Trivia Question: When did the Pony Express complete its first delivery?
Bonus Questions:
- What was the cost to have a single written page transported the full distance?
- Between what 2 cities did the Pony Express operate?
- How long did the Pony Express operate?
My wife and I just returned from a 4 day mini-vacation to the German/Austrian themed town of Leavensworth, Washington.
We stayed at a secluded resort facility called Run of the River Inn and Refuge that backs up to a wilderness preserve and Icicle Creek. The goal of the innkeepers is to provide the maximum of relaxation and romance. The facility has 6 suites in the main building along with the office, a dining room and other common areas. There is also a separate building, actually a two-story log house called the Ravenwood Lodge, which is where we stayed. The facility is for adults only, no more than 2 people booked into a suite or the Lodge and smoking is not permitted on the premises.
Both of the buildings are of log construction inside and out. A gourmet breakfast is provided every day in the main building dining room for the guests in the suites and is hand-delivered to the Lodge residents (that would be us!).
All the suites and the Lodge are oriented toward the wilderness area with snow-capped peaks as the backdrop. The property is very isolated yet is only a mile from town.
The Lodge is very unassuming until you walk inside. It takes your breath away. Every luxury amenity was at hand including a rock fireplace, fully stocked gourmet kitchen, Two 56” flat screen TV’s, overstuffed leather furnishings, a second story bedroom with Jacuzzi tub, large glass shower and large king bed, all open to the lounge area below.
The entire Lodge had its view out a 24′ X 25′ wall of glass. There was also an outdoor hot tub just off the expansive deck.
A hand carved spiral staircase accesses the second floor. From the outside one could see the entire interior. Although is seems like there would be no privacy either inside the Lodge or out at the hot tub that was never an issue and never was a drape or screen drawn by us during our stay. Besides, if anyone did have an issue with the entire house or hot tub being completely visible from the outside, the response would be the famous Clark Gable line from ‘Gone with the Wind’; “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.”
During our stay I got the feeling that even though the entire facility was spectacular, it was really the little things that put it over the top. Little things like tea candles in sconces on the support beams, a bag of bird seed to put in the bird feeder on the deck, the elevated king bed to ensure a complete view of the wilderness beyond, the graded list from the owners of the best restaurants in town (not just a listing of all the restaurants in town), the hand drawn and detailed list of recommended hiking trails and driving tours, the bicycles (mountain, road, tandem; your pleasure) available to guests and snowshoes for hiking when conditions permit, the burr coffee grinder system already set up daily. They really understood their clientele and what their mission was.
My feeling was, anyone could have a similar facility on a wilderness, anyone could have a log home such as the Lodge, anyone could provide a breakfast or put out tourist maps.
But this particular place put itself over the top with the little things that enhanced their stated goal of providing a romantic and relaxing experience.
I compare that to the whole industry of staff scheduling. Anyone can develop a basic scheduling system (and many do), anyone can meet some of your needs (and many do), anyone can do the basics with a couple of added frills (and many do), anyone can lie to you about their system capability (any many do) but there are very few who can and do meet your unique needs. Doing what appears to be the ‘little’ things is what drives us over the top.
While we were at the Lodge, we never had to ask, “Could we get some _______?, because everything was already thought of in advance and was already provided. That’s exactly what we want our customers to experience in their relationship with InTime. We do ’sweat the details’ with you to ensure your satisfaction.
One of the on-going themes I hear from our customers is ‘your people sat down with my people and configured a program that answered all our concerns and then some. They took the time to understand our needs’. That’s a heck of a tribute in my book.
Be safe out there.
Trivia Answer: April 3, 1860
Bonus Answers:
- $5.00, roughly $200.00 in today’s money
- St. Joseph, Missouri and Sacramento, California
- Just less than a year and a half
