We didn’t have time for a long vacation this year, so we decided to spend a few days on a dude ranch in Arkansas. It was a terrific vacation!

Day 0
We traveled to Diamond Horseshoe Ranch in Arkansas. We arrived on Sunday afternoon in time for dinner in the mess hall, a little time in the game room, and some time in the pool.









Day 1:
The first day began with a large breakfast. Then we went to the barn to meet our horses for the week. Candy had Jon Snow. Sam had Butterbean. I had Scout. Tom had Dramamine. After a short trail ride to get familiar with our horses, we walked over to the range where we shot bows, rifles, and pistols and threw axes.








After lunch we did some rock climbing.



We even had time for a game of frisbee golf in the evening. The course was quite challenging, and we had to actually search for the holes at times.

After another terrific dinner meal (the food was universally terrific), we went to the barn for some games for an hour or so.

Day 2:
On the second day we split up in the morning. Tom, Sam, and Candy went for more rock climbing.




I had only been on a horse a few times before, and I was enjoying getting more comfortable and learning how to actually control the horse, so I went for another trail ride with some other campers.



After lunch we suited up for the adventure course. This involved rock climbing through a cave, around cliffs, and one of the top five zip lines in North America.


There were portions of the cave that were very tight. There were also portions that dropped pretty deeply. It was an interesting experience.







In the evening, during the camp fire and s’mores, we went back to the barn so the kids could work their way through the cave simulator. It was narrow, winding, and dark.



Day 3:
Day 3 began with a trail ride to a secluded location where we ate breakfast cooked over an open fire by the ranch staff.





In the afternoon while Tom and Sam did more rock climbing, Candy and I went down to the Buffalo river to lounge in the water and hiked to the twin falls.


Day 4:
We travelled home. It was a really good trip. When we planned this short vacation, I was worried that just three days would be too short. It was a very physical vacation, so after three days we were ready to go home. A fourth day might have been fun, but more than four days would have been too many.