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CNN Live Today

Number of City Slickers Taking Ranch Vacations on Rise

Aired July 16, 2002 - 11:53   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Believe it or not, folks, the number of city slickers who are taking ranch vacations now is on the rise. A lot to consider, though, if you are planning taking a roughing it out in the West, getaway. Do you want a resort ranch? How about a classic dude ranch? Are you bringing the kids along? Whatever.

Laura Begley is editor with "Travel & Leisure" magazine. She joins us to tell us about the basics of a good ranch getaway.

Good morning, Laura, how are you?

LAURA BEGLEY, "TRAVEL & LEISURE": Hi, Leon, I'm doing great, how are you?

HARRIS: I have to admit, I'm intrigued here. I never even thought about this idea, and you say this is becoming more and more popular now?

BEGLEY: Ranch vacations are hotter than ever. People are really looking oh to get back it nature, to have a simple experience. Look at Julia Roberts, got married a couple just a couple of weeks ago at her ranch.

HARRIS: That is true. When you say a ranch, do you really mean like someplace out in the sticks where there is like three horses and four guys with guns and knives, and that's all have you out there or what?

BEGLEY: I don't know about guns or knives, but we are talking about dude ranches, with cattle drives and waking up at 6:00 a.m. and hanging out with cowboys and going on trail rides to the sage brush. It's pretty fun.

HARRIS: Is it a family kind of thing, or is this just like a couples getaway or what?

BEGLEY: Most ranches are geared towards families. But they are really for anybody. I actually went to a ranch recently, the Tanke Verde Ranch, which is in Tucson, Arizona, and I have to say, I'm a real city slicker, but I found my inner cowgirl there. I had blast.

HARRIS: How do you find your inner cowgirl?

BEGLEY: Well, I was getting up and hanging out with the cowboys. HARRIS: I guess that would do it. When you do get up, what kind of things do you do? I'm assuming that they don't want you going in and out of town on these vacations. They want to you get out on the spread and just stay there. So what do you do all day long?

BEGLEY: Usually, would you stay two or three days, and you wake up in the morning, you go on a cattle drive or on a horseback ride out through the wilderness, come back, have some lunch around long tables in the dining hall. And in the afternoon, if the place has a pool, you might hang out by the pool, maybe take an afternoon cattle drive, but some of these new ranches, they are pretty fancy, too. A lot of them have yoga and spas. You can get massages to massage out all those saddle sores at the end of the day.

HARRIS: Can't imagine a cowgirl doing yoga. That's what you call when worlds collide.

BEGLEY: It helps you out when you're on the horse, believe me.

HARRIS: I will take your word or that.

Let me ask you about -- for kids, though, that sounds like that kind of thing would be great for adults, but you are also saying this is a family kind of vacation getaways here. What is there for the kids to do out there?

BEGLEY: Well, there is a place, for instance, in Colorado called Vista Verde, and they have hot air ballooning. They take the kids out on gold-panning expeditions. There are other ranches where the kids can stay out at night in a tepee, and actually for kids, if you are -- actually, usually six years old is the age for getting on a horse. But it's a really great experience to get to know the animals. It is very relaxing for children.

HARRIS: I'm looking at these pictures, I can imagine my son learning how to tie up dad. I'm sure he would love to do that. How many ranches are there to choose from?

BEGLEY: There are hundreds and hundreds of ranches. And actually, there are a couple of great resources for picking out a ranch. There's the Dude Ranch Association, which has a Web site and number that you can call.

HARRIS: There's an association of dude ranches.

BEGLEY: There's an association of dude ranches. And actually, the dude ranches, they are members. That's one thing to consider. There's also a guy named Gene Kilgore, who is the ranch, the dude ranch guru, and he's got a book and a Web site. But again, these ranches are members. So, you do have to consider that. If you don't -- if you want to actually have somebody plan your entire vacation, and interview you and pick out a ranch that is perfect for you, there are a couple of tour outfitters that will do it. Abercrombie and Kent and Off the Beaten Path are just two of them.

HARRIS: That's interesting. You mentioned this morning, dude gurus and yoga, cowgirl yoga.

BEGLEY: It's a new era.

HARRIS: How much does something lick this cost, though?

BEGLEY: It could cost anywhere from $125 a night up to $500, depending on the dude ranch that you're visiting. Keep in mind those prices usually include all of your activities, and horseback riding and food. So it is actually not that expensive of a vacation.

HARRIS: No, I have heard of much worse than that, much higher prices than that.

One last question, do you know whether or not the fires that we have seen happen out West, if they've affected any of these kind of spreads, because this has all been out of that same sort of wilderness area.

BEGLEY: You know, I think they have effected them. I don't think -- there are no dude ranches of that I know that have burned down. But certainly the smoke is going to be affecting them. And I would take that into consideration if you are planning a dude ranch vacation in the next few weeks.

HARRIS: Thanks for the advice. That sounds like a very interesting idea. I have to admit, I never would have thought about that. But it sounds like it might be a lot of fun.

BEGLEY: Get on your cowboy hat, Leon.

HARRIS: I don't know about that. If you see me on a horse, I will have a baseball cap on, trust me.

BEGLEY: That works.

HARRIS: Laura Begley, thanks so much.

Happy trails and happy yoga to you, OK?

BEGLEY: You, too. Thanks, Leon.

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