Giddy Up and Go!

We left Scottsdale yesterday in the morning southbound, with a stop at the Phoenix Tanger Outlets. On the way it got more „dusty“, sand devils dancing on the horizon, scenery became somehow more „mexican“, at least that was our feeling. Tucson ist just about 70 mi. away from the mexican border (Nogales) and mostly exists because of and around Arizona University. After a short two hour drive we arrived to Tanque Verde Ranch to the west of the city, nestled in the foothills of the Rincon Mountains, bordered by Saguaro National Park East.

The "Tanque Verde" Ranch is named for the "green pool" and seasonal river that already the Indians used as a source of water.  In 1868 the land was purchased by a Mexican by name Emilio Carrillo, from 1908 on Jim Converse owned the ranch and began inviting eastern „dudes“ (city dwellers) to participate in everyday ranch activities. In 1957, Brownie Cote took over, expanded and his son Bob Cote is the owner today and is proud of the mix of western dude ranch and luxury resort with a broad spectrum of activities. Bob is still servig pancake breakfast to the participants of the weekly Old Homestead Breakfast Ride.

We checked in and got a nice adobe-style cottage, spacious and with a patio where the fantastic view compensated for the lack of a TV set. We explored the property: there is a spa, tennis court, ball fields, hiking and biking centers, pools, a bar called Dog House Saloon, and the restaurant serves more than just cowboy food, which we noticed at dinner.


The ranch is huge in every respect: about 160 horses standing in different corrals, allegedly 600 head of cattle up in the mountains, 70 „rooms“ and up to 250 guests. The guests are more likely wearing tennis shoes and baseball caps than cowboy boots and hats - sort of a strange clientèle of somehow loaded city dwellers, many young families, many from the northern part of the U.S. and many repeat visitors. One night all inclusive starts at about $ 600, so figure out yourself about the kind of guests!

We had registered for a desert hike into Saguaro NP this morning (still cool then), cacti are just about to bloom and it was a good hike through the Saguaro forest. Afterwards we first watched different kids’ and horsemanship programs and, after lunch, retired to the cottage to get work done.