This was the heyday of the romantic and majestic Horseshoe Inn, a rustic but genteel lodge situated in a grand meadow framed by towering peaks. Five years later, in 1931, the Horseshoe Inn was the first of the park\u2019s lodges to disappear in the effort to bring the park back to its natural state.<\/p>\n
Eleanor Parker wrote home almost every day, and her mother carefully transcribed her daughter\u2019s letters into a school composition book that was passed down through her family and recently discovered. Her letters\u00a0are the basis of this lively account of the young adventurer\u2019s first summer away from home, a summer filled with hikes, moonlight horseback rides, dancing in the casinos, and sight-seeing automobile drives.<\/p>\n ADD TO GOODREADS<\/a><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.27.9″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.kayturnbaugh.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Dining-Room-girl-cover-front.jpg” alt=”Dining Room Girl book cover” title_text=”Dining-Room-girl-cover-front” admin_label=”book cover” _builder_version=”4.27.9″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”|||18px|false|false” custom_padding=”|||16px|false|false” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_horizontal=”5px” box_shadow_vertical=”7px” box_shadow_blur=”7px” box_shadow_spread=”9px” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”available at” _builder_version=”4.27.9″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”|||14px|false|false” custom_padding=”|||24px|false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Available at:<\/strong><\/p>\n AMAZON<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 BARNES & NOBLE<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 INDIEBOUND<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”stats” _builder_version=”4.27.9″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”|||14px|false|false” custom_padding=”|||24px|false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Published:<\/span><\/span><\/strong> May 10, 2015<\/span><\/span><\/span> [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_5,3_5,1_5″ _builder_version=”4.27.9″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_5″ _builder_version=”4.27.9″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.27.9″ _module_preset=”default” background_enable_color=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.9″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”excerpt” _builder_version=”4.27.9″ _module_preset=”default” background_enable_color=”off” background_enable_image=”off” custom_margin=”|||24px|false|false” custom_padding=”|||24px|false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Horseshoe Inn<\/em>,\u00a0July 9, 1926 This is a very good letter writing day, cool and rainy. I\u2019m sitting in the dining room writing. It\u2019s cozy and warm in here and a little too cold in the cabin. It really is a pretty dining room. I think there is a picture of it in the folder. They have it decorated with aspen leaves, gold and red. It must be wonderful here in the fall. On the way home the car began to sputter and on Horseshoe Hill it stopped. We had quite a time getting back but finally made it with the old car bucking and sputtering every minute. We found the distributing points were warm or something like that. \u2026<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"four-horsemen-fb\"](\"http:\/\/www.kayturnbaugh.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/four-horsemen-fb.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n\u00a0 \u00a0 Includes historic photographs and maps of her hikes and rides, many to the long-gone historic park lodges and all to landmarks and sights familiar to today\u2019s park visitors.<\/h4>\n
Publisher:<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>Perigo Press<\/span>
Genres: <\/span><\/strong>history<\/span>, women
<\/span>Tags: <\/span><\/span><\/strong>Colorado history<\/span>, Rocky Mountain National Park<\/span>, women history<\/span><\/p>\n
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EXCERPT<\/h2>\n
<\/em>Dearest Folks,<\/p>\n<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Yesterday we started to walk to the fish hatchery again and Mrs. Rushton, the one who rode to town with us Tuesday, came along and picked us up. She is so nice to us and treats us as tho we were guests\u2014 rather than dining room girls. She has two darling children whom she has adopted and a nurse to take care of them. They are staying all summer. She is quite a musician and plays the piano beautifully and is an all around good sport. Everyone likes her.<\/p>\n