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“The beautiful thing about the place is that
                                                                                 there’s nothing to do when you go back to
                                                                                 your room, but read and talk and sit to-
                                                                                 gether on your totally serene patio,” said
                                                                                 Jan Percival, a San Diegan who first visited
                                                                                 the Ranch with her mother, Camilla Per-
                                                                                 cival, in 1983.
                                                                                “From then on, we went every year on her
                                                                                 birthday,” Jan said. “It became a huge high-
                                                                                 light of our lives and our relationship – a
                                                                                 full week together with no distractions. It
                                                                                 was an amazing gift – a retreat that could
                                                                                 never happen in the real world.”

                                                                                 When Camilla Percival’s eyesight fad-
                                                                                 ed, she stopped visiting the Ranch; Jan’s
                                                                                 most recent visit was with her 14-year-old
                                                                                 daughter, Shaney Lipscomb.

                                                                                “She did her thing and I did mine. We were
                                                                                 together at meals and in the evenings,” Jan
                                                                                 said. “We never heard a phone, a TV. We
                                                                                 could really  focus  on the  moment,  the
                                                                                 beauty, who we were with. It was just like
                                                                                 with my mom.”

                                                                                 Charlotte Sorenson, 74, first visited the
                                                                                 Ranch with her mother 28 years ago. Now
                                                                                 she visits with her daughter, Kristin Soren-
                                                                                 son, who’s 51.

                                                                                 Their first visit together was five years ago
                                                                                 – when each thought she was riding to the
                                                                                 rescue of the other.

                                                                                “Kristen had just taken a stressful new job,”
                                                                                 said Mom. “She had two young kids, was
                                                                                 living in Manhattan, commuting to work
                                                                                 two hours each way. She had no balance in
                                                                                 her life; she desperately needed this.”

                                                                                 Kristen’s view: “The reason I felt justified
                                                                                 in coming was my mother was recovering
                                                                                 from cancer.  It was a very poignant time
                                                                                 for her. This would  be therapeutic. She
                                                                                 needed it.”

                                                                                 Mother, who  lives  in Boulder,  Colo., and
                                                                                 her New York daughter met at the Ranch,
            Walking the landscaped grounds is a favorite                         each to take care of the other. They did just
            pastime at the ranch.                                                that – and by osmosis, took care of them-
                                                                                 selves. They’ve been doing it every year
                                                                                 since.

                                                                                “I don’t want to come back with anyone else,”
                                                                                 said Kristin.  “She’s my closest friend. We
                                                                                 are so simpatico. We just enjoy it so much.”

                                                                                 Guests typically start their days with a hike.
                                                                                 Like classes, treks are offered for a range of
                                                                                 fitness levels.



            72    Wine Dine & Travel  Summer 2014
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