This is a great article about a family’s trip from Pennsylvania to Colorado. Especially loved the part about Drowsy Water Ranch which I have highlighted below. To read the entire article please click on the following link: http://blog.pennlive.com/life/2012/08/colorado_with_kids_sleds_bikes.html
Howdy, Colorado!
The heart of our trip was three days at the Drowsy Water Ranch,
where we donned cowboy boots, learned to ride horses and began to say howdy to everyone we met.
Grand County has several dude ranches, but Drowsy Water was a no-brainer. It’s rustic and has been run for 36 years by the hands-on Fosha family, whose passion is horses.
“Our goal is that everyone who comes here is a little better rider when they leave,” Ken Fosha told me.
The ranch has 120 of the magnificent animals, well-fed, well-trained, groomed and pastured every night. Each horse has a name, and each guest (50 maximum) has a horse carefully chosen to match that person’s riding experience (or, in our case, lack thereof).
There’s a special riding program for Range Riders (kids 6 to 13) as well as programs for adults at all levels of ability. Each day begins with a clinic, followed by half-day or all-day trail rides up into the hills with a wrangler.
In addition, there’s swimming, fishing, Western dancing and good, hearty grub three times a day when the dinner bell rings. Zip-lines are being added this summer.
“They aren’t very Western,” Fosha said, “but older kids will enjoy them.”
In 2010, TripAdvisor named Drowsy Water Ranch the No. 1 all-inclusive resort in the world.
Ten minutes after Ken’s wife, Randy Sue, fitted us for well-worn rental cowboy boots and showed us to our cabin, the kids were out exploring, getting wet in the creek, tossing horseshoes and playing volleyball with other kids and Lily, one of the resident sheepdogs.
Then the dinner bell rang and we all gathered around long tables in the dining room for turkey and pumpkin pie.
Our days at Drowsy Water flew by. One night we gathered in the round teepee building for Western dancing. Another night the kids had a hayride and cookout while adults had dinner by candlelight. We made dream catchers, saw calves branded and each day got to be more confident riders. The kids took to their steeds, Buckwheat and Times are Tough, like ducks to water.
All too soon it was time to leave. Most people spend a week at the ranch; we were there for three days.
Tags: adventure vacation, all-inclusive, colorado dude ranch, Family Vacations
