Patty and Zack driving Fizzy
Merry Christmas!! Jesus comes into the world as a baby and we rejoice. 2020 was our 20th year as Rocking Z Guest Ranch. We took our first guests June 28, 2000. The year 2000 had very large forest fires especially in Yellowstone Park. Many of our guests that year were fishermen looking for extra activities near the river, which at times was too hot to fish. We have steadily grown our business and reputation every year since. 2020 was set to be the best year ever. We were starting with being full the last week of March, expecting a booming season.
With all the adjustments that everyone has had to make since early this year, we have been grateful that life on the ranch didn't change too much. We always have lots of projects and this gave us a little time. Justi came home from Mexico early. We got more horses ridden and buildings and trim painted. We confirmed what we knew about work miles helping a lot to get our horses in shape, for without our guests our “getting in shape season” was lacking. We missed our visitors so much during lockdown, as our priority is always how to make things better for you. We were all here riding and living without being able to see the fruit of our labor for a long time. When we got to have our guests we were overjoyed.
It was exciting to be able to open on June 1! Guests who were booked were able to come. It was great and so appreciated. Some groups were able to reschedule, many moved their reservation to 2021, and many from the US were still able to make it, often at a later date. We really missed all our Europeans, Canadians, Australians and beyond! It will be really great when you can come and visit us again. By the middle of August we started to fill up for the fall. Many people wanted to relax and enjoy the outdoors and living like we used to just for a little while. We had guests through October, which was fantastic. We are incredibly hopeful that the vaccine will allow us to be fully open again, and that flights will be able to safely restart.
Anna on Caspian, Arthur on Sizzle, Patty on Indy, Zack on Remi, and Maria on Zoe
Zack always has said when asked if we are a success, "Success is being here next year." We are here. We survived. Part of the time we thrived. We all stayed healthy. No one even had sniffles! We are looking ahead to 2021. We are planning on the year we thought 2020 was going to be. We are sorry to have missed out on celebrating our 20th Anniversary, but that just means we will have to have some really big celebrations for our 25th.
Ben and Maria with little Libby
Zack and Patty delayed some large projects on the ranch for a later date. Zack is keeping busy though, finishing out many older projects around! Patty has been working with younger horses getting them prepared to be ridden. Ben and Maria were able to host their annual ranch rodeo again this year, which was a big success regardless of all the modifications! Anna and Tom are expecting in 2021, Arthur will turn 3 in February and will get a little brother or sister right after.
We look forward to seeing many of our old friends. People have been very generous to us and it has really helped. We made many new friends. Everyone of you has played a part in our success these last 20 years. We appreciate you all, and we hope that all of you get to be with your loved ones in some way, even through a screen, throughout this holiday season. May God bless you and may you stay healthy.
