Ranch-style fun at Cowboy Days

If a hearty breakfast is the best way to start the day, then the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum’s 10th annual Cowboy Days festival should get off to a good start. Held in Las Cruces, New Mexico at one of the West's premier museums celebrating farming and ranching, Cowboy Days is set for March 14-15 from 10- 5 ($2 entry).

For many, however, the fun begins at 8 A.M. each day with the cowboy breakfast. A chuck wagon cook will create an authentic cowboy breakfast featuring Dutch oven favorites such as biscuits and gravy, and eggs and bacon (tickets $9 in advance, $10 on the day). Cowboy Days admission is included in the price of the breakfast tickets.

The festival includes live western music, living history fun, and arts and crafts show and a Charreada (Mexican style rodeo), horsemanship demonstrations, rides, and more. Cowboy Days also marks the opening of an extensive new exhibit at the museum. “A Most Terrible Wonder: Firearms from 1600 to 1900” features dozens of guns from the museum’s collections.
For more information, please call 575/ 522-4100 or click here.

Blue skie ahead for dude ranches

Our recent conversation with Arizona's Russell True, new President of the Dude Ranchers' Association (DRA) and co-owner of White Stallion Ranch, included some good thoughts about the challenges facing dude ranches and their visitors in a tough economy. "We have to remind people that when you buy a ranch package, there are few to no add-ons," says True. "If you compare a dude ranch to another resort, it’s apple to oranges: we’re all-inclusive and a very good value."

But besides value, there's another good reason to choose a dude ranch now, he continues. "Families need ranches because we create opportunities for real family time and some of our best family memories," he contends. "You’re getting real experiences—not manufactured amusement park stuff," True adds. "And we love what we do: it’s not just a job for any of us," he notes.

The dude ranch is a uniquely American-born institution, and the first introduction to the West for some. Some ranches got their start at the turn of the century, so there’s history, culture, and tradition here, too.

"The Chinese word for crisis also means 'dangerous opportunity'," says True. "As ranchers, we’re must be more open minded, versatile, and adjust and adapt while protecting and expanding our future." No problem, says True. "Ranchers are flexible-we’ll get better at our jobs. And there’ll be more of us standing at the end of all this." And blue skies will return.

Arizona spring: White Stallion Ranch

Springtime in Arizona is, well, right about now. I just talked to Russell True, of Tucson’s White Stallion Ranch, and the way he describes the view from his window makes me want to jump on a flight south.

“It’s pretty well perfect today,” says True, “about 85° outside.” He’s sitting in the same office his parents used. “We’ve been ranching here 44 years,” says True, and he and his brother have continued the dude ranch tradition started by their parents in the 1940s. Gazing out his glass south wall, True notes, he looks at Panther and Safford Peaks, part of the Tucson Mountains, and it’s classic rugged Arizona—a lush and green desert in this season.

“People forget how green this desert can be in spring,” True says with a laugh, “but it really is.”

Across a couple miles of the 3,000-acre ranch, True can see Saguaro National Park, with the Catalina Mountains to the east. “We’re on five square miles of undisturbed desert, part of which is right up against the park,” he explains. It's an authentic cattle ranch, but with lots of amenities that guests love. “My parents sacrificed to grow the ranch and create a strong foundation,” True notes, “and my brother and I have had the good fortune to add to and upgrade the ranch.”

The ranch offers comfortable accommodations, from single rooms to suites with whirlpool bath and fireplaces, all done in a Southwestern motif. Amenities include a fitness center, heated pool, hot tub, movie theater, sauna, sports court with full court basketball, volleyball, badminton and paddle tennis, tennis court, shuffleboard, and a recreation room. In addition to horseback riding, they offer several guided hikes each week and evening programs.

All that they offer is part of what sets them apart. “We believe we’re the best value in the business,” claims True, “with our diversity of offerings, quality of rooms, and prices, we’re a super value.”

And there’s no better time to check out White Stallion Ranch than now.