Standing alone in a gravel-packed clearing, I gazed up at the star-speckled sky, listening to the rush of Boulder Creek in the distance. Three thoughts occurred, in descending order of profundity:
‘We really are just tiny dots in the universe.’
‘I wish my camera could really capture this view.’
‘I hope the bears don’t get me.’
It was that last thought that sent me skedaddling back down the path toward The Retreat McCall, which literally lit up at my approach as the motion-sensing lights kicked on. Nestled on 40 acres of private land, the timber-framed Retreat feels designed for gathering, whether that means a wedding weekend, family reunion, or simply escaping the city for a few quieter days.
The Retreat is the vision of Colby and Tammy Rampton. Parents to five children, the couple originally started envisioning The Retreat in 2019. However, the COVID-19 pandemic and autism diagnoses for some of their five children shifted their focus.
“By the time we got there, 2024, and started building, there's a lot of different things that had shifted,” Colby Rampton said. “Because then I'm like, ‘Okay, one or two of these kids might need longer-term support systems. How do we provide for those kids?’”
And so, a new picture of The Retreat came into focus.
Rampton said he wanted guests to feel genuinely cared for during their stay, something he believes can easily get lost in hospitality.
“When people actually invest in your experience and check in with you, it makes a huge difference,” he said.
My event was my mom, Sheri Gray, and I getting out of the Treasure Valley for a few days to hang out. Earlier in the day, we’d wandered through the east side of McCall, grabbing lunch at Toll Station Pizza before perusing some gorgeous artwork at the Roots & Relics Gallery. We topped it off with a huckleberry waffle cone from Squatch Sweets before making the 15-minute sojourn out to The Retreat.
McCall is one of those towns where you can pick up just about every landscape type with just a little bit of driving. We went from lakeside to rolling meadows to deep forest, complete with the blue skies you only tend to see in overly color-balanced movies. Do be prepared for forest roads and make sure your GPS doesn’t try to lead you to the middle of a lake (an issue that’s been fixed now, thankfully).
Pulling the blackout curtains back on day two, we glanced out the window to find two deer coming down the hill to avail themselves of some breakfast flora. We watched them for a time before heading downstairs to the “lobby” area. The Retreat carries some of the comforts of a hotel, but the communal kitchen, game lounge, and shared outdoor spaces make it feel closer to an oversized mountain home. We moseyed out for that nature communing, crunching our way across the gravel path. From the ceremony area the Ramptons have cleared out, we had the perfect spot to admire the still snow-capped mountains, the blooming wildflowers, and the fresh mountain air.
Then it was back to town, where we traveled around Payette Lake to reach North Beach. Both Sheri and I agreed this was one of our favorite parts of the trip. We shared the quiet, the lapping of the water on the sand barely audible as the breeze skated past. (We actually visited four beach and park areas on this trip: North, Rotary Park, Art Roberts Park, and Legacy Park.) We continued checking out the local wares (head to Bella Kitchen if you’re into kitchen gadgets or cookbooks), stopped in at My Father’s Place for some more ice cream (if I’m not having ice cream daily on vacation, I’m doing it wrong), and enjoyed a delicious meal at Steamers Steak & Seafood.
Back at The Retreat, I claimed an Adirondack chair to read a few chapters while occasionally glancing up at the forest around me as night fell. Colby Rampton called this area his “happy place” and I can see why.
We awoke to four deer and a turkey visible from our windows as we packed up and left The Retreat behind us.
As we enjoyed a final view of Payette Lake from our patio brunch at The Den and I picked up a canvas print from Gallery Fifty-Five that I couldn’t forget from the day prior, I ruminated on Tammy Rampton’s words from our first day.
“To see people come up and have a really good time, I think, that's the goal,” she said. “People come up, gather, leave the city, leave the world for a minute, and just come be with your family. Come be with your loved ones and just have a great time.”