Ragged Mountain

Even if we don't go here for 2009, when Mike and I are in charge we are going to plan for the reunion to be near Ragged Mountain. We didn't find the Girls Camp, but we just went up and over and pass. Breath-taking views and an easy drive.

The Hunt Is On

In my efforts to uncover the secretive church-owned girls' camp in Colorado, I've had some successes this week. No one believed it really existed! In fact, my stake young women's president said, "No one seems to know anything. I'm not sure it really exists! I've heard that it is a boy scout camp, a church owned piece of property, but, again, no one knows anything else. It's a mystery! Sorry to be no help, but I wonder if this isn't urban legend." My discouragement mounted, but I had another lead. I discovered that my first counselor had indeed been to the mysterious park. The rumors were flying that she was the key to it all, so when she called to ask me some questions, I had my own set of pointed interrogative demands for her! She buckled under the pressure and admitted that yes, she had spent many family events at this camp and it was near Ragged Mountain. My partner, Mike the Mangler, hunted down it's location and you go look at it here.

Another clue I received was from my former Mia Maid advisor. She too had been to the campground at Ragged Mountain. Her description of it was that "it took nearly 4 hours to get there, but it was a great place for a reunion. It is owned by the church and I know that it fills up fast with girls camps and other church functions. It had some rustic cabins and a lodge with a huge kitchen, 4 freezer/refrigerators, and lots of tables and chairs. The cabins all had full bathrooms and kitchens but we had to bring our own bedding. It was far away from anything, so we could let the kids run wild and not worry about anyone else being around. It was perfect for Karl's large family." She claimed to not remember what it was called or how to get there or even how to go about reserving it (it's possible she was drugged or pregnant) and the only person that knew was in Zimbabwe. A little too convenient, I think.

My last clue was contacting my first counselor's husband to get the contact information. When I spoke to him, he said that his wife knew the contact information! Trying to give me the runaround, were they? Ha! When I applied some careful mental pressure, he caved and promised me the information on Sunday. I think he's too afraid to skip town, though I might have to keep an eye on him.

When I relayed all my information with my partner, he had some information for me. He found a blogger who had indeed been to the camp and had even posted pictures. You can go here to see what she had to say and look at the pictures. You have to scroll down to get past her dog and kids. Distractions for the non-diligent of detectives. But here is a teaser for your enjoyment. Success is but a few days away!

-Jenny "Ice Pick" Hahn

Grand Tetons - Colter Bay Village

In my pre-teen and teenage years my family took many trips to Grand Teton National Park. Every time we went, we stayed in tent cabins in Colter Bay Village, along the shores of Jackson Lake at the base of the Grand Tetons. Tent cabins are a hybrid between log wall cabins and canvas tents. Constructed of two log walls, two canvas walls and a canvas roof, the tent cabins have 2 double-decker bunks, with room for 2-3 cots on the floor. The interior of the cabins also sport a wood-burning stove. The canvas roof extends past the door to the cabin to form an awning, where you will find an area for food prep and a picnic table.

There are communal bathrooms with toilets and sinks with running water. In Colter Bay Village, there is a convenience/small grocery store. They also have a laundromat and showers (which cost a few dollars). There is also a gift shop and a restaurant.

The close proximity to Jackson Lake and the Tetons allows for numerous activities: boat cruises on Jackson Lake, horseback rides, boat rentals (canoes or small motorboats - you could even bring your own boat), fishing, hiking in the Tetons, nature walks, cultural events (Colter Bay Village has an Indian museum, with activities such as bead making, etc). Yellowstone National Park is not too far away, so those wanting to take a bit of a drive (2-3 hours) can easily be within the borders of Yellowstone, and visit waterfalls, hot springs, thermal pots, etc. We could even do a rafting trip down the Snake River.

I made a call a few weeks ago to the tent cabin office to check on rates and availability for next summer. The rates quoted are for this year, and the guy I spoke said the rates will go up for next year, but that it wouldn't be too drastic of an increase. Each tent cabin is $43.00 per night for 2 adults. Each additional adult is $6.00/each. With how many people are in the Hahn Family, we would need at least 5 cabins. Each cabin will sleep a maximum of 6 adults, so we could probably get away with 4, but with all the new babies, this may not work. So, with 5 cabins, and through my calculations, this works out to about $68.29/person for 4 nights for lodging (not including kids - who stay for free). Keep in mind that this will go up, but probably not too drastically.

The main thing I foresee as being an issue for some is travel time/distance, and the accompanying fuel expense. From downtown Salt Lake, it's approximately 343 miles to the tent cabin village, or roughly 6 hours. For those of us in Denver, it's over 500 miles, or roughly 8 hours. So, travel time is quite considerable. Something to keep in mind. But my experience has been that the long drive is well worth it. The area is so beautiful, and there really is a lot to do.

Looks Good

So far, I've heard dozens of people at church recommend the YMCA of the Rockies for family reunions. I sent out a mass e-mail to the Relief Society women for suggestions and the two I've gotten back so far are for there. Check it out and tell me what everybody thinks.

http://www.ymcarockies.org/

Early Start

Since Katie and I volunteered to plan the Hahn Family Reunion v2.0, we thought it would be a good idea to get an early start on ideas and planning. Also, we'd like to get ideas about places you would like to go, dates, food ideas, activities, etc. Hence - this Blog. We are all authors of this Blog, so anyone can post anything for everyone to view.

First things first - we need to pick a location. I think we all enjoyed last years camp in Heber - great facilities, perfect location, and overall, a great time. I know we enjoyed it, and it was nice to have restrooms and shower facilities, as well as a food storage/preparation area. It may be hard to find many similar places with the same configuration, but I think we may be able to find something that's close enough. Given that we are all divided into 2 different geographic locations (Salt Lake/Utah Valley and Denver), we think it would be nice to pick a place that is in some sort of centralized location, or equidistant for everyone (more or less). We have a place in mind, but that will be a future post. So, if you could all come up with some possible locations, we can look into them.

Second - let's narrow down some dates. We've tossed around some thoughts via e-mail as to when people would be available. It seemed to me that the general consensus was late July/early August. Is this a correct assumption? If that's the case, I propose either the last week of July or the first week of August. Along with this, we need to decide how long the reunion should be. My thoughts were that the last reunion was too short. I vote for extending the festivities for a day or two, to allow for more fun and activities, as well as to take into consideration travel time. This would bring the total time to 4-5 days or so. By my calculations, this puts it between July 27-August 1, or August 3-7, give or take a day. Think that would work for everyone? This far in advance, I think it will be pretty easy for people to put in requests for time-off at work and to make other necessary plans.

With that in mind, what does everyone think? Where would you like to spend the Hahn Family Reunion 2009? When would you like to go and how long would you like to stay? As has been mentioned by people before - things fill up fast, so we need to get an idea soon as to when and where we want to do this so we can make reservations and other necessary arrangements.

Let's put our heads together, everyone, and get started! With enough planning and preparation, we can make the Hahn Family Reunion v2.0 a fantastic time!