Every year the Dude Ranch Association holds its annual convention. This year it was in Tucson Arizona at the beautiful Tanque Verde Ranch. The weather (70’s) was great and the people were very nice. The convention is a great place to get new ideas for the ranch, reconnect with old friends from other ranches and have a mini vacation all in one.

These are tough financial times- the sad truth is we got ourselves in this mess. It seems some people on Wall Street are lacking something, they are mixing up principles with laws…laws are bendable but principles are not. At this convention we were reminded of the Cowboy Code, Principles the cowboys of old lived by. No matter how you believe, where you live or your rung on the economic ladder we can all take these to heart. Being a “real” cowboy is not required. Wall street would not be in the financial mess they are in now if everyone in business lived this code. James P. Owen, the author of “Cowboy ethics” made a nice presentation. Here’s the code: we think its worth repeating…

  1. Live each day with courage.
  2. Take pride in your work.
  3. Always finish what you start.
  4. Do what has to be done.
  5. Be tough but fair.
  6. When you make a promise keep it.
  7. Ride for the brand.
  8. Talk less and say more.
  9. Remember that some things are not for sale.
  10. Know where to draw the line.
We were happy to see the “Welcome to Arizona” sign after driving for two days.
There horses were penned in large lots fenced with dead fall – it was pretty neat.
Due to the lack of pasture they are fed alfalfa hay and there is no wrangling in of the horses in the mornings. I wonder if their wranglers get to sleep in a little later than ours since there is no searching for hiding horses in the trees?
Barry grabbing a horse tongue.
The Sonoran Dessert: The only place in the world where the giant saguaro cactus grows. It takes 50 years for the saguaro to produce it’s first arm. A little different view than our ranch. It was a very neat site to see. The desert here is very pretty.
Father and Son – Jerry Johnson really does exist – he is just not someone on the phone at the office.
As a lot of you know Barry and I met working at the Heart Six Ranch in Moran Wyoming. This is Jessica and Savannah Garnick (no longer Garnick – they are married now) – the Heart Six belonged to their family at the time. It is amazing to think that their father was my age (37) when we worked on their ranch so very long ago. Their father and our close friend passed away last year in hunting camp. He is greatly missed. Their family continues to run their guest ranch the Triangle C in Dubious Wyoming.
On our way home we decided to stop in at the famous Tombstone Arizona. We wished we would have had more time to do some tours and look around a little more.