The Ranch Life

The Ranch Life

Today was our last day at Red River Ranch. We will all roll out of here literally heading off to all the compass points some time tomorrow morning. Some may leave before breakfast if they are trying to get home in one day. That would be Mark & Jeanne, who are heading due south 557 miles to Phoenix. That’s a long day on a bike, but at least it’s a Harley dresser. Steve & Karen (along with pup, Sadie) also drive their Sprinter to Phoenix, but stop in Page for a break. That’s the program for Steve & Maggie too, with Steve riding his GS and Maggie in the Audi. Roger & Edwina go 390 miles northeast to Steamboat Springs dragging their rickety borrowed bike trailer behind their old reliable Subaru. Kevin & Karen, Eric & Sue and Eric B. are all riding and driving due north to Park City to store their bikes. Frank & Barbara, Mardie & Charlie go the same way to SLC (from where the O’Connells will fly home to Florida). And then Chris & Ann, Natasha & Betty join Kim and I in our ride/drive back to Lake Las Vegas to see if the hotel there has improved it’s room turnaround time. We will all be home soon reflecting on our Southern Utah adventure.

As we have matured as a group over the last quarter century, one thing we have learned is the value of being “present” and not rushing our departures. These are intense visits for all of us and we have all become very close friends over the years. The last day was spent accordingly, less on riding and more on socializing and appreciating our ranch home. This ranch is a family operation run by the Van Dyke family. We’ve known them for years and watched the family grow. Dave & Charlene and now kids Caroline, Tommy, Grace and Phoebe all pitch in and reacquaint themselves with us all over this meal or that chat in the great room. Grace told some of us about how the family celebrates Christmas at the Lodge, while Tommy took Steve L. off-road to explore some of the nearby backcountry. The week gave us all a better awareness of the wonders of the Red River Ranch family life and feel the warmth that it extends to each of us as repeat guests. We will see the family back here in July, when we pass through and in San Diego (Charlene’s home town) in August. We are the Ranch’s biggest fans. This morning while some of us just dawdled around the Ranchhouse, others took the short ride up to chilly Fishlake. A carload went back to the Burr Trail to see what they had missed the day before. It was intended as a free form day and felt delightful in its unhurried languor. While some went off for a local burger lunch, fourteen of us went on a Jeep ride up to the various lookouts at Upper Cathedral Valley. This is the local backside of Capital Reef that we have never seen from the road. It is a vast wilderness of sandstone formations like an early in-process version of Bryce Canyon. It is still probably a million years or so away from full development, but it’s a sight of wonder to anyone who appreciates canyonscapes. The Jeeps were bumpy, but still a comfort to us saddle-sore riders. The guides were locals, within the definition of such to us strangers. They differentiate those who are born here, stayed here, returned here or just immigrated here. Our driver was a thirty-year Naval veteran who went from being a military policeman to a State Trooper. He made enough statements for us to identify him quickly as a Red Archconservative. If there was any doubt, the .38 caliber Glock on his belt made his status quite clear. Despite that, he proved very informative about the history and current issues impacting Wayne County and these towering sandstone walls and trails all around us. Politics filled the Jeep’s air for a few hours, but it never got too thick to stand.

We returned with just enough time to freshen up for dinner at the Lodge, prepared and served by Charlene and the family. We had hand-cut sirloins that felt and tasted fresh off the ranch while the Lodge’s model train chugged around us overhead. During the appetizers we were treated to a rather exciting show of Bison Bravado put on by the young and spunky males in the herd. They were directly in front of the dining room tables and their zooming attacks on each other looked all too real and provided us with some Cowboy excitement while the newborn calf ran around trying to stay out from underfoot. Things eventually calmed down and once Edwina got down off her commanding perch on a chair, we got back to eating our dinner while the herd settled themselves down. Our little Buffalo stampede had been quite a floor show.

The rest of the evening went as all of our parting dinners seem to go. We all recognize the value of our friendship and profess our great thanks to one another for just having the opportunity to gather and see one another. The hugs and kisses seem even more heartfelt and genuine this year than in the past, probably thanks to the combination of aging and COVID lockdowns. People referenced our souvenir masks as almost anachronistic artifacts of a time gone by as opposed to active protective gear to keep at hand at all times. These people and others not present on this ride are some of our best friends. It has been an unusual but solid basis for friendships that have mostly stood the test of time.

But this trip has been different and special in other ways as well. To begin with, like on most rides, we have expanded our membership, in this case by four newbies, and they have thoroughly grafted to the organization in no time. We have also, by virtue of our extended stay this time, broadened our closeness to the Red River Ranch and the wonderful Van Dyke family. The added familiarity with the Torrey area and all the new sights we have experienced this week are all frosting on the ride cake. These trips have always been about riding and camaraderie, but now they seem to be about camaraderie and riding. It is a subtle, but noticeable adjustment that is all at once appropriate to our aging nature, our continued quest to add new members to share the experience and joy, to our collective traumatization by the extended global Pandemic and perhaps even the increasingly challenging and unstable state of the world.

The earth moves in rhythms and patterns, as does the history of man on the earth. It’s more than that we are born, we live and we die. It is about the texture of life and seeing its wonders in all its forms. This ride opened my eyes even more than before to how close we are to this group. It also reminds me that people like the Van Dykes choose to put themselves out there for people like us to connect with. That is impressive to me and makes me want to reach out and connect more in whatever ways lay in my path going forward. The Ranch in western culture was a gathering place, a place for family, friends, wayfarers and all of the natural world. A river does run through it as Norman Maclean would say and that river causes all things to merge into one. The Red River Ranch rests in an area cut by the world’s great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. … Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words, while written by me, are theirs. I am haunted by motorcycles, red cliffs and calm, receding waters. I stand in awe of the Ranch Life.