Alisal Guest Ranch and Resort is one of those special places that we hope to make lots of memories at with Rex and Willow over the years. We had been wanting to return to the idyllic ranch ever since our first trip a couple of years back when Rex was just a baby… but wanted to wait until Rex was old enough to truly take advantage of all of the outdoorsy activities. The trip was planned long before COVID, and we were so thankful that when the time rolled around the ranch had re-opened and we were able to go. Especially since we had been talking it up to Rex this whole past year. Thankfully it did not disappoint this 3 1/2 year old–he was so happy running around the property! It’s truly a kid’s dream!
The 10,000 acre property has something for everyone from hiking, biking, fishing their 100 acre lake, horseback riding, swimming, tennis, golf to fine dining and arts and crafts activities for the kids. It’s such a wonderful family vacation spot or perfect place to go with relatives or the grandparents. It feels a bit like a nostalgic time capsule with old-school charm of a dude ranch. This visit was of course a bit different, all of the dining was outdoors (which was actually super nice for us with a 3 year old and a 1 year old–they’re not ideal fine diners quite yet anyway) but Tanner and I did miss the charm of their dining room and bar. But with everything being outdoors it couldn’t have been a better trip to have taken this summer.
We usually did some kind of activity in the morning (Haywagon pancake breakfast ride and went to the lake) and left the afternoons free for naps and wandering around the property or visiting the farm animals. Rex is my little nature explorer so he was in pure heaven just walking the grounds, picking up sticks and finding bugs. A highlight for all of us this trip though was watching Rex catch his first fish. He was so proud and the smile on his face for the rest of the morning was just too cute.
The change of scenery was so good for our spirits and getting Tanner off-the-clock was just so nice for all of us after these past few months!
