I just about had a heart attack yesterday. I don't have much time to "surf" online, and just came across a scathing review of us on Yahoo Travel that was left last summer. We've never had a bad review online before, and this one was about as bad as could be.

When I started breathing again, I looked at the date, the group size, and the one incident they mentioned that I remember well. I am fairly sure the family reunion group it came from, and which sister likely wrote it.

Before she arrived, she and her husband sent us a letter stating that their children would not be participating in the youth program and none of them would be riding or participating in any equestrian activities. Well, OK- they were coming with a large group, and sometimes it is tough to pick a reunion venue where everyone is overjoyed about everything. We would do our best to take care of them.

Once they were here, they were yelling at their children in the dining room and their children were livid that they were not allowed to eat with their cousins because they were eating with the youth counselors. They left property each morning and came back just in time for dinner. They participated in nothing.

There have been three other times I remember that we have had guests here that were really a bad fit for the experience here and who were obviously unhappy. The other three times, we offered to give them back their deposit if they wanted to leave and finish their vacation elsewhere. (Bend has a lot of options.) Twice in the last 20 years guests have chosen to do so, and the other time the family was so surprized by it they stopped complaining and ended up having a good time. This time, we were assured by the rest of the family that it was just them, and their father was paying for it anyway.

So, yesterday I am reading this angry, bitter review of us and questioning what we are doing here. There is nothing like a direct public attack to fuel self doubt. I e-mailed the woman who planned the reuinion to follow up and find out if there was anything we might have done differently, but have not heard back from her. Then I pulled a dozen or so e-mail addresses of our guests and told them about it.

The response from those I e-mailed was overwhelming. Some responded to me directly and several posted reviews of their own, telling of the wonderful experiences they have had here. It brought me to tears last night to read what they said (and again right now as I write this.) That yes, it is a very special place and experience here at Rock Springs Guest Ranch.  That although there are much easier ways John and I could make a living, (and a lot more money) what we are doing is providing an experience for people that touches their souls.

There are people who do long for an experience that is uncontrived, natural, and human. Maybe not everyone. Large crowds of people still want to go where they can be seen, to stay where the designer's focus while planning spaces was how they would look rather than how they would facilitate conversation, and to have synthetic experiences. To stay where image is more important than relationships. But there are others, a smaller group perhaps, who do want for the unaffected and genuine.

So I thank you, our guests who responded, from the bottom of my heart. You are why Rock Springs is still operating, the reason we are still here.

If you are interested in reading the yahoo reviews, good and bad, the link is: http://travel.yahoo.com/p-reviews-7035052-prod-hotel-action-read-ratings_and_reviews-i;_ylt=AmgsO0ppHmnOV.fJkSOkNBkJ8b8F