Luxury Dude Ranch in Steamboat Springs, Colorado
With many of us squeezing in vacation time the past couple weeks (yes, you may have noticed an absence of blog posts…that would be me sneaking away for a bit), it’s been pretty quiet around the ranch. This week the long term crew begins to roll back in. Ben is the last one to arrive…
Dace, our Jack of all trades with the title of ranch GM, resident cowboy, and artist/singer is also responsible for hiring our awesome staff each season. The process is intense, with multiple interviews, extensive reference checks, among other things. Each season we are amazed at how he is able to put together such a hard…
When it’s not quite still winter, and not quite yet summer here in Steamboat Springs, we don’t refer to it as Spring but call it by another name. Mud Season. Most years, it’s just an affectionate term that we all use as we slop through the melting snow and ensuing mud underneath, trying to be…
With the sun shining more and more, and the snow falling less and less, we’re starting to think that spring is actually here! That means we can start getting ready for our summer dude ranch season. It also means that we can start anticipating the arrival of our 2011 foals. The mares are due anytime…
As many of you know, we closed down a little over a week ago. It was a great winter season, and now we are all excited about spring and looking forward to summer. However, there is one minor problem. Spring doesn’t seem to be anywhere in sight. We keep getting snow! Steve and Kelli already…
Yep, we’re immersed in meetings here at Vista Verde Ranch this week. Dace, Ben and I spent Sunday, Monday and Tuesday in Denver at the Colorado Dude and Guest Ranch Association Spring meetings. We drove back through a huge snowstorm that hit Steamboat Springs on Tuesday afternoon, and went right into meetings here at our…
Wow, the clock is counting down to closing day, and I can’t believe it’s that time already. Guests tell us that their stays fly by, but the seasons seem to fly by even when you live here year-round. What’s that saying about time flying when you’re having fun? Hmmm… Saturday night brings and end to…
Last week my daughter spent an afternoon playing with some kids who were visiting our luxury guest ranch with their family (names withheld to protect their entrepreneurial identities). That night, and for days after, she kept talking about wanting to have a lemonade stand and sell drinks to the guests. I just blew it off…
Kelsey, one of our stupendous servers who have rocked the ranch this winter, found out this week that life can be dangerous at a dude ranch in Colorado. Here she recounts her tale: Winter time at Vista Verde means lots of wonderful outdoor activities for the staff to participate in during their time off. From…
When you spend a lot of time with people, there are always funny stories. People are just funny, whether it’s intentional or not. I always think we should write a book about the life and times of a dude ranch. But, I can’t usually remember them long enough. With that in mind, I made a…