Folks, this is the first impression you get when you drive into #TheColoradoDreamRanch… This old bucket of bolts that has a lot of history… I just recently found out…
This was actually the Grandfather’s truck… The #Kranor who started #TaylorPark but didn’t have vehicles in mind when he created this place… This beautiful relic used to sit on top of the hill, up where the Kranor family lives… They just recently decided to bring it down and put it next to the original gas pump Taylor Park started with many, many years ago.. If you look at the bed of the truck, that was how this vehicle looked before the Kranor family decided to paint it… It really says a lot about this place and it’s history… I love this truck and love that it is still apart of Taylor Park’s decor…
If you do a complete 180, you will see #TheNuggetCafe… The #TaylorParkTradingPost, the #TaylorParkGiftShop and where I live is to the right of us… The Nugget Cafe isn’t that old actually… It has only been around for like 12 years I believe… Chris has been running it for 8 of those years…
You are always welcomed with numerous open signs… I love the one that lights up in the window… I think it is so signature of a #cafe to have such a sign… It really brings authenticity to the #diner… Something that would have been considered gawdy in its day is now something that makes you reminisce about a certain time and style… If I work the whole season next year, I’m making a demand that I get this sign… I want nothing else, just that beautiful sign hanging in #TheMillenniumFalcon! lol…
When you get inside and look out the first window, you can see that truck and the old gas pump… I hate the open flag that sits on the fence… I begged Chris to get a new one next year… Here you have this gorgeous, authentic cafe that is candy to the eye and then you see this ratty, crappy, old open flag… Hell no!!!
You immediately know you are in the #mountains from the moment you walk in and the Kranor family is not scared to show it… There are quite a few #antlers hanging and #BuckHeads… Most of these were not bought at a store folks… That’s not the Kranor family style… This is a family who builds and creates using the resources around them… And you better bet every single family member knows how to gut and prepare a buck when killed… Something I really want to learn but am petrified of the smells and the goriness of it all… Here I write horror scripts and am an avid horror movie fan yet I can’t skin or prepare my own food… #DanielBoone wouldn’t be impressed… Something I need to learn soon… I dread the day though…
Whoever built this cafe was a genius when it comes to layouts… Right when you walk in, you are greeted with this sight! It is bright, welcoming and clean as hell… People are taken back when they walk in… You really expect this old, dusty, outdated cabin just to walk into this… #BruceKranor, the owner today, helped build this cafe with the #locals… You can see the cement that holds the huge logs together… I don’t see why anyone wouldn’t want to live in a cabin… It’s well insulated, easy to build and downright gorgeous inside and out…
The Kranors are God fearing people and you notice that from the huge banner that is centered in the middle of the Cafe… Bruce has given me a couple of fliers that promote the worship of #JesusChrist… They are not over bearing about it though… They are friendly and welcoming about it… Never have I felt any judgement from them, just an open family who is willing to take whoever wants to receive… The Kranor family lives by example… I don’t know if they go to #church but who needs a church when you are living in God’s mountains… For the Kranor family seems to worship god through their actions… By being welcoming to everyone, giving way more than they have to and living by the family values they were taught by their worship instead of living a life of utter hypocrisy and then going to church to mend such actions…
The Kranor family runs a business how it should be run! They seem to think of the people and their family before the money itself… I know this because their actions scream it! If I went to work for a #CorporateVacationSpot, I would have to pay for rent, my own food and of course laundry but with the Kranors, I pay for none of this and they could squeeze a few bucks out of us if they wanted to…. But the Kranor family doesn’t act in such #greedy, petty ways… They want you to be happy and prosper as well… Then on top of it all, I heard they give out bonuses at the end of the season!!!! Are you kidding me?
If you look at the boy holding the huge, impressive #fish… that’s Bruce Kranor, when he was a kid with his brothers… This was when there was no Nugget Cafe and Taylor Park was mostly a fishing town…
You see, with the formation of the #TaylorParkResevoir there came great trout and bass fishing… So all of the locals liked to come up here and fish in the warm seasons… Well, word got out and a lot of tourists started coming, so the Kranor family naturally started building cabins to house them… So, people could come up for their vacation, rent a nice place to stay and fish… Also the fact you could go hiking, hunting and camping also added to the allure…
So when the gas vehicle boom exploded, the Kranor family decided to cater to an #ATV crowd also… Now, you have mainly #southerners who love to go #off-roading coming up… As well as the #hunters, #fishers and #campers… At Taylor Park you can rent a cabin or even just bring your #RV up and live in the #TaylorRVPark… the Kranor family provides housing for all budgets and you can even rent an ATV if you don’t have the money to buy one…
The Kranor family is the perfect example of a family who did it the right way… They realized they were becoming outdated as a business and built from that… They have the perfect blend of modern technology and nature… The two helping each other out to give the #vacationer the perfect experience in the mountains… Alowing old people and disabled ones to explore the mountains regardless of their physical setbacks…
The Kranor family has somehow learned how to keep the #CorporateGreed out of their country and family even though they have a #Polaris ATV rental on their property and they have felt the small scale ill effects of that decision… But they were also smart enough to know they needed some sort of a rental business to attract the tourists and keep their family business going…
Even though they have to fight with these greedy corporate assholes, Polaris knows they are just a visitor here and will never get their grubby hands on this land and its great value… For it is a #FamilyRunBusiness and I would be shocked if Bruce gave any of this up for any amount of money what so ever… Because I am confident the Kranors are way smarter than that… Knowing that money only goes so far and trading your heritage for a temporary thrill is not a good business deal when you look at the long term effects…
Folks, no amount of money can buy this and no amount of money did!!! This was built by a good family with family values!!! No amount of money could ever be enough to buy this place…. Because regardless of what they can buy after, it will never be anything compared to what they have built up here! No amount of money can buy that! None what so ever!!!!
All around The Nugget Cafe you see old pictures of this family’s past… It’s so endearing it brings tears to my eyes knowing I haven’t even started building what the Kranor family now has…. the lady holding the fish to the upper, left was Grandma Kranor… The men standing around the old gas pump is the Kranor boys… Most of these folks are dead now but their memory lives on at The Colorado Dream Ranch… No money can buy that! Not all of the money in the world!!!! I am stuffing this down your throats for a reason folks!!!!
When you walk into The Nugget Cafe, you feel this familiarity, this comfort supported by a tremendous family history… A history that is still building to this day… You could never experience such energy at the #ChesseCakeFactory!
Now this maniac, #TheTravelingMac, is apart of their history and am proud to say I am! For I am very confident no matter how much this world will change, the Kranor family won’t… Regardless of how crazy and busy this world gets, the Kranors will slowly adapt and keep their golden rule alive… Be true to your family and make all decisions based on that and the people around you…
If you look at all of the old pictures on the cafe’s wall, you will see that Taylor Park hasn’t changed that much considering how much the world has changed around them… I thank one thing and I think this one thing is overlooked when we complement the family on their progress… For there is one thing that has never changed while the Kranors have lived up here and has helped protect the family from the sometimes detrimental progress that has swept the world…
You guessed it folks!!!! It’s these mountains!!! The Kranor family is a perfect example of what these #MagicalMountains bring… For no one could consciously prosper without the permission of these mountains and I don’t see them giving any of that permission anytime soon… They have allowed the ATV’s and some technological advances come here but I guarantee if the Kranor family ever gets too ahead of themselves, these mountains will make them pay… They won’t make them pay out of vengeance, just as a reminder of what they are leaving behind if they don’t listen… A reminder that if you change too much, you are sacrificing your family and the beautiful land around them… A path I am confident the Kranor family will never take…
Goodnight…
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