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LOST VALLEY WITHDRAWAL SYNDROME (LVWS)
Dawn tells of her blues. I'm sure Lindy Colmer my good friend would not mind me posting this list she wrote - as you can see- a long time ago. It sums everything up.
LOST VALLEY WITHDRAWAL SYNDROME (LVWS)
Description:-
A little known condition linked to an addictive state confined to visitors to a specific location in the Pike National Forest, Colorado known as Lost Valley Ranch. Manifestations range from mild short lived symptoms to the full-blown clinical picture.
Symptoms and signs:-
1. Profound sense of loss on leaving Lost Valley.
Grown men have been known to shed tears.
2. Yearning to be back at The Ranch, most severe in the immediate post-vacation period, and compounded by jet lag.
3. Compulsion to return to Lost Valley. Subjects often reduce suffering by making future reservations before departure.
4. Hanging round photography stores for return of photographs.
5. Day dreaming involving scenery, horses, guests etc related to Lost Valley stay.
6. Animated conversation involving Lost Valley with anyone who will listen, even complete strangers!
7. Desire for contact with fellow sufferers.
8. Display of Lost Valley paraphernalia in living/working space and/or wearing clothes with Lost Valley logo.
9. Tendency to use strange phraseology. English sufferers shock their acquaintances by using very un-English phrases such as “Yee-hah” or “There ya go!”
10. Tolerance, enthusiasm even, for activities which may previously have been treated with derision. E.g. Square Dancing, Bareback Tag or “Capture The Flag” on horseback.
11. Pride in the development of unnatural skills. E.g. assessing the age of a cow pat.
12. Purchasing clothes “which I can wear at Lost Valley” and packing them carefully away for the next trip.
13. Pride and affection for minor injuries, especially if they leave scars, as in “Spring Round-Up ‘87” “ Olympic Ride, Horsemanship week ‘95” “Pine tree, fantastic ride with Lee ‘99” etc
14. Rejection of other vacation venues, however exciting.
Diagnosis:-
Diagnosis is easy, and can be confirmed by ensuring the patient is fully relaxed and then casually mentioning “Navaho Joe” or “Western Park”. An immediate, alert and animated response confirms the diagnosis. Non-sufferers merely appear totally confused.
Progress:-
As in other addictive conditions, repeated exposure increases the strength of the withdrawal state.
Vulnerable types should be encouraged to visit New York or Disneyland, as, in these people, a single exposure may be fatal.
Once established the condition is generally considered incurable. The best strategy of management appears to be to allow suffers their regular “fix” of Lost Valley life.
Prognosis:-
Unlike other addictive conditions, LVWS has almost exclusively, positive features, which include the maintenance of physical fitness, longevity, healthy social interaction, long term relationships and an enormous capacity for enjoyment in sufferers.
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I had the most beautiful drive from the ranch to DIA on Monday morning. Up at the crack of dawn Patrick and I drove into the sunrise (well, maybe a bit of poetic licence there!) and the snow covered pines and mountains. A low mist hung over Cheesman Reservoir. Luckily no flights were delayed this time but standing at the wrong bus stop at the airport waiting to fetch my car was very lonely. Words cannot express the joy and love I feel at the ranch – I’m tearing up at the thought -
LOST VALLEY WITHDRAWAL SYNDROME (LVWS)
Description:-
A little known condition linked to an addictive state confined to visitors to a specific location in the Pike National Forest, Colorado known as Lost Valley Ranch. Manifestations range from mild short lived symptoms to the full-blown clinical picture.
Symptoms and signs:-
1. Profound sense of loss on leaving Lost Valley.
Grown men have been known to shed tears.
2. Yearning to be back at The Ranch, most severe in the immediate post-vacation period, and compounded by jet lag.
3. Compulsion to return to Lost Valley. Subjects often reduce suffering by making future reservations before departure.
4. Hanging round photography stores for return of photographs.
5. Day dreaming involving scenery, horses, guests etc related to Lost Valley stay.
6. Animated conversation involving Lost Valley with anyone who will listen, even complete strangers!
7. Desire for contact with fellow sufferers.
8. Display of Lost Valley paraphernalia in living/working space and/or wearing clothes with Lost Valley logo.
9. Tendency to use strange phraseology. English sufferers shock their acquaintances by using very un-English phrases such as “Yee-hah” or “There ya go!”
10. Tolerance, enthusiasm even, for activities which may previously have been treated with derision. E.g. Square Dancing, Bareback Tag or “Capture The Flag” on horseback.
11. Pride in the development of unnatural skills. E.g. assessing the age of a cow pat.
12. Purchasing clothes “which I can wear at Lost Valley” and packing them carefully away for the next trip.
13. Pride and affection for minor injuries, especially if they leave scars, as in “Spring Round-Up ‘87” “ Olympic Ride, Horsemanship week ‘95” “Pine tree, fantastic ride with Lee ‘99” etc
14. Rejection of other vacation venues, however exciting.
Diagnosis:-
Diagnosis is easy, and can be confirmed by ensuring the patient is fully relaxed and then casually mentioning “Navaho Joe” or “Western Park”. An immediate, alert and animated response confirms the diagnosis. Non-sufferers merely appear totally confused.
Progress:-
As in other addictive conditions, repeated exposure increases the strength of the withdrawal state.
Vulnerable types should be encouraged to visit New York or Disneyland, as, in these people, a single exposure may be fatal.
Once established the condition is generally considered incurable. The best strategy of management appears to be to allow suffers their regular “fix” of Lost Valley life.
Prognosis:-
Unlike other addictive conditions, LVWS has almost exclusively, positive features, which include the maintenance of physical fitness, longevity, healthy social interaction, long term relationships and an enormous capacity for enjoyment in sufferers.
*************************************
I had the most beautiful drive from the ranch to DIA on Monday morning. Up at the crack of dawn Patrick and I drove into the sunrise (well, maybe a bit of poetic licence there!) and the snow covered pines and mountains. A low mist hung over Cheesman Reservoir. Luckily no flights were delayed this time but standing at the wrong bus stop at the airport waiting to fetch my car was very lonely. Words cannot express the joy and love I feel at the ranch – I’m tearing up at the thought -
Comment
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Comment by Beth Ann Coonrod on January 18, 2010 at 9:19am - May I offer another symptom of LVWS: Back home, as the first snow melts off your boots, you lament the loss of the last remnants of "ranch dust" that had so poignantly decorated the seams.
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Comment by Jim Evenson on October 30, 2009 at 11:51am -
Boy how true is all of that. I keep looking for ways to make enough $$$ to stay down there all the seasons they are open. All the LVWS's are so true. I have so many Lost Valley T shirts and people keep asking me what the logo stands for and when I start to tell them they get on the internet and look the place up.
I believe there is a special annointing from God on the place. I am so rested when I come away from there. I stopped going for a few years to take care of my son. Until he died last year I didn't want to be too far away from home. It sure felt good to be back again this year.
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Comment by Julie R Jones on October 28, 2009 at 6:08pm -
As a massage therapist who practices neuromuscular work I link my profession and treatment to a profound form of healthcare. After reading your diagnoses and treatment plan. I have to agree with you on all accounts. I have experienced those very symtoms on every occassion (blessed) visit of the LVL. I have the poem "Slow me down lord" that was purchased at the ranch and hang it in one of my treatment rooms. Since I specialize in Fibromyalgia and stress injuries. I constantly (albeit Gently.).refer my clients to visit the ranch. Trying to convince them all that it is just what any doctor would order. I'm sure on some level I have become annoying to some of them, as they can't understand how anyone would choose to go someplace where you get up early and "work" cattle for hours on end...did I mention I'm in the Chicago area? I too have proudly displayed and relived the experience of 'war injuries' from hours in the saddle. After my first visit I remember, when I went to the airport I wore my old dirty 'bareback' jeans on the plane. That way I had the smell of the ranch with me for another day. To the dismay of the other passengers I'm sure. And I remember when Navajo Joe was a 'Pup' so to speak, I rode him in the 80's bareback out in the pasture in mornings darkness to help round up the other horses with the wranglers. (I don't know if they still let the guest do that?) I have hundreds of photos, showing the exact same thing...but different years. My family thinks I will probably never 'recover'. When I was in the hospital for surgery and the doctor said to go someplace in my mind where I would fee more comfortable..they always say something like."pretend your on the beach"..I looked up at him like he was crazy..I said "I'll just go to the Lost Valley Ranch it you don't mind?"
Anyway,I enjoyed your post. I look forward to my next visit. Hopefully, it isn't too far off. Take care of yourself.
Juile
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Comment by Dawn Barraclough on October 28, 2009 at 11:41am -
ah Judith that was lovely! I am laughing to myself as i sit at my London desk defiantly wearning a Lost Valley emblazoned teeshirt! not typical solicitor attire....
I also have in my handbag my dvd of the photos we recieved, which i have carried around since my return and make anyone who shows the slightest polite interest in my holiday watch. Whilst i weep and make a note to look up the song which is playing over the photos on itunes.... :)
The good news is that 9 days on the jet lag appears to have finally left me...
Good to know im not alone!!!
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