Mini Road Trip To The Rock Ranch & Giveaway

*I received complimentary admission to visit the Rock Ranch. Opinions expressed are my own and are NOT influenced by monetary compensation are solely based on my visit and experience.*

On last Saturday the kids and I set off to attend The Rock Ranch’s Media event. This was not my first introduction to  The Rock Ranch, in fact I learned about them on last year when my then fifth grader went on a field trip with his class from Fayetteville Elementary School (FES). I remember when my son came home with the permission slip eager to research this mysterious  Rock Ranch on the iPad. We all sat down once he had the information and read up on Rock Ranch to find out that it’s a 1,500-acre ranch owned by Chick-fil-A Founder S, Truett Cathy.

The Rock Ranch kicked off their Fall Family Fun Days on Sept. 27, 2014, with a host of outdoor family friendly activities. Kids and parents can come out and take part on a fun-filled day in the country with acres of land to run and play which is a great getaway from the busy hustle and bustle of the city life. The activities include zip lines, hay rides, Tiny Town, locomotive train, a petting zoo, paddle boats and cane pole fishing to name a few. They also host special event day themes throughout the year that include “Hats off to Heroes”, “Lumberjack Day”, Hot Air Balloon Rally, Halloween Fest and Pumpkin Destruction Day.

We set off on our mini road trip driving to The Rock Ranch which is about forty-five minutes from Fayetteville. I intentionally waited to tell the kids about our mini adventure until we were packed in the car and on the road. The kids anticipation continued to rise and the closer we got to Rock Ranch the more excited they were and hence starts our mini adventure. We arrive to the Rock Ranch and are immediately greeted in the parking area by a cheerful employee. Once we receive our media packs we head off for our adventure. We road over on a hay ride which was super awesome. The kids were so excited as we proceeded to enter the ranch.

The kids instantly bypass everything and run to the famous slide that my eleven year old has excitedly explained to his younger brother this its the “BEST SLIDE EVER”. The two grab two brown sacks and proceed to slide over and over and over again. I will admit that I slid down a few times and yes it is indeed fun. I see why they were so hooked.

Doesn’t that look like fun? Trust me it was! There is just so much to do at Rock Ranch so we instantly have a mini family meeting to strategize how we are going to tackle 1,500 acres all in one day. We decided as a family what we wanted to do during our outing and went from there. Next the kids went to visit the helicopter from Emory Medical that was on the Ranch. The kids finally sat inside the helicopter and I captured a picture of them after a long series of Q& A for the pilot from the boys. Hilarious! They asked so many question the Pilot has to ask their age. He was amazed at their questions and thought that they both were much older than they actually were.

The kids then head experience the pedal carts where they get a full workout from pedaling their way around the track. The kids ride around over and over again as they make new friends and create racing competitions with one another.

And then of course they head back for another visit at the famous slide for countless sliding and laughter. Mario decides to give the Jumping Pillow a few jumps before they both head over to play horse shoes. What did I tell you? There are so many family activities.

Time flies when you’re having fun and we soon discovered that it was almost time for us to attend the media reception so we set off to join fellow bloggers at Truetts barn. Upon arrival we are greeted by Jennifer the Public Relations Representative along with key staff members including the General Manager Jeff. The kids had the opportunity to a taste of the country. We had homemade potato chips, corn nuggets and fresh fruit. Yummy! I was reminded of the days my granny would make the same thing for us on a cool autumn day.  We had the opportunity to meet Dorothy and her gang from the Wizard of Oz and during our reception we were blessed with key facts on how the ranch operates and the many community projects that they support. I was excited to learn about WinShape Camps, which was established in 1985 in Mt. Berry, GA where thousands of campers come together each year to experience the life-changing, memory-making, deepen their Christian faith and  adventure-taking awesomeness that will impact their lives forever. To learn more about WinShape click here.

 

 

We head off on a hay ride after the reception around the ranch. We all loaded up for our next adventure. On our tour we discovered that you can rent Conestoga Wagon for your family to spend a night in the wild for $225. One can only imagine how much this excited the boys and I because we pitch a tent all the time in the cooler months so its a must that we add this to our list. The Conestoga Wagons can sleep eight and there is also a swing  and outdoor pit to cook and roast marshmallows.

 

As we continued our tour another surprise was the Farm Stay homes that the have on the ranch. Cool Right? You can actually rent them and enjoy an amazing stay on the Rock Ranch. These mini homes away from home are beautiful homes located on the property completely furnished and the view is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. There are four versions to choose from:

Pond-Side Cottage (Sleeps up to 8)
Jackson Drive House (Sleeps up to 6)
The Herdsman House (Sleeps up to 4)
The Family House (Sleeps up to 8)

 

 

What did I tell you? Simply Beautiful! The kids are now ready to head over to zip line and rock climb. Billy decides that he will zip line while Mario climbs the rock wall. The kids intentionally saved this activity for last.

 

 

 

 

 

We ran into Charlie ( I think that was his name. Its late so I can’t ask  my little one..LOL). As we were heading to meet Billy on the other side of the 800 foot zip line that he had just taken Mario & I ran into Charlie. It’s ironic that we have been discussing raising squirrels for weeks and we meet this lovely lady who has been taking care of this baby since he was a few days old. She told us that she bottle feeds him. Mario was so amazed at this beautiful little creature.

We had previously visited the petting zoo before zip lining and the kids insisted on seeing the rabbits. Unfortunately the rabbits were hiding so the boys asked one the men that worked at the Rock Ranch could they pet one and guess what he pulled a red-eye rabbit out for the boys to hold. All I could remember is him saying if the rabbit starts to scratch or kick you have to squeeze him tight so that he doesn’t run away. In my mind I’m saying Lord please don’t let the rabbit get away because then I will forever be known as the blogger with the kids who let the rabbit escape. Luckily that didn’t happen and this was my kids highlight of their adventure at the Rock Ranch.

Whew! What a day! What an amazing adventure and mini road trip for us. You can find Rock Ranch on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter. You’ve read about all of our fun so now we want to bless one reader with a chance to win a family 4 pack of admission tickets for you to create your own memories.
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