Home on the Range

Secrets. Apparently Maggie, our beloved account manager is full of them. Everyone from the office trekked it down to her parent’s ranch in Rio Vista where we were welcomed into her home like family.

It was here that we learned some of the secrets: that the most delicious strawberries in the world come from a fruit stand down their road, that her dad Richard prepares the most decadent lamb roast, that Josh does a killer Kanye impression, that a young Maggie was voted the biggest flirt in high school, and most importantly that the Hamilton ranch is perhaps one of the most magical places on earth (f*ck Disneyland).

Like Don Quixote on his epic adventure, we toured parts of the 7,300 acre Hamilton ranch in total disbelief. We sat in awe below enormous windmills (of which there were seemingly thousands), explored an old hay barn teeming with wild owls, travelled wind-swept rolling hills, and hand-fed some of the many lambs, sheep, and cows frolicking or grazing throughout the property.

And then there was dinner. It was everything you could dream a meal to be, with lamb roast served with herb sauce, fresh rolls, pasta salads, skewered caprese, roasted asparagus with brussels sprouts, pickled onions, and roasted potatoes, all to be followed by lemon poppyseed cake and chocolate chip cookies. Food turned into conversation, and conversation into even more secrets, the kind we can’t share. After the sun set, the starry night over the farm turned into the kind we hope to never forget.