Ahhhhhhhhh! If I click my heels together enough times can I go home like Dorothy?

For the last twelve years, my family and I have spent wonderful times in Southern Utah. We enjoy it so much that going there several times a year truly feels as if we are going home. When away from Zion, we miss it terribly. When there, we don't want to leave. For us, we do feel a little bit like Dorothy except our Oz is in the La, La land of freeways that seem to snake on forever in the smog of Los Angeles.

Frustrated and annoyed with being stopped, once more, on the freeway, I close my eyes and say "There's no place like Southern Utah, there's no place like Southern Utah".......

How it All Started

I fell in love with Southern Utah, specifically Zion Ponderosa Ranch about twelve years ago. After fifteen years of marriage and two children later, I found myself suddenly single. Fresh off the battle field of divorce, badly bruised and in need of an escape, I started searching for places that would offer a place to hide for a while. One that would surround me in nature's beauty and offer a peaceful retreat from the noise and confusion of my everyday life. I knew where ever "this place" is I had my list of "for certains" that it needed to be. I knew for certain the perfect spot would need to have activities for my kids, things we could do so I would not have to hear "I'm bored" "this is boring" or other words to that effect. It had to surround us with lots and lots of nature; and eating places had to be on the property or at least within walking distance.

This was going to be an adventure for all of us, but realistically, I was the lone adult with two small children and I knew once I found "the place" I would plant myself there not wanting to be too adventurous driving around looking for activities and food. I knew I was asking for alot and if I found such a place, the cost would probably be more than I could afford.

Zion Ponderosa Ranch Resort

To my surprise, I found Zion Ponderosa Ranch Resort.I could not have dreamed up a more perfect place. One lazy Sunday afternoon while reading the Travel section of the Los Angeles Times, I found a little tiny ad for the Zion Ponderosa Ranch and they actually had a web site www.zionponderosa.com. This was in 1997 and back then, not many businesses had web sites. I immediately checked out their site and could not believe the beauty of the land I saw in the photographs. I really hoped what was advertised was for real. There was a section to request a video tape (again it's 1997 no DVDs back then). I sent my request half hoping this was not some scam.

My video tape arrived a few days later. I ripped open the package and shoved the tape into the VCR. A handsome cowboy riding a white stallion spoke directly to me (okay maybe not directly to me but he sold me that's for sure) To this day, I remember his exact words "If it's been a long time since you saw the Milky Way or had s'mores over a camp fire, come to Zion Ponderosa Ranch in Southern Utah and you'll fall in love". The Milky Way? What? The only Milky Way I know is a candy bar.

The ranch included lodging, all three meals plus two snacks and most important, unlimited activities. The video showed horseback riding, fishing, mountain bike riding, archery, skeet shooting, go-karts and an activities barn with a variety of games. There was also a pool, tennis courts and a play ground on 8,000 acres of ponderosa pines. All for the price of $250 per day for all of us!

I booked a visit for late August the week before Labor Day. Back then Zion Ponderosa Ranch was an all-inclusive resort, but to call it a "resort" was very optimistic. It was a rustic array of single log cabin rooms with double-sized bunk beds. No bathroom. There was a shared bath house a good walk from your room and at night it was pitch black. It was, however, to my children and me, the Ritz Carlton of cool kid resorts.

Our First Trip to the Ranch

On our first trip to Zion Ponderosa Ranch we took a flight from Los Angeles into Las Vegas where we rented an SUV to travel the 3 hours to the resort.We drove out of Vegas into the desert crossing over just a few miles into the lower Southwest border of Arizona and down into Southern Utah. The scenery really perks up the closer you get to the gate of Zion National Park.

Several years later and several trips to Southern Utah, the beauty of Zion National Park is still astounding. It's the closest to God I have ever felt. It is truly a religious experience.

We arrived at the ranch and checked into our little log cabin with a front porch. There was nothing around us except a scattering of other one room log cabins called "cowboy cabins". The main dining hall, activities barn and gift store were visible but a good long walk away.

The sprawling landscape spread out before us as far as we could see and was filled with wild sunflowers everywhere. Beyond the flat land we could see the Checkerboard Mesa mountains and other plateaus.

My kids and I thought we had found heaven on earth. We enjoyed hours of horseback riding, swimming, fishing, playing games in the activities barn, camp fires and story telling by the ranch hands. We took long hikes, we star gazed and we played lots and lots of board games.

These days we drive straight to Zion from our home in Los Angeles as flying into Vegas only cuts 3 hours from the commute. There is talk of someday Jet Blue flying into St. George which is the closest "big" city to Zion if you are coming from the direction of Las Vegas, but for now, we find driving relaxing as opposed to hassling with airport security and delayed flights.

Ranch becomes more of a Resort

Over the years, my children and I returned every year to Zion Ponderosa Ranch. Each year when we returned, the ranch grew and changed until it really did become more of a resort than a rustic little ranch.

It's not so much all-inclusive anymore. They have added massage therapy, a nail salon, a new infinity pool and spa.

Change has come to the ranch and now you have to purchase "plans" one for dining and one for activities. It's not as reasonably priced as before but still a good deal for families.

The changes are not necessarily a bad thing. When the Ranch was all-inclusive, we saw no need to ever leave. Now that you have to purchase activity packages, we find that we buy activities ala cart which leave time to explore outside the ranch to the many, many other sites that Southern Utah offers. Like Bryce Canyon or the Grand Staircase. Awesome sites that need to be seen to believe.

Having remarried a few years ago, our family has now grown from 1 parent and 2 children to 2 parents and 4 children. Thankfully, everyone loves Southern Utah and specifically the Zion Ponderosa Ranch. We have spent many family vacations there and hope to make it our place for family reunions. We ended up buying into a home on the ranch, but that's a story for another blog.

Southern Utah home to many mentions in the book "1000 Places to see Before you Die

Southern Utah has several sites mentioned in the best selling book " 1000 Places to See Before You Die" by author/traveler Patricia Schultz. What other place has so much to offer all within a short drive of one another? In Southern Utah you have Bryce Canyon, the Grand staircase, Zion National Park, Cedar Breaks, Brian's Head and for the really adventurous, spend a day traveling to the North side of the Grand Canyon.

The beauty of Zion Ponderosa Ranch and Southern Utah is unreal but the beauty is not just skin deep. it is the realness and the beauty of the people we have met there that makes us feel as if we are coming home to family when we come back to Southern Utah.