Winter Beauty

Winter is here.  Time to play in the snow!  Island Park, Harriman State Park, and surrounding areas of the Tetons and Yellowstone Park welcome skiers and snowmobilers to their winter playgrounds.  The Rankin is closed, and Robert and I are enjoying our hibernation time together.  Snow blankets the cabins.

Snow has always blanketed the cabins in the winter.  This is a picture of them in the late 1930s.  While I’m not sure who is posing with the black lab, the cabins we know and love are buried in white fluffy stuff in the background!

 

Another winter picture.  This is one of my favorite pictures of D.K. (granddad) just back from the hunt.  Cooked goose for dinner and delicious homemade bread from the oven.  I use that same bread recipe and it’s still delicious.

 

Photography was one of mother’s favorite hobbies.  And winter provided a quieter time and season to pursue this love.  She captured simple, beautiful “winter moments” as she skied and hiked the snowy hills and fields with her pal Margaret.

I found this picture in a Christmas card mother had sent several years ago.

Margaret continues to ski and shared this picture in her Christmas card this year.

 

Robert is busy taking reservations for the coming summer.  We’re excited to have 3 families from Fiji and several groups from France coming in July.  Get your Travel Game Plan ON and let us know when you’re coming this summer!   And as always, travel safely!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adventures 2012

And now let us welcome the new year,

full of things that have never been.       

Ranier Maria Rilke

New Year’s Eve, 2011.  What a great year for us at The Rankin!  A year full of family, and friends new and old.  We welcomed all to the gorgeous country of the Tetons, Yellowstone, Harriman Park, and Bechler Meadows.  We thank everyone who made us their “base camp” as they ventured into the hills to hike and fish.  Shaded lawns, gas grills, tables and comfortable chairs were waiting at the end of their day trips!

Summer mornings were cool.

The highlight of our summer was the 2011 Thing Rallye.  We hosted this fun group as they gathered from all over the country to travel through Yellowstone on to Mount Rushmore.

We were up at the crack of dawn as they lined up for us to take pictures!

And the best pictures for last:

My efforts in the flower beds was worth it as I battled slugs, ants, and earwigs!

Do plan on staying with us here at The Rankin Motel this summer 2012 as you travel through the paradise that surrounds Ashton, Idaho!  We have comfortable rooms and cabins to relax in and beautiful grounds to enjoy.  All of our rooms and cabins have coffee makers, refrigerators, microwaves and air conditioners.  Dave’s market/gas station is next door to us and features an awesome bakery and deli for your convenience.

We look forward “to things that have never been.”  Adventure waits!  Travel safely!

Fall 2011

 

Today there is a gentle autumn breeze.  The leaves flutter past my window.  The lawns are covered with gold.

The sugar maple is the last to put on it’s golden garb.

 

This is our last weekend of the season.  Temperatures are in the low teens at night so it is time to get Dan’s Plumbing crew here to have everything drained.  They will come this Thursday.

 

We just finished getting new flooring in the rooms and cabin no. 5.  The new carpet smell is wonderful and the rooms are beautiful!

There is new flooring in the sink and bathroom areas as well.

 

Cabin no. 5 is the coziest ever!

Thank you Bingham & Sons of Rexburg for your quality flooring selection and the awesome work!

Robert will finish putting away the lawn furniture and the Rankin bench this afternoon.  I am finishing a few last sewing projects- a curtain panel and perhaps a pillow for no. 4 to match the new curtain panels I just put up.  I’ll also get a few more pictures of the cabins for the Cabin Showcase blog entries coming up.

We’re looking forward to the upcoming 2012 summer season.  Reservations are coming in so book your room or cabin with us as you plan on traveling the Yellowstone and Teton areas next summer!  We look forward to seeing you!  And as always, travel safely!

 

 

 

 

Cabin Showcase! No. 3

We’ve found time to move some new furniture into the cabins along with some new decor.  And I want to share some of the special, unique things about each of our cozy cabins

Early morning sunshine pours in.  There is a corner breakfast nook and a new quilt on the bed.  New curtain panels and valances add extra color to this room now.

A radio (yes it still works!) sits in the corner ready to tune into “Prairie Home Companion”.

Through the door you can see the other room of the cabin.

Here are comfortable chairs, books and a sewing cabinet for a night stand.  And an old, re-finished trunk sits at the end of this bed.

The leather straps are the old horse harnesses used to pull the wagons and plows in the fields.

More Cabin Showcases in the coming blog entries!

We had special guests stay with us last month.  They were the first to rent one of the new motel rooms my mother and father added in 1970.  The travelers remembered my folks and said they paid $24 for the best night’s sleep they had ever had!