My clients Michael and Noah have been taking some great father/son vacations for the past few summers, including Costa Rica and the National Parks. This year, they decided that it was time to try a Dude Ranch. I got them set up with a fantastic ranch out in Wyoming, and they loved it so much that I think I’m going to have my work cut out for me next year. How do I top this?
Ann,
The trip was fantastic. We had such a great time. You know we love the area, the Tetons are so beautiful and the unspoiled land makes for such great wildlife viewing. We saw Moose, Pronghorn, Osprey, Bald Eagles etc.
The Goosewing Ranch was excellent. The facilities are new and well kept. The ranch is very professionally run, the staff was very attentive and took care of any of our requests. The “Ranchers” are all experienced and immersed in their trade. They took the time to teach us the ins and outs of riding a horse and made sure that everyone was comfortable and safe. They were terrific with the kids!
The ranch is right on the Gros Vente river. It was loaded with trout, so François, the owner of the ranch gave us Fly fishing lessons and then let us loose. Noah and I had the best time on the river. We caught a few fish and walked for miles along the river.
The ranch provides each cabin with an ATV which we drove around the area and into the Teton National Park. This was so much fun and gave us the ability to see more sights, animals and get to different places on the river. The food was good too. Each night had a theme, “Anglers night”, Cowboy night, Prime Rib night, etc.. some nights are served outside under the new gazebo and in front of the Dutch oven and the BBQ’s. This was very nice! They have infrared heater in case it gets chilly so we were very comfortable. Noah loved the breakfast — they made him anything he wanted! For wine-lovers, François carried a nice selection at reasonable prices and he put on a wine tasting which was great.
Wednesday we went white water rafting, the ranch made arrangements for us and took us into town. The rafting was so much fun. Once that was over, the ranch picked us up and brought us back to town for dinner, then took us to the rodeo. That was exciting and much different from our type of sporting event!
Over all we had a very memorable time, I would highly recommend the Goosewing Ranch and a trip to Jackson Hole for all the activities that it has to offer.
Oh… and the Lodge at Jackson Hole where we stayed the night before was beautiful — great rooms, luxurious bathrooms and they taxied us around town at our convenience. Really great.
A great vacation!
