By Steph
The staff are all here now. The guests have booked their stays. The snow has melted (well, except for some up on the top of the Zirkels). The grass and wildflowers have re-appeared. The bikes have been tuned up. In fact, so have the horses….teeth floated, feet trimmed, vaccinated, and first rides out of the way. The chefs have practiced their meals. The staff have walked through mock rides, mock meals, mock dances, mock everythings. It’s time to open!
Sunday afternoon marks the first time we’ll have guests coming up the drive for the summer dude ranch season. We’re ready to kick off the season with a great group of guests, an excited staff and lots of fresh air and sunshine.
So, what have we been doing to prepare for these folks to come in and enjoy a great family vacation?
We devote two full weeks to training our staff and preparing for the summer season. The first week is spent focusing on the nuts and bolts of each department and establishing the culture of the ranch. The second week is the practice week, when we reinforce what they’ve learned and put it into play. Mixed in with all of this is some serious prep work. After a huge winter, there are a ton of fences to fix. The tack needs to be cleaned and oiled. The cabins need to be deep cleaned and polished up so they are ready for Sunday. The constructions projects need to be finished up (we upgraded the Hinman cabin flooring this spring and Bill did a remodel on the bunkhouse). Every spring we have to clear the down trees, so the wrangler and guide crew were out clearing trails on Wednesday. Staff photos are taken and new bios are written. The list goes on and on.
I did a “walk-about” this morning to check in on everyone. I kept hearing, “We’re ready, we just need to open now.” So, how about this? Let’s do it! Bring on Summer, as Olaf would say.