenery, fields of wild flowers, and did a lot of sharing. However, not far from the lake, Mara advised us to turn around immediately. There was a baby bear in the road ahead – and we knew that the mother was not far away! Needless to say, we scurried back where we had come from quickly. In the pasture above the ranch we came upon Mara’s graveyard where her husband, Ray, is buried. His grave is surrounded by a wrought iron bed, a wonderful symbol of “Rest in Peace”, and the fenced-in area has quotations, carvings, relics and gifts from many different faiths. It is truly a place of peace.
Nancy and Barb cooked a lovely early dinner (we each took a night to cook) of lentil soup, marinated chicken, oven potatoes, and berries and cream for dessert. That morning they had gotten up at 6:00 am and driven to the National Bison Range. They saw 98 bison! The rest of us did NOT want to get up that early, so we decided to go in the evening at 7:00 before it closed. We were determined to see more bison than they did…;-) It was about a 1 ½ hour trip around the park, and the highlight was seeing two bison up very close. We saw deer many places, an elk and several herd of bison totaling 198! (Thank goodness Annette brought binoculars!) So.we won! 😉 Then we came back, watched a movie, and went to bed.
July 6 – At 11:00 five of us went horseback riding at a neighboring ranch. It was a nice, one hour walk up and down through the woods – the only downside being lots of mosquitoes near the river. We met a nice man, Hank and his daughter, from Tulsa, OK, and he gave me a copy of his book. We were all pretty novice except for Annie, but the horses were well-trained and the staff very helpful. Most of us weren’t even sore the next day!
Then we went back, got the rest of the gang and headed to ….the Dairy Queen, of course! Ice cream for lunch became our “official” diet for the week. We then went to see St. Ignatius Church, one of the first missions in Montana. It was a beautiful place with all the spectacular murals painted on the walls and ceiling by the kitchen cook. (I am always amazed at the hidden talents all of us have.) Penny and Nancy both said the pictures of the old nuns looked exactly like their grade school teachers! Earlier Mara drove us to the spectacular view of McDonald Lake since we didn’t make it on our hike. What a lovely, peaceful place it is, just a couple of miles above her ranch.
After the church, we spent an hour in the Western Montana Indian Museum, a VERY interesting place with amazing Indian and early settler artifacts and photos. I was able to find a bag of “Bear Poop”, something that has become a tradition with my grandson, Gavin (collecting “Poop of the World!”) On our way back we stopped at the bird sanctuary where Nancy surprised and regaled us with her pheasant call – “Weedee, weedee, whoops!” (which, by the way, did not bring the pheasant back! 😉 She and Annette got out in the rain to find birdies, but the rest of us stayed in the car.
Annie and I did dinner that night with Matt and Mara’s help with the grill – buffalo steaks, baked potatoes, sweet corn, and salad. Matt surprised us by making tiramisu for dessert, second only to Terri’s sticky buns! After dinner he gave us a 30 minute concert on his saxophone. He is such a talented young man and has been accepted with a scholarship at Exeter Academy this fall. He has been working for Mara on the ranch during vacations for three years. Afterwards we all watched “Definitely Maybe.”
July 7 – We all got up at 5:30 am (BIG GROAN FROM ME.), had a quick breakfast, piled in the car and began our 2 ½ hour drive to Glacier National Park. Nancy entertained us with “bad driver comments” and animal sounds as we all told stories, slept, and laughed. Our first stop when we entered the park – the Trading Post, of course! We then proceeded up to Logan Pass and then on to ______ Mary Falls. The drive was amazing and even a bit scary at times. Mara had told us to get there early as the park gets crowded later in the day and because of construction on the roads, there could be long waits. We had hoped to take one of the red jammer buses but found you had to have a reservation ahead to do that. The picture opportunities were endless, but we found that because of the magnificence of the scenery, the pictures simply could not do it justice.
We stopped at the pass, the highest point, which was covered with a new snow. People were bringing sleds and cross country skis and sliding down the side of the mountain. Because of the snow, we were not able to hike to see Hidden Lake which was a bit of a disappointment. We learned that there used to be 125 glaciers in this park in the 1930’s , but today there are only 20 – 22, the effect of global warming. We hiked a bit where we could and as in the rest of the park, were blown away by the awesome beauty of God’s creation.
On our drive back down the mountain, we saw two mountain goats, including a baby which looked stranded on a high ledge, and a little ways further, a long-horned sheep. We also met a man in a shop who had run into a baby grizzly bear as he was hiking. One of the rules here is to NEVER hike alone, make a lot of noise, and if you see a bear, strike a non-threatening pose. (If you know Nancy Woolever, ask her to show you her “non-threatening pose!” 😉
We had lunch at a little café in the park where we could watch deer and continue our search for “Hot Men.” At the very end of the park (we all kept hoping we would see a bear), Nancy screamed, “LOOK, LOOK, it’s a bear..across the creek!” We were all frantically trying to see where she saw it, and she was hollering out where to look-utter chaos for a few minutes. Then, as she tried to pull over to show us, we heard, “Oh shit – It’s a F..G cow!!!!!!” We laughed until we cried!
On our way out of the park we stopped at the main lodge again and bought souvenirs for family and grandchildren. We left the park about 4:00 and then drove to Big Fork where we had an AMAZING Italian dinner at Morondos, specially prepared by Fabrizio, the chef and owner. One of those “small world” stories occurred when we found out that Fabrizio lived on Annette’s street in Vicenza, Italy, at the same time she lived there. However, they did not meet until our dinner in Big Fork. Then we drove home, arriving about 9:30. It was a long day, but since it was our last night together, some of us stayed up and watched “Roman Holiday,” but we hated the ending…;-(
July 8 – The next morning we all had breakfast (Annie had an 8 – 9:30 massage) and then Penny, Nancy, and Annette left for their plane in Missoula. I had a 10 – 11:30 massage (the BEST I have ever had!), and then the rest of us left to drive to Coeur d’Alene for lunch and shopping and then on to Spokane to stay for our flight the next day. Barb, Nancy, Annie, and I had wine and a light dinner at the historic old Davenport Hotel where many famous people have stayed over the years. We then looked at the trip pictures on my computer afterwards at the lovely Hampton Inn airport hotel (very unusual to say about a Hampton Inn, but it WAS lovely!). We had to include both the mountain goat and the bison in our calendar because we were lacking enough “Hot Men” – too busy seeing other things, I guess.
Barb and Nancy were going on to DC to arrive Wednesday about 9:00 pm, and Annie and I got into Tampa at 12:15 am to get home about 2:30. Unfortunately, I was scheduled for oral surgery at 2:30 that same afternoon.
Leaving Mara’s was quite emotional as we had all bonded so much and were so fond of her and the staff. It was quite amazing that seven women who did not know one another (except me) could enjoy each other so much, especially since we are all such different personalities. This is how I would describe each one’s special gifts:
Annette – Depth, wisdom, compassion
Annie – Kindness, generosity, fun-loving spirit
Nancy Cobb – Lifelong learner, caring, loyal
Barbara Sadek – Gentleness, acceptance, openness to new things
Nancy Woolever – Leadership, honesty, sense of humor
Penny – Organized, authentic, focused
Mara – Spiritual, creative, compassionate, courageous
I feel so very BLESSED to have such precious friends who were willng to take a week out of their lives to help me celebrate a milestone birthday. I only wish all the people I love could have been with us.
P.S. If any of you ever want a wonderful, relaxing retreat or need a place for a family reunion or a wedding, anniversary or honeymoon, check out MadorlaRanch.com. It is warm and intimate and can sleep about 8 – 10 people. You will be awed by the peace and surrounding spectacular beauty as well as by the charming staff. I highly recommend it!
Blessings,
Barbara
Read more about the happenings in Barbara’s work and life in her monthly newsletter, “Spreading Contagious Enthusiasm” available at www.barbaraglanz.com/newsletter.