Memory Creek Ranch

Someday, Riley will make a better entrance sign to our new ranch, but things are so busy that this temporary sign on the only white fence we have will have to do. Enjoy! Go to the High Sierra category to see pictures from Andi and Riley’s adventures in Yosemite.

Before reaching the ranch sign, visitors wind their way around the rolling hills. Sometimes it’s muddy, and sometimes there are wild turkeys.

THE ROAD LEADING TO MEMORY CREEK RANCH

Riley is a good shot bagging a turkey. I’m careful to not let chicken scraps escape, or we would be up to our eyebrows in wild turkeys. They can be frightful pests. But what is a ranch without a never-ending parade of wild turkeys?

Just when I thought spring was here, a freak snowstorm dusted the eastern foothills. Boy, was I disappointed. (“Moonglow,” Stranger in the Glade, coming February 2022)

THE CHILLY VIEW FROM MY KITCHEN WINDOW AND BACK PORCH. MARCH 1889

Then it got worse. Snow came to Memory Creek. Just for an hour and then it melted, but I nearly froze to death. I never remember snow on the Circle C in the valley.

THE SNOWY VIEW FROM MY FRONT PORCH. MARCH 1889
SUNSETS ON MEMORY CREEK RANCH ARE GORGEOUS!

The house Riley and my family built for us is small, but it has a nice front porch and Riley says we can always add extra rooms or even a second story as our family grows. For now, it’s just right for a rancher’s family.

ANDI AND RILEY’S HOUSE
THE BLACK BEAST
BEDROOM
SITTING (FRONT) ROOM
BEDROOM
“CLOSET”
PITCHER AND DRESSER
ANDI’S PORCH

Riley has set aside a nice paddock for the spring foals. He loves it when it rains and rains and rains. We both know once April rolls around, the rain is pretty much over until next winter except for the occasional crazy thunder and lightning storm and downpour, so Riley tries to time foaling season in February so the mares and foals get the benefit of fresh, green grass.

IT’S ONLY GREEN AND LUSH FOR A COUPLE OF MONTHS

A Very Special Spot

Remember that hidden spot Riley claimed nobody but he knew about? It’s true. Here are pictures of that special, quiet, hard-to-get-to place. This setting shows up in both books as “A Very Special Spot” and “Stranger in the Glade.” I never believed there was anything in the midst of the banded rocks. Cory and I went clear around them in our youth. There was no way through. Or so I thought.

THE BANDED ROCKS

Riley left the horses and led me through an intricate maze that finally came out in a beautiful little meadow with a year-round pond, green grass, and plentiful wildlife.

INSIDE THE GLADE
Back to settings >>

19 thoughts on “Memory Creek Ranch”

    1. Also did Andi get a big inheritance from Chad after she got married, considering their family is extremely wealthy? Was it hard for Andi to degrade from a very rich, well to do life to a poorer life with less means (when she married Riley)?

      How many kids did Andi and Riley have? Big family?

      Like

      Reply

      1. Well, it’s the family, not Chad alone. She and Riley were deeded 1,000 acres of prime Circle C land. Yeah, it was hard for Andi to go from rich rancher’s daughter and/or sister to a small, struggling rancher’s wife. More than once she considered that maybe Riley should go back and work for Chad instead of trying to ranch on their own.

        Like

Leave a comment