FainaAgain

I heard a lot about ElderHostel, either great or awful, nothing in between. When I became a member of AARP at 50, of course I contacted EH immediately, and basically was told to grow up. This year they took off the age requirement, so I joined my first group. I must say, it?s addictive! Now I understand why some people joined 40 groups! And I know how they know for sure how many ? after completing the first program I got my red-cover EH passport, and a sticker for the first program. So now I have a dual citizenship: USA and EH ?Great? is the best word to describe it.

My first program was ?Sequoia and Kings Canyon? at Wonder Valley ranch, Fresno area. I was looking forward to a lazy, quiet week at a ranch, with a couple of field trips. It turned out all days but one were scheduled so that even my bookmark is still sitting on page 10, and forget the TV! Very little free time, what is good. One afternoon we had 3 or 4 free hours, the rest was like: get up and go. Even on the field trip days there were some evening activities. Magic show, bunko game ? rolling dice, and the winners got prizes, astronomy lesson and practice outside, the major stars and constellations were pointed out, and the best of all ? hayride. Under the bright stars, accompanied by a singing cowboy, it was tacky and enjoyable at the same time. Very romantic, too bad I was alone.

Every day we had either classes or field trips. The teachers were of different age, from young to retired, everybody was not only knowledgeable, but knew how to keep the audience interested. And it was not an easy task not to let elderly people to nod off Do you know the difference between placer and lode gold mining in the Sierras? I do now! We learned about geology, gold rush years, life zones, zoology and flora of the area, saw Sequoia NP, Kings Canyon NP and Sequoia National Forest. Kings Canyon is 1,5 times deeper then the Grand Canyon, and we had a scary 1,5 hours ride with the hairpin turns, and it was amazing! The views are unbelievable, somewhat like Yosemite only not crowded. We also had a man coming in performing to be John Muir, telling about his life, it was great! It was a monologue you?d never get tired to listen to. And of course Native American culture. Added some more to my knowledge. A native woman brought lots of artifacts to see, she told us so much, and most of it was something I didn?t know before. I always love to hear about Native People, especially first-hand.

The Wonder Valley Ranch is a remote location without public transportation, so I made shuttle reservation. It was on time, and both ways the drivers were talking to us, telling about the ranch and the area. The ranch is so beautiful! Small buildings tossed around a lake, sycamore and pomegranates and other trees, bushes and flowers. As a city person it was a delight for me to wake up to the singing of roosters, to see squirrels running around, to go to the petting zoo or the stables. In the summer time they have children?s summer camp, so the note in the petting zoo says: ?don?t feed animals human food? and ?don?t chase chicken and ducks?. 2 pools, whirlpool in addition to the lake with canoe boats, air conditioned rooms, porches with tables and chairs. I was a little surprised not to see any shampoo in the bathroom, and a note by the coffeemaker offering to buy coffee at $1.25 a package, but as the elderhostelers we had free coffee all day in the dining hall.

FainaAgain

The food was plenty! The only complaint I heard from others: they were gaining too much weight. As I don?t normally eat meat at public places I wrote to the EH asking for vegetarian food. The answer came from a local person: there is an excellent salad bar. Yes, there was a salad bar, but always the same, imagine having the same 6-8 items in your salad bowl at lunch and dinner every day! But it was not that bad, there was rice, and baked potatoes, and pasta, and potato salad, so there was some variety. Except field trips. Lunch was boxed, and of course the sandwiches were with meat! But the vegetarians are neglected everywhere, so compare to other places the food was very good. Breakfasts were excellent, with a choice of cold and hot cereals, fruit salad, bagels, muffins, pastries, meat was there too. Once we had fish for dinner. And the dinner desserts deserve a special praise! We even had Tiramisu and chocolate éclairs!

The service requires a separate paragraph! Everybody on the ranch was so very helpful and polite, Ruth and Shirley, our group leaders, were always there, always ready to answer all questions. All announcements were clear, and were repeated 2-3 times so everybody remembered. But the dining hall service was simply outstanding! One example: we had a jar of coffee on our table, but I got up to get some decaf. The supervisor (I think) saw it, went to the kitchen, and put a jar of decaf on our table. The dirty plates were picked up immediately, and at the same time we did not feel being rushed. We had plenty of time to socialize at the tables or to go outside to sit in the shade before the classes start.

On the way back 3 of us took the train, we were talking about the program, and convinced another passenger there to join EH. The pictures I took came out great, and my co-workers are probably tired by now to hear my stories. I?m definitely looking forward to more fun with EH.

arjay

How great that you enjoyed your debut EH experience so much! And wouldn't it be great if there were a forum JUST for EH reports??

Interesting that you didn't mind the tight scheduling. I've been close to the youngest one at the 3-4 EH's we've attended..and I poop out from TOO MUCH to do! I guess I'm just a free-time sort of person...not that spouse and I wouldn't give another chance to an EH...it's certainly and economical and educational way to travel....

traveler24

Recently Elderhostel has created a discussion board on their web site..
www.elderhostel.org
great reviews by participants of many EH programs..Also you can ask questions about a specific program and will get responses from people who have been there.
It has many programs..I have been on 6, and never disappointed in content and activities.
They are developing a wider variety of
durations; few one day programs, more "long weekend" type and 8, 10, 12 day programs. Even some related to boats, bicycles and National Parks...
Great organization....

jason888

Hi, FainaAgain!

Great report! Thanks so much for sharing!

Your enthusiasm is contagious!

Jason

gogoellen

Thanks so much for sharing. I live close to Wonder Valley and never thought of staying. You make it sound so charming. Also, thanks for the EH report. I though you had to be 55. I will check it out immediately. (49). Thanks!

FainaAgain

Arjay, there is a forum on EH website. Much slower then Fodor's. And I did not feel the schedule was tight, we had plenty of time for conversation between meals, classes and activities. No time for naps though