09/07/2024
This is Saturday, September 7th, 2024. Jude and I are just a bit over 14 months of being OUT of the Bear Mountain Stage Stop...middle of nowhere, Wyoming. We, by the grace of God were able to exit the Bear and have the facility transition into the hands of a very capable operator, a former associate, and a friend. Darla Collins Hays blessed Jude and me for a number of years with her generous acceptance of us, joining with us to serve a customer constituency that traveled the roads of rural Wyoming, going to or coming from whatever somewhere they had been.
For those of you who are not up to speed...Jude and I have left the Bear in other hands. We have been privileged to have created the Bear and to have been "bearing up" with it for some 19 years in a project that was to have been 3 to 5 years for us, turning into nearly two decades! The magnificent gift that Bear Mountain Stage Stop gave us is priceless to us, for we were blessed to the highest degree with the interconnection with the most spectacular folks on earth. In our best year there we had visitors from 103 countries stop and bless us with their being. We were able to see the "real" of this world in America and share what bit of hospitality that we could with strangers who often times became friends. There is joy in that, way past financial gain or profit, and we learned that, hopefully with grace. We were humbled by the courtesy and consideration of our visitors and their genuine interest in why we might wish to conduct business out in the middle of nowhere.
Our approach to the Bear Mountain Stage Stop in its creation was to provide a place where, under our roof that folks could find temporary peace and rest if but for a minute on their journey. We tried to make people feel that our place was their place. We found that it was easy to genuinely be happy for our visitors, hoping that they found comfort as they would in their own home. We hope that we succeeded.
Judy and I believe that we are all travelers...from the moment of our birth until our final breath is taken....that we travel between eternities. For those of you who blessed us by stopping at our facility, we have great hope that your days are pleasant, that what you done since you were with us has been profitable for you and for society....that you continue to bring the same joy to others that you brought to Judy and me!
To our customers and friends of the BEAR, Jude and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts for having been a part of our lives and for the great gift that you gave us by permitting us, if but for moments, to enjoy meeting you and having had you touch our hearts. We thank Darla and "TOD".."the other Dave" for seeing what they saw and see in the facility known as the BEAR!
David and Judy
