blog @ eatons ranch

Wranglin Notes are Here

Jeff — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 02:03:55 +0000

Volume 1, No. 196 Eatons’
Ranch December 2011

All of us here at Eatons’ Ranch hope you had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! As we look back on this past year we think about how fortunate we are to live where we live, to do what we do, and to have you all in our lives. The last few years have been challenging, but thanks to your support the challenges we have faced have been more rewarding than ever.

Horses crossing Wild Horse Creek at the Bar 11

All in all the Ranch family has had a good year. We’re healthy, our children are healthy and for that, we are thankful. Many of us had the opportunity to get a for a few excursions during the off season, which is always welcomed before or after four months of the dude season. We welcomed many familiar faces to the Ranch this summer, along with many new ones as well. Keen Butcher and his family joined us for their annual Ranch reunion in June. July was a good month for groups and families traveling together. Thanks to Ted and Laura Mandelkorn, many new people were introduced to the Ranch. Michael Shinners and his family joined us in July for the third consecutive year. Mike Holloman and Tim Surrat joined us during the month as well to celebrate Tim’s 50th birthday with many family and friends in attendance. We had a few guests, who we were very happy to see again, that had taken some time off between visits. Mary Roby and her
children and grandchildren joined us in July for the first time since 1998. George and Mary Kenny returned with their family in August after last being here in 1974. In August we were also joined by the familiar faces of Charlie and Stephanie Fagan, who brought their children and grandchildren. In addition to the faithful August crowd, we hosted a couple of weddings and for the first time, we hosted a photography workshop by David Stoecklein. The beautiful wedding of Kate Brewster and Justin Hammerich fell on the same weekend as the
photography workshop, but both events went off with out a hitch. We plan to host another workshop in 2012. Our loyal September contingent joined us following Labor Day and we quietly ended the month with the Third Annual Wolf Creek Wrangle trail run and hike. We look forward to the Fourth Annual on September 22nd. We kept our doors open for a little longer for the highlight of 2011. The wedding of Mary Eaton and Nate Schmeiser on October 8th. The wedding of 100 plus family and friends was officiated by Rob Cagnina in Howard Hall. It
was a wonderful event and everywhere you looked there were smiling faces. So many people commented that they couldn’t have been happier for two very special people.

Ranch kids kicking their heels up at Nate & Mary’s Wedding

This year we are not going to write the usual detailed year in review. Instead, we are shifting the focus to photos from years past and to those we lost in 2011. We hope the photos bring back memories of the time you have shared with your family and friends, and with us. We are sorry to admit that sometimes it takes a year like this to make us realize just how many lives Eatons’ Ranch has touched
and how we in turn have been touched by so many special people. This year we lost a number of people near and dear to the Eatons’ Ranch family. Some left us far too early life, but we are so lucky to have known them. Some had not been able to visit the Ranch in years, but they were the people who supported us year after year and became part of our story.

In Memory of…….

Jack Stanton, David W. Oskin, Jr., Nancy Payne, Clem Egan, Gerry
Clapp, Miff McBride, Liz Jacobs, Betty Kaufmann, Herb Koether, Betty Lou
Girardi, Blair Klein.

Some of the obituaries, eulogies and notes from families of the departed expressed the importance of Eatons’ Ranch during their lifetimes. Miff McBride first came to the Ranch with his father in 1937 and trips to the Ranch became a family tradition. He passed peacefully at home with an Arthur Dailey photo of Eatons’ Ranch by his bedside. During her amazing lifetime, Betty Lou Girardi, traveled extensively throughout
the world, but in her obituary it said that her favorite place to travel was Eatons’ Ranch. Betty Lou and her husband Joe visited the Ranch for 41 consecutive seasons. Betty Kaufmann first visited the Ranch in 1936 with her parents and their first trip to the Ranch was in 1923. The Kaufmann and Eaton family have a long history together. Betty visited the Ranch for 37 consecutive seasons. A line taken from an Erika Frey poem over 30 years ago that sits overlooking Eatons’ Ranch still holds true today more than ever, “…when you ride these pastures I have loved, let your heart beat fast for me and I shall not be dead.”

Life is made up of experiences and interactions with others. Based on our experiences and interactions with the friends and family that we have lost this past year and before, our lives are full. To all of those who lost loved ones this past year, please know that our thoughts are with you. If we have failed to mention anyone here, we apologize in advance.

The printed version of the Wranglin’ Notes will be in the mail soon with even more pictures. We wish you
all the best in 2012 and we hope to see you this summer! Check out our blog and keep a look out for our upcoming specials!

Wranglin’ Notes

Jeff — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:59:13 +0000

The annual Wranglin’ Notes will be going out via e-mail to all of you who have signed up to receive our e-newsletters and e-mail updates. The printed version will be in the mail soon!

Our winter bed & breakfast is up and running. The dinner and brunch menus are now available online. Enjoy our Wyoming dude ranch this winter by joining us for dinner, brunch, or a night at the foot of the Bighorn mountains.

Tis the Season from our Wyoming Dude Ranch

Jeff — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 22:57:46 +0000

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Here at the ranch we are gearing up for the Holidays. We have had a few months to catch our breath before heading into our second year of the Bed and Breakfast. Hope you all have a safe Holiday Season. We are looking forward to what the New Year will bring.

First Day of November Brings First Snow

Jeff — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 20:56:59 +0000

The barn with a fresh coating of snow.

It’s November and with it came the first snow! We are getting ready for Winter here at the ranch. Our 2011 Dude Season was great, thanks to all of our wonderful guests! We are looking forward to an exciting winter season, stay tuned for more information on upcoming events! Don’t forget to like our new fan page on facebook.

Wyoming Rodeo Week & Cowboy Polo

Jeff — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 18:13:24 +0000

Members of the Eatons' Family at the Wyo Rodeo

Rodeo week is always an exciting time for both the guests and the staff here at Eatons’ Ranch. The carnival, the street dance, and the excitement of the rodeo itself gives the staff a chance to get off the ranch for a little while and enjoy the nightlife of Sheridan. Friday night was Eatons night at the Wyo Rodeo, in which the Eatons family made a special guest appearance.

It’s always great to get involved with big events like the Wyo Rodeo, but it’s fun for the ranch to participate in community events as well. This last Sunday, the wranglers at HF Bar challenged our wranglers to a friendly game of Cowboy Polo at the Bighorn Equestrian Center. They faced during the halftime of one of the Polo matches hosted in the afternoon. In case you were wondering, Eatons’ Ranch came out on top! Everyone had fun and is looking forward to the next matchup. Check us out on Facebook for more pictures!

Tom

Nate Schmeiser fights for possession during the Cowboy Polo match

The Dude Ranch Season Is Upon Us

Jeff — Fri, 20 May 2011 21:45:40 +0000

View from Rattlesnake Ridge

Opening day is just twelve days from now. Our cleaning crew has been hard at work opening cabins since mid-April. Summer employees are arriving almost every day to help get ready for the season. All of our 51 cabins will be open and ready to go June 1st. The cabins may be ready, but we will be hard pressed to get this Wolf, Wyoming dude ranch’s grounds all cleaned up by opening day if it doesn’t dry out soon. It has been a very wet May. We’ve had over 2 inches of moisture this week alone. It’s hard to complain about the moisture, but with the cool weather that has accompanied the rain, we haven’t had much of a spring.

We start the season off with 20-30 guest the first week and gradually pick up from there. June looks to be pretty busy, but if you haven’t made your summer plans yet we still have a number of openings in July and August. The Sheridan WYO Rodeo is July 13th thru the 16th. The WYO Rodeo is great family fun and we still have a number of cabins open rodeo week. Space opens up in August after the 8th if you are looking for an end of summer vacation before the kids go back to school. Also, for those of you who have never experienced a fall along the Bighorn Mountains you should definitely consider a September visit.

Keep an eye out for updates about the Third Annual Wolf Creek Wrangle 10 mile trail run and 10K hike on September 24th. We will be offering discounted packages around that weekend. We will have more details in the coming weeks.

If you haven’t made reservations at our dude ranch along the Bighorns we hope to hear from you soon. For those of you who already have reservations, we’re excitied about the new season and we look forward to seeing you all soon!

Spring Snow

Jeff — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 21:00:32 +0000

Spring Time at Eatons'

Every time I plan to write something, another month has gone by and there is snow on the ground again. We just received a spring storm that brought about a foot of wet, heavy snow. Here at at the foot of the Bighorn mountains, we often get our heaviest snowfall in late March and April. Hopefully we will actually have a spring this year. It seems the past few years it has been cold and wet through spring, and then it goes right into the heat of summer.

There is much going on here at our Wyoming dude ranch this time of year. Our cows are a little more than halfway through calving. Atfer a rough start, the cows and calves seem to be doing well now. Carpentry and refinishing work is under way in preparation for another season. Soon we will have a makeshift crew arrive to begin opening cabins before guest season begins.

We have kept some cabins open this off-season for a small bed & breakfast business. We have used word of mouth to advertise, and only a handful of people have taken advantage of the beauty, the peace and the quiet of Eatons’ this time of year. Dining, however, has been popular since the end of January. We offer dinner Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights as well as brunch on Sunday. Mike and Marisa have done a fantastic job taking care of our dinner guests.

If you are in the area, we hope you will join us for a meal, a quiet night’s stay along Wolf Creek, or maybe both. For those of you still deciding on a summer vacation, we hope you will consider Eatons’ Ranch. We know you will be glad you did.

Wyoming Winter Wind Chill

Jeff — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 22:23:41 +0000

Here at our Wyoming dude ranch we are closing out the month the way we started with cold, cold weather, at least until Saturday. The low last night was -13 degrees with wind chill values of -25 degrees. Tonight it is supposed to warm up to -9 degrees with wind chill values of -20 degrees. It makes one long for those warm summer days. Fortunately this cold snap is supposed to be short lived with temperatures hitting the 30′s in a couple of days.

The cold doesn’t shut things down on a ranch. The cattle still need to be fed and we already have 17 calves on the ground at last count. Our first calf was not due to arrive until the second week of March, but three separate fence lines could not deter one of our bulls a month before they were supposed to be turned out with the cows.

Our contractors arrived this week to begin updating bathrooms in some of our cabins. The Lodge, Rinehart, Ayres, and Wigwam are all getting a little extra attention before we open June 1st. They will be re-roofing a few cabins as well. Lonny Gibson has put new flooring in three cabins and is now at work refinishing the stair case in the Main Ranch House.

We plan to try and keep warm this weekend along the Bighorns as we get ready to head into March. June 1st will be here in no time and we look forward to seeing many new and familiar faces this summer here at Eatons’ Ranch..

Wyoming Dude Ranch In Winter

Dude Ranch In A Deep Freeze

Jeff — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 16:22:27 +0000

Yesterday at our Wyoming Dude Ranch it was 10 below zero. This morning it was 15 below zero. It has been colder but but when the wind picks up and the wind chill gets down to negative 30 that is cold enough. When the the temperatures drop like this trucks don’t start, pipes can freeze, and outdoor work is down right miserable. Those of us in charge of the livestock, like Bill Ferguson, don’t have a choice but to venture out into the cold. The cattle and horses need extra feed and water and access to open water can be a problem out in the pastures. Two to three times a day ice must be chopped and cleared from tanks and streams.

We know the deep freeze won’t last forever, but the warm days of spring seem a long way off. The snow covered pines in the background and the ice covering Wolf Creek are beautiful sights and makes us appreciate the change of seasons here in Wyoming at the foot of the Bighorn Mountains. And it makes us appreciate even more the warmer days ahead when the snow and ice will melt, making way for the green grass of spring that will follow.

Wyoming Dude Ranch in a Deep Freeze

Meanwhile Back At The Ranch

Jeff — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 22:07:55 +0000

Winter at our Wyoming Dude Ranch

It is peaceful here at the Ranch. The beginning of a new season at our Wyoming dude ranch seems so far away when there is snow on the ground. There is still much to do this time of year, but the days move at a much slower pace than during the summer. New flooring is going into a few cabins, and some bathrooms will soon be remodeled. We have a few cabin roofs that will need our attention as well. Every year we think we have caught up on improvements and repairs, but with 51 cabins and 90+ structures in all, there is always work to be done.

Bill, Karen, and Will Ferguson, along with Mary Eaton, Nate Schmeiser and T.J. Ferguson just returned from the Dude Ranchers’ Association Convention in Tucson, AZ. While they were away, it was still business as usual for those back at the Ranch. Reservations are beginning to pick up, but there are a number of dates in July still available. Join us for our Annual July Roping on the 3rd and for the 4th, we will be celebrating a Cowboy Christmas. There are wonderful fireworks displays in the area and, depending on the weather, we sometimes have our own display on Howard Hall Lawn. The Sheridan WYO Rodeo is July 13-16 and is a great event for the whole family to attend.

Our bed and breakfast is up and running with a few guests taking advantage of a winter escape. This weekend, we are hosting an open house to highlight what we have to offer for winter accommodations and dining. If you are looking for a little getaway in a beautiful location at the foot of the Bighorn Mountains, please contact us for more information.

Even with snow on the ground, we know the new dude ranch season here at Eatons’ is closer than we think. We will be hard at work between now and June 1st in preparation for the first guest’s arrival. We hope to see you this summer!