Welcome!
Welcome to the Grapevine Canyon Ranch Blog!
Here, Eve will post the latest newsflash from the ranch and we have added some extra goodies such as weekly recipes, and weekly history snippets entitled “Did you know?”
Enjoy and we welcome your comments and suggestions!
A message from Ben, the webmaster:
Hello everyone! Welcome to the NEW newsflash. I welcome anyone and everyone to submit recipes, diaries and all that. I will happily post it all right here. I would also love to hear your opinions of the Grapevine Blog! Please bear in mind that all the old entries will be brought across in time along with our current guest diaries. Take care and hope to see you soon!
Why you should consider visiting a guest ranch…..
There are many reasons, but here are some to go on with –
In today’s world, there are few places where you meet with genuine friendliness and down-home hospitality. Go to a hotel, and you encounter excellent service, but little friendship – go to a fancy resort, and you get luxury, but little of the personal touch. Go on a cruise ….. but no need to go on.
However, go to a guest ranch and you will find people who, by virtue of living in the country and often on relatively isolated spreads, are eager to meet those from the outside world, who are interested in learning about city lifestyles, and who offer genuine friendship – because that’s all they know how to be.
The main activity in most guest ranches involves, of course, the horses – but even for non riders there is a lot to do. How many city people today have had the freedom to wander over hundreds of acres without fear of encroaching on somebody else’s private property? How many have been able to sit quietly and observe a trusting deer or jackrabbit venture quite close to investigate? How many have had the chance to have hummingbirds flutter around their heads, or seen owls, sitting on a tree branch, not a foot away from their own noses? It’s a way of life fast disappearing, and as the world gets fuller and fuller of people, all hustling and bustling, these quiet oases of peace and quiet are rare finds.
Of course, for the horse lover, there’s no question that a guest ranch visit is the vacation of choice. Most guest ranches have Quarter Horses, those reliable and intelligent friends of the cowboy, who are just as good at turning a cow as they are at going down the trail – and you will find you make a four legged friend whom you will remember for the rest of your days. At some guest ranches you can actually take part in the cattle work … at some you can join the Spring Works, where the calves are brought in for branding – or the Fall Works, where they are sorted off to go to the sale. Either way, you will learn to appreciate the way that steak gets to your table, and also to appreciate the hardworking people of the west.
And if your preference is to sit and bird watch, or to hike, or to enjoy some of the additional facilities that most guest ranches today offer, such as the pool, or a boisterous game of poker in the evening, or just plain good old conversation with people from all over the world, then consider a guest ranch vacation – it will be one you will never forget!
There are many, many hotels and resorts in the country, but only about a hundred guest ranches – you can find them on the Dude Ranchers’ Association web page, www.dra.com or on the Arizona Dude Ranchers’ Association page, www.azdra.com
But of course, we would like you to visit ours – check out the details at www.gcranch.com and come and enjoy the vacation of your life!
We look forward to meeting you!!
The Folks at Grapevine Canyon Ranch