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Taking the Kids: A unique Colorado experience

Eileen Ogintz, Tribune Content Agency on

No one seems to mind the lack of TVs or the spotty Wi-Fi, especially this year, said Amy Trainer. “It’s nice to be away from the screens,” she added.

There were guided hikes and horseback rides, the chance to eat your catch and plenty of hammocks, as well as cabin porches meant for cuddling up or relaxing with a good book.

The McMahons are Denverites, here with their 10- and 6-year-old sons, chose this place because during the pandemic they didn’t want to go anywhere with too many people or anywhere they would have to fly. “Absolutely. I’d recommend this to my friends,” said Leigh McMahon. So would 10-year-old Owen McMahon after he caught a trout for dinner.

Food was a high point for everyone. Young kids, like Kale Phipps, 6, here with his parents from Kansas, are encouraged to try new foods — like duck, his mom Andrea said. “He’s tried everything.”

When we arrive, we’re greeted with freshly baked cookies and doughnut holes. We start the morning with “Cowboy Coffee” around the fire pit followed by eggs, bacon, sausage, cinnamon rolls, blintzes, fruit and freshly baked biscuits and gravy. “The cinnamon rolls have no calories before 8:30 a.m.,” Ranch Manager Craig Hilton promises.

No need to make a decision at dinner as we can try lobster tail, steak, fried chicken and grilled trout, and sides that include beans, corn, slaw and home-baked apple crisp for dessert.

After a morning horseback ride, lunch is beef chili with cornbread, tomato soup, smoked pork sandwiches, Caesar salad and brownies. No one is going hungry.

 

Nor does anyone need to plan meals, cook or clean up. By the second day, everyone was exchanging stories outdoors around the fire pit and socially distanced in the cozy bar. There was a couple from Minnesota enjoying their first getaway without their 11-month-old and another couple celebrating their 25th anniversary.

Last summer, Hilton said, families drove from as far as Houston, Los Angeles and Chicago. That well may be the case this summer as road trips are expected to be equally popular. About half the guests, said Hilton, combine their time — as did the Trainers — between the ranch and the Broadmoor.

“The Broadmoor was awesome too,” said Whitt Trainer. “But it’s really hard to leave the ranch.”

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(For more Taking the Kids, visit www.takingthekids.com and also follow TakingTheKids on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram where Eileen Ogintz welcomes your questions and comments. The Kid’s Guide to Philadelphia, the 13th in the kid’s guide series, was published in 2020, with The Kid’s Guide to Camping coming in 2021.)

©2021 Eileen Ogintz. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.


(c) 2021 DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.

 

 

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