Countdown to Christmas 2025…. Day 13

Well, we are in yet another snow situation here. It’s coming down with a good deal of enthusiasm and we are planning to pack a bag for our trip north. Should the roads prove to be a repeat of Thursday, I don’t think we will attempt driving through that mess another evening. 

One and done for us. 

This white winter wonderland is a good setting to share one of our far too-short lived traditions. 

Rachel discovered a Reindeer Ranch located not too far of a drive for us one year and so we loaded up the kids and headed on a road trip to check it out. 

The set up includes a place to purchase food, a gift shop (of course), a playground area that is either frozen or muddy depending on the weather, and the opportunity to take some graham crackers and oats out to where the reindeer herd hangs out. 

You get about fifteen minutes with these creatures and it is worth every penny. 

They are the most gentle souls, though they come with extremely large and dangerous head gear. 

You can, if you dare, put a graham cracker between your lips and they will take it out…no thank you. 

We cupped oats in our hands and broke our crackers so we could make the experience last longer as they nuzzled the morsels out of our mittened hands. 

We made the trip three times and I still will say wistfully around the holidays as I remember it that I would like to have a few reindeer in my life. 

If you are local, we highly recommend visiting Hardy’s Reindeer Ranch in Rantoul. Worth the drive and the overpriced cocoa, the cold and the wait for your scheduled time to be amongst these darling little critters. 

Here is the link for their location https://www.reindeerranch.com