2014 February | Taking The Back Roads

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It Truly Is A Small Word

Sometimes I feel like I am the only one who lives a life that is unique and hard to manage. As some of you know I live spring and summer in Belgium, {my husband’s home country} and fall and winter in Colorado to be with family along with stops in the Chicago area where I was born. This type of lifestyle is hard to manage when you have a photography business because I am always on the move. It does create great opportunities, but managing paperwork, computers, second residence, communication with family and friends and language and cultural differences can be quiet a challenge.

Many times my I feel I am the only one who lives such a lifestyle and I am on my own when dealing with all the challenges. But a recent trip to a small town in Shell, Wyoming made me realize just what a small world this truly is.

A group of fellow equine photographers ventured to a fabulous guest ranch to create winter images of horses and western lifestyle images. We stayed the week at The Hideout Lodge and Guest Ranch located in Shell, Wyoming with a population of 63. This ranch is set just below the beautiful Big Horn Mountains. It took my breath away with the beautiful log cabin lodge and quaint cabins set in fresh snow with views of the mountains everywhere you looked. It brought back my memories of living in Montana.

After settling in to our quaint log cabin room we all met for the get acquainted dinner in the lodge. That is when I discovered that this beautiful guest ranch was managed by a couple from Belgium. I could not believe that I would hearing that lovely Belgian accent so familiar to me in such a remote place. Peter De Cabooter and his wife Marijn Werquin (just to clarify in Belgium women do not take the family name of their husbands which I think is great} manage this lovely lodge and guest ranch and also live a similar lifestyle as myself. Who would have thought I would find a couple from Belgian in such a remote location?

We had a chance to talk about Belgium, living in the two countries and how we both handle the travel of back and forth and all that goes with living in to different cultures. Having met them made me feel a bit more content with my very different lifestyle. I realized that there must be many who live this multi-cultural life and deal with all the excitement and challenges that comes with this.

Having worked with my husband on several guest ranches while living in Montana for 10 years, I quickly recognized how Peter and Marijn bring the best of Belgium to this small western community. The ranch offers nothing shy of quality from the beautiful log lodge and quaint cabins to an accomplished chef Sheena cooking meals you would only expect in high level restaurants. All the staff was professional, friendly and very qualified for the position they were hired to do. Peter told me during one of our conversations during cocktail hour that he understands that if he hires the best employees he know he has to offer them a long-term career so they can keep the high level of employees that they have. Unlike the ranches we worked on that after three months you were scrambling to find another job for the rest of the year which most likely not make if possible to return to the guest ranch the following season leaving the owners to continually trying find new employees. Which in return leaves regular guests wondering what to expect the following year.

In Belgium you can not just hang out your sign and run a business, you must be trained, schooled and certificate for the professional position in most cases. I see that at the HIdeout ranch Peter and Marijn have brought this quality to the ranch. I also experienced the friendliness and creativity of the employees that is so prevalent in our culture. Like Tom Bercher the head wrangler with his patience for us demanding photographers to Rebecca his wife who is the office manager and keeps everything running smooth.There were the two twin c cowboys Greg and Mark Prows entertaining us all with their cowboy stories. So with the best of two cultures they have created a very unique and pleasant experience. This was the first time I experienced both of my worlds coming together in this lovely week.

I hope in the future I can bring my husband back to The HIdeout Lodge and Guest ranch so he too experience what it is like when you blend these two cultures together and how a quality ranch guest ranch can be run.

If you have a dream of experiencing the western lifestyle and want to ride a horse in the beautiful wide open spaces of Wyoming I highly recommend The HIdeout Ranch as a place for your destination. I guarantee you will not be disappointed and will you will have a once in a life time experience at this very unique and traditional western ranch.

Here are some of the photographs I took during the week. The interior image are were created by the talented fellow photographer Rebbeca Neff.

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