STGR Blog

We’d like to thank the Wildriders from Chicago for heading west again for another great family reunion week.  Last week was filled with lots of fun and great memories.  The inital visit to Stagecoach Trails was back in 2002 and the gap in between visits was too long!  We’d like to thank Bob for planning yet another great group of over 40 for us to host.  We can’t wait to see you all again in 2010!  Gooooooo Packers!!!

The ranch reopened on Monday after our 6 week hiatus.  We are back in full swing with a full house.  We are happy to welcome back Craig, Jesse and Steve to our wrangling staff.  We also have a former guest Gianna, that is helping to wrangle this summer as well.  There are many repeat guests this month and we are excited to welcome them back to the ranch in addition to meeting the new faces coming through the doors.

We are having a great discounted 3 night special for the month of August to fill our last few rooms, so if you were thinking about traveling west, August is a great time to do it with a great rate.  Check out our specials page for more information.

Happy Trails!

We’re gearing up for the end of another great season.  We thank all of our repeat guests for visiting their extended ranch family, as well as welcoming all of our first time guests to the Arizona desert.  The ranch will be closed until July 13.  Everyone is looking forward to a little hiatus from ranch life.  You are still able to contact us while we are closed through the web or by telephone (866-444-4471).  We hope to see you in 6 weeks!  Happy Trails!

We have launched our official fan page on Facebook.  Click the link below to find our page and become a fan of Stagecoach Trails Guest Ranch today!

For those of you who don’t know yet, our cook Randy, Carrie’s brother is no longer working at the ranch. He has been here for almost nine years. Randy moved out to the ranch while we were building it back in 2000 and has been our cook during that time. Prior to moving out to Arizona, Randy used to be an over the road truck driver and would often do some hauling of horses and other cargo when the ranch was closed. He has decided to move away from the ranch and pursue his hauling on a more regular basis now. Although we will miss him, we feel very blessed that he was part of our special ranch for so long and we thank him for all his hard work, delicious meals and funny jokes. We wish him all the best with his new venture and I am sure he will be back for visits, so many of you may still see him from time to time. Fortunately for all of us, Tony who is Dan and Carrie’s son-in-law, has taken over the cooking at the ranch and is doing a fantastic job!

We have welcomed new puppy Nova to the ranch.  He is 5 months old, and everyone just loves him.  Nova is a Catahoula Leopard/Lab mix.  He loves to play with the other dogs and his stuffed animals.

Stagecoach Trails was thrilled to host two disabled groups last week.  The LEEP group from Minnesota was here for their 4th visit to the ranch.  Many repeat faces and some new ones.  We also welcomed The League for Partners with Disabilities group from out east.  We had such an inspiring week with all of these individuals.  It was great to get guests whom are wheelchair bound, up into the saddle.  The smiles all week never stopped!  We miss you all and can’t wait for your return visits next year!

We would like to personally thank the Children’s Oncology Group for a great 5th year visit.  Thanks to the group coordinator Amber for making this trip happen year after year.  It is the most inspirational group of children and staff that we have at the ranch every fall.  Everyone talks about the group throughout the year and can’t wait for their return and are always sad to say goodbye.  These children ranging from ages 11-17 are in remission for childhood cancer.  The trip out west is a real treat after some hardships these kids go through.  Majority of the staff that join the children are also cancer survivors and we can’t thank them enough for being part of one of our best weeks out to the year.  We can’t wait for you all to return next fall and possibly add an additional spring group into the mix.

We’d like to extend a thank you to all of the guests that were at the ranch last week.  Everyone was a returning guest and many were on their 10++ visit!  One of the groups, dubbed “Nancy’s Group,” has once again created fond memories for everyone.  Many other guests returned this week just so they could join in on the fun that the various groups have brought over the years.  Friendship Ventures, a special needs group from Minnesota, was on their 10th visit, and they are always an inspirational group to have at our ranch.  We also enjoyed having our “Japanese Cowboys” come back for their 3rd year in a row and teach our guests origami.  A few pictures are included below.We thank all of our guests that continue to visit the ranch year after year, and we look forward to having everyone back next year and some of you back a little sooner than that.

Jodi and Sophie (Dan & Carrie’s daughter-in-law and their granddaughter) are heading back to STGR tomorrow.  Jodi and Sophie stopped out for a short visit in August after moving back to Wisconsin with Dan & Carrie’s son Jeremy.  They will be visiting for a week this time.  Peggy (Carrie’s childhood friend), who lives visits the ranch about 4 or 5 times a year, will be out at the ranch tomorrow for another month long visit.  We welcome the girls back with open arms.  We have missed them.

For past guests that are looking for an updated picture of Sophie, we have included a shot of her in her GreenBay Packers cheerleading outfit.  She will be 9 months old on Friday. She is saying “Mama” and “Papa”(which is what we have been calling Jeremy), as well as crawling, pulling herself up and crawling up the stairs.  She can wave and do a high-five.  She is great and we can’t wait to have her back for a week long visit.