Meadview AZ: Home Away From Home

Grand Canyon Western Ranch- it was our destination for our anniversary/Kevs birthday weekend. A time to ride them horseys, shoot them guns, face down them buffalos, sit by a campfire swappin ghost stories while bunkin down in a cozy little cabin while listening to the cows mooing and then maybe take in a visit to the Grand Canyon of the West. And that’s just what we did..Here’s tip #1; if your GPS tells you to take a “ short cut” of 12 mins that turned into only 4 mins …Don’t do it! We ended up on a dirt road that included cows for 32 miles! Kev was convinced that our destination was really just a fake PO Box …after 4 1/2 hours we arrived. Here’s tip #2. Keep your expectations low and you won’t be disappointed now, I’m usually the optimist, and I still am, but, the ranch looked very different than the website. But, for all that I thought it was going to be, it turned out to be so much better. Meet cowboy Casey. He was our gun instructor (they’re are great pics but due to our current political climate on guns I will refrain from sending them!) I had only been at a shooting range once so this was a little scary. Surprisingly, I turned out to be a pretty good shooter with a rifle! He was so patient and encouraging that I finally was able to get the hang of it. He also doubled as an entertainer who sang songs he wrote during dinner and around the campfire. Kev and I took a hike to the top of their ranch to see the buffaloes. They were amazing!! When you looked into their eyes you knew that nothing frightened them and you should be! And then there’s the cows…one of the baby calves wandered off into our camp just enjoying the independence of his mama while eating all the grass. He came over to me, so close, while I was reading on the porch. We looked right into each other’s eyes..and then he left. And the horses..well, Kev had a great time with his horse Milly while I had to stay back ( that’s another story). If that weren’t enough we unexpectedly were only 15 miles from the Grand Canyon West. We went on the “skywalk” and were awed once more . Just when you think the Grand Canyon couldn’t look more magnificent it surprises you. This time we were able to see the Colorado River where my friend Kimmer and I went on a river rafting trip right after high school. And for the last night we sat around the campfire listening to the stories about the ranch and remembering how blessed we really are. Like anything, it’s your perspective that determines if your vacation was a good one or not. For us we were so grateful for the time..alone, without music, wifi, tv…just the two of us really Thank you Jesus for this unexpected trip of surprises..