For those of you who have inquired, there will be services in Indiana on Friday, January 27 at 11am.  I don’t have all the details on that service at this time.

Jerry’s Colorado family and friends will celebrate his life at the ranch on Sunday, January 29 from 2-4.

Please keep the wonderful notes, messages and thoughts coming about Jerry in lieu of flowers.  We are keeping them all for Peggy and her family.  Also, if any of you have a nice photo of Jerry at the ranch, we would love to be able to put together a slideshow of his cowboy days.  If you do have a photo, please send it along to Krista at info@vistaverde.com. This ranch was his dream, and we want to remember him living it to the fullest.

The Vista Verde Ranch family suffered a heartbreaking loss last night with the passing of owner Jerry Throgmartin.  He passed suddenly and unexpectedly after becoming ill.

Jerry and Peggy purchased Vista Verde in 2006 and invested their love, time and resources into making it not only the best ranch to visit, but the best place to work.  His support and dedication to the ranch team, the guest experience and the place we all love was tremendous.  Jerry touched so many lives and left an incredible legacy at the ranch.  It’s been a pleasure to see him live out his childhood dream of being a rancher—and even a greater delight to see him fall in love with the hospitality industry and creating the guest experience.  What many people did not get to see is how much time and energy he put into developing us as a management team.  He was, quite simply, the best person to work for.

At this time, we appreciate all your messages of love and support.  If we don’t respond right away, please know that we are thankful for the support.   Jerry was a sincere man of faith and even though his departure is an incredible loss to us, his family takes comfort that this has all been a part of God’s plan.  While we seek to comfort one another, the beauty of a ranch is that it is a reminder that life doesn’t stop.  Horses need to be fed, meals need to be cooked, and snow needs to be shoveled.

Many have asked how they can show their support at this time.  We are asking in lieu of flowers for guests to send a note with any memories of Jerry and what the ranch has meant to you.  He took great joy in sharing this “piece of heaven” with others.  We will share these notes with Peggy and Nicky as well as the ranch team.   Also, please feel free to post any messages on this blog or our Facebook page.  We will share it all with his family.

More details will follow about Jerry and services planned in Colorado.   In the meantime, we are thinking of Jerry riding his horse, sharing laughter with friends and family, with the sun shining on his back.  Ride on, Cowboy.  We love you and God bless.

In November, when we received about 3 feet of snow, we thought we were off to an early start of the winter resort season in Colorado.  December rolled around and it wasn’t as generous.  The staff came in for training, and there wasn’t any fresh snow.  But we still had so much from November, that we weren’t concerned.  As orientation went along, we all just kept thinking, “The fresh snow will come”.  And then it never did.  This same mindset played into the holidays, when we kept expecting that we would wake up to a White Christmas, and never did.  Having so much snow in November still made it a winter wonderland out here, and still allowed us to get out and enjoy the snow on skis, snowshoes, horses, sleighs, and snow tubes.  But, like I said before, we’re kind of spoiled out here and used to fresh snow gracing us frequently!

Last weekend, we had a beautiful dump of fresh snow, that added another great layer to the white frosting on the roofs of the cabins and Lodge.  It allowed Charlie to groom a little more of our ski trails, and for the guides to get to some terrain that they hadn’t skied for a little while.  This morning, the wind is kicking in and another storm should be rolling into the area.  We’ll see how much snow this storm brings, but are just grateful for anything we get these days!

So, my mantra this year has been, “Do your snow dances!”.  What’s a snow dance?  It’s whatever you want it to be.  Grooving to funky tunes, rocking out to the 80′s, sliding to a salsa beat, you name it.  Just turn up the tunes, think about snow, and start dancing!  Here’s the best part of it:  you will burn calories, have some fun, and it will help you get in shape for you to come out and strap on some skis to enjoy the fruits of your labor!  I have no idea if snow dances work, and the inner cynic in me doesn’t even want to think about it….but it’s fun so go with it.  Do your snow dances, and I’ll let you know if it’s working!

We haven't had much snow, but the sunsets have been amazing!

Whew, where did the time go?  The holidays seem to be a bit of a vortex of time for all of us at the ranch.  From the whirlwind of getting the staff back in action, training the newbies, and getting everything in tip top shape to open for the season, to all the festivities of the holidays (more about that in a bit) to shuttling people to and from the airport, getting them out on skis, horses, sleds, sleighs, etc….it seems like December 1 rolls in and next thing we know we’re singing Happy New Year!  I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season, surrounded by great people and a festivities.

Our holiday season seemed to be broken down into 3 pieces.  There were the folks who came out prior to Christmas and helped us kick off our season.  This was a smaller group of guests and we really enjoyed sharing some fun with them and gearing up for Santa’s arrival.  As they headed home, the Christmas guests rolled in.  What a great group of guests.  We deocorated gingerbread houses, sang carols around the fire, on the sleigh, and all around the ranch.  The Christmas day feast was amazing thanks to Chef Matt and his wonderfully hard working crew.  In the following days, this group of guests headed home to their realities while another group of guests rolled in to ring in the New Year with us.  Once again, we were surrounded with laughter, great energy and fun folks.  Our annual New Year’s progressive dinner started with a sleigh ride and some skiers, great food and a beautiful evening.  Following several stops and about 6 courses, we finished up in the Great Room with the highly anticipated boot drop.  Yes, we are fuddy duddies and this happens long before midnight.  But, when you are playing hard in the snow all day, you need your sleep!

What a fun treat for me to get out and snowshoe with Holly!

One of my highlights of the holidays was getting an “office pass” as Charlie likes to call it, and going out to lead a snowshoe tour up by Hahn’s Peak.  It was a beautiful day, and I got to have a ton of fun with Holly, Tim and Ted.  Lucky me.

Now we are into our adult only times, and with that comes the many honeymooners, some romantic vacation seekers, some getting away with friends, and some just sneaking away on their own for a bit of R&R.  We’re enjoying the crew here this week.  There are some here for their first time, some back after not being here for a while, and even one gal who just snuck away from close by to snowshoe and relax.  It’s a great way to start the New Year!

Here’s to a great year for all of you!  We hope to have you join us in 2012.  We’re filling up for the winter season, but there are still spots here and there. Surprisingly, we have room leading up to Valentine’s Day….so get your sweetheart and come out for a memorable Valentine’s Day getaway this year!

Draft horse teams are a tricky thing.  They need to work well together.  They need to have the right temperament.  It’s nice if they are attractive.  And they need to be able to pull a lot more at our ranch than what many teams pull in other settings.  A fully loaded sled in a foot of fresh powder isn’t an easy thing to drag along behind you.  It may sound easy, but those are hard horseshoes to fill.

In come  Tim and Tom.  Maybe not the fanciest looking team, but still healthy and strong. Reid and Terry had this team shipped in from Montana the other night, and so far they are proving to be exactly what we have needed all along.  Their first big test will be Saturday night with the caroling sleigh ride.  If they can handle a sleigh loaded with singing people in the dark, then they will have passed the ultimate test.  Between now and then, they are getting a lot of practice runs!  Hopefully this will be the last time you see a post about a new team for a long time!

Enjoy the holidays.  When it all gets to be too much, just imagine yourself gliding through the snow, in a one horse open sleigh, and the jingle bells ringing.  We’re living it out here at the ranch!

This picture is my daughter who was so sad to leave Vista Verde yesterday. Last Sunday my kiddos headed out for an awesome trail ride while I back-country skied across frozen Hahn’s Peak Lake with one of your amazing guides. Today, I’m in Salt Lake City’s inversion and have yet to see the sun. Thank you Vista Verde!

Followed by a comment from Ann:

Today I unpacked and found that Willy the Moose was kidnapped again. Please advise as to your mailing address and Willy will be returning to this surreal winter wonderland.

Ann- Willy is yours to keep!  You just have to keep hiding him each night or the magic might go away.

There really aren’t that many new staff this winter, but most of the return staff are from last summer so that still need to get the full orientation so they know what to expect from a winter season.  As much as we are still the same good old Vista Verde, the two seasons are really quite different.  With folks coming and going every day, rather than a set check-in and check-out day, there isn’t as much of a rhythm to the winter season.  And, an entirely different set of activities as well as the job of moving snow daily means new roles for most of the staff. 

Sarah is heading up the dining room again this winter, with Jessica returning to help her but a new crew otherwise.  Melissa is leading the charge in housekeeping with Lindsey returning to take off her hiking boots and dig in on any dirt inside the cabins.  Also changing hats is Kristin, who swapped her dining room role for a more behind the scenes one in housekeeping.  You wont miss her ability to strike up a conversation with anyone as she’ll still make her presence known!  Steve and Kelli have a whole new crew in the guide department, but all faces you may recognize from this past summer.  Kathy (dining room), Jess (wrangler) and Zack (ranch hand) have all felt the pull of the outdoors and are busy learning the ins and outs of the Nordic Center.  Matt has a largely returning crew in the kitchen with Lewis, Lisa and Vinny all sticking around.  Evan is going to help over the holidays as well.  In the office, Krista (KC) has come back for another dose of keeping me organized, as well as the entire ranch.  And Charlie has Jason and Tom back as well as Anna jumping in from the barn to help with everything outside.  John saved us in a pinch by jumping in to help for the short term when Dace had the coveted dishwasher position open up last minute.  And Terry and Reid (who has taken the head wrangler role) are lucky enough to have Nathan and John sticking around to help in the barn.  So, as you can see, there are many familiar faces in addition to Ben, Dace, me, Charlie, Steve, Kelli, Terry, Reid, Nicky, Beka, Matt and Bill.  We hope you enjoy seeing them this winter, as well as meeting those who are here for their first season!

You can enjoy reading about the crew on our Staff page.  Photos of the new folks will be coming soon as Carla just took them late last week.

I’m excited that I have two writers in the Front office, so expect to see some guest blogging this winter.  Requests for topics are always welcomed!

While the stalls have been built, we also re-did the insulation in the arena.  Lesson learned the hard way, traditional insulation does not work in a humid environment like an indoor arena.  So, that insulation was pulled out and we applied spray insulation.  This should help reduce the energy required to heat the arena in the future, and takes away any potential mold issues.

Terry and the wranglers are anxiously waiting for the project to be finished so they may start riding the horses inside again.  The snow covered outdoor arena doesn’t quite do the trick this time of year!

Makes: 25

Ingredients:

6- 6 oz. chicken breasts

½ – cup dry rib rub

1-Large yellow onion medium diced

1-Cup of toasted and rough chopped pistachios

Salt and pepper to taste

3- oz- olive oil

2- oz- butter

1. Melt the butter in a sauté pan and slowly caramelize the onions on very low heat for about 2 hours.
2. Rub down all the chicken breast with the olive oil and rib rub then grill of the chicken breasts to medium well.
3. Once chicken has cooled cut it to medium dice and mix in the caramelized onions and pistachios. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper and begin filling your empanadas.

Depending on how much filling you use in each one you may have less or more so play with your amounts to get the right amount of filling for the amount of dough.

Sweet empanadas are great also that you can make with some diced apples caramelized with butter, vanilla, brown sugar and cinnamon. When you make sweeter ones you can add baking spices to the dough as well and a little brown sugar.

These can be really good served warm with vanilla ice cream.