One word: meh.
Now lots of words:
In the world of Pinterest, Photoshop, and Amazon, we have come to expect perfectly staged and blemish-free instant gratification no matter where we are or what the circumstances. To me, this isn't a good thing--it feels plastic, like silk flowers in a bridal bouquet. Life can be more fun and more meaningful when it's raw and rough around the edges. When things aren't exactly what they seem is when real life unfolds before your eyes with all its beautiful imperfections. These were the thoughts going through my head as I drove up to Rainier Ranch to stay in one of the TeePees with an old friend for the weekend.
Driving through the property we saw a meadow of mown hay with a few TeePees arranged in a crescent shape around a fire pit and a porta potty. An old dilapidated farmhouse sat in a prominant position on a little hill. When we went to check in the owner welcomed us with one San Pellegrino with a ribbon tied around it and one of those paper candy-striped straws that seems to make an appearance as a craft and/or drink accessory at every child's Pinterest birthday party I have had the pleasure of attending since becoming a mother 5 years ago. "This is the last one" the owner said as she handed it to me, and boy what foreshadowing that little phrase turned out to be. We made our way to the TeePees where we found the beds a mess as if the last guests had just left, a bottle of kerosene kicking around, and upon further investigation, a squished grapefruit under on of the mattresses. Yum!
We wandered up to the house which was a lovely falling-down and rusty old farmhouse with cracks in the ceiling, 80's carpet on the floors but all the original dark-wood built-ins and a nice rustic porch with a few tables and rickety chairs to kick your feet up on. The decor was a hodgepodge of antiques that I immediately recognized as that coveted shabby chic look. The elements were there-- 70's reproduction victorian dining chairs, 1950's french-English vocabulary flash cards in the bottom of a mason jar full of old dry lavender--you get the picture.
We told the owner we were headed down to EZ Times for a trail ride, but she talked us into going for their ride instead. "We do lunch and a ride for two people for $139, we have a great trail and all our horses and rescues" I ran my card for $139 and asked what time lunch was. "Oh I don't know, I'll need to go to town to shop. I don't know what I'll get." Basically, she made the sale and immediately dropped the act of being enthusiastic about her offerings and our experience and the attitude became: whatever you'll get some lunch eventually. It was 11:30, we told her we were quite hungry and we'd like to eat and go for our ride quickly so we could get to the mountain before the park closed. This lunch NEVER materialized, she left and was gone for an hour and came back empty-handed. Great. Then we went to go track down the trail guide, on our way we were intercepted why a woman who said she didn't work there but hung out there quite a bit, she told us the horses were really acting up and they probably shouldn't be taken for a ride. That made us a little bit nervous, but we rolled with it and figured okay, let's ask if we should reschedule for tomorrow. when we asked the guide about the horses and if we should plan for the next day she was quick to brush it off and try to gloss over the situation, still the horses weren't ready and she couldn't tell us when they would be. So we sat and waited. For lunch. No lunch. We went and checked on the horses, nothing. An hour passed and then two. Finally, they got us up on the horses, but after about ten minutes of pretty agitated riding, the horses crossed the path of a tractor and got a bit spooked. The guide talked in hushed tones to another of the ranch hands that she didn't want to continue on the horses because they were acting nuts and that was enough for us, we were hungry, nervous, and a bit annoyed with the lack of communication or care for the risk of putting us on horses they were feeling concerned about. When I told the owner I wanted a refund for the ride she said "what happened? You guys just weren't into it?" This was the tone of the whole experience, everything was disorganized and less than advertised and when we asked about it we were met with the situation turned around on us, it was all somehow our fault. If you read the owner's responses to negative reviews on AirBnb you'll see this attitude. I've worked in the service industry for years and you don't blame the customer and then wag your finger at them.
In the end, it's a case of overpromising and under delivering. They are disorganized and a bit rough, but we left with the funny stories. So if you like rough, raw, and charmingly (or bafflingly) imperfect, this is the place for you! read more