Rancho Cortez Dude Ranch

We had an awesome day at the ranch in the Texas Hill Country. The weather started out cloudy and misty and muggy feeling, but as we arrived at the ranch just about 11 miles out of Bandera, a few minutes before 1 pm, the clouds started to burn off. We got checked in, signed our waivers, and learned that the schedule was really pretty non-existent. The day was open and kind of up to us, but the lady in the office said if we headed down to the barn to meet with the ranch hands, Tyler and Easton, they would tell us if we should join the 1 o'clock trail ride or go on a later one.

We headed straight for the barn and we were very shortly put into the saddles.

Brynna rode "Bubba" aka "Buckin' Bubba". Sky rode "Paint" who seemed very steady. Brighton rode "Popcorn" who we heard sometimes acted like popcorn in the microwave. Spencer rode "Buckshot". Tyler told Spencer to keep his horse away from every living thing because "he bites, he bucks, and he toots fire." OK then.

Skylar was pretty excited to handle his "own" horse. I was a little nervous since
it was his first time, but he did great! This picture was taken within the first couple
of minutes after he got on. He doesn't even look nervous.

Our family and one other couple went on our trail ride. Easton is in the front left
corner of the pic. He led our ride.

Spence and Sky were in the front of the line and Brock and I were in the rear.
That was a little nervewracking since I couldn't tell what was going on, but every
time I saw them they seemed to be smiling.

Spencer through the trees.

One happy girl as we got back to the corral after the ride.

They'd already had Skylar dismount before I could ask for a pic so they
put him up behind Bryn. He was a good sport, but a little bummed.

Easton gave the kids some tips on how to lasso. We also learned a little vocabulary. The sliding knot in the rope is called a hondo.

His brothers and sister did well with the lassos, but Sky was way more
 interested in the goats.

A cool oak to climb...

and contemplate.

"Better than Disney World."

About this time of the day, we were all just kind of hanging around. A truck pulled up and a gentleman got out and introduced himself as Larry. I knew from the website that he was Larry Cortez, the ranch's owner. He was funny. Definitely a no-nonsense, chain-smoking, real cowboy type. He joked around with the kids and teased them in a way that they weren't always sure how to react to. For example, Brighton was climbing the tree and Larry called him down and asked him if he was tired out, Bri said no, and so Larry told him to go use the rake and clean up the corral. Bri just stood there for a few seconds and then realized that Larry was serious so he went and scooped the poop. LOL He talked with us for awhile and then had Brynna go help Bri with the wheelbarrow. When they were done, he asked if we wanted to get into the arena and do some trick-riding. We thought he was joking, but again, he was serious. He was very authoritative and he got the kids to do some cool stuff, but he did test Bryn's patience a little with his training style. ;o) She just kept smiling and attempting to obey his COMMANDS.

After being all hot and dusty, we got to go cool off at one of the two pools at the ranch. 

After the pool, the dinner bell sounded and we all went to the dining hall. There we were served a delicious dinner of stuffed pork roast, sweet potatoes, broccoli and cauliflower, build your own salad, sweet tea, and finished with a light, fluffy pumpkin cake. It was all really good!

After dinner, we hopped into the backs of two trucks and rode down to a pasture to watch the feeding of the longhorns. They are more than a little bit intimidating. There were three in the pasture that we came to and they come charging enthusiastically for their dinner. Eeek!

This is me overcoming a serious childhood fear. This is Tyler, the other ranch hand
that helped us through our activities of the day.

While the longhorns were eating, there was another big steer being grown for beef. This "baby" is now around the 800 lb mark! The whole group got photo ops if they wanted. I passed, but the kids were braver than me.

We ended the day at sunset with smores around a ginormous campfire.

We sat around and admired the stars (boy, can you see them when you're out on a ranch!). We heard a little true cowboy history from Tyler and then it turned into a ghost story which made some of the youngers squirm. We visited with some other ranch employees and a few guests enjoying the relaxing fire. We watched some bats swoop in and out, feasting on bugs around a big light and finally, we left to head back to town and our trailer. We drove home carefully as we saw LOTS of pairs of glowing eyes on the way home. We were all very tired, but happy, and EVERYONE said it was a great day.