Mexico photo book text

Mexico photo book text I grew up doing a lot of camping, and Zuz grew up horseback-riding. As her birthday came up, I thought it would be fun to combine these in an adventure that would be both familiar and new to each of us. The logistics were too tough for a backcountry horse-camping trip, and dude ranches in the States were too glitzy. When I found Rancho Los Banos in Sonora, it felt right. A working cattle ranch, they had just started taking guests and it felt more like we were staying with family friends than at a resort.

At first, I wanted it to be a surprise, but the prospect of of driving to the border town of Douglas, Arizona for a rendezvous with an old minivan required some explanation. This turned out to be the right way to go: I learned that neither sneakers nor bike helmet were going to cut it. We stopped at the Boot Barn on the way out of town and I became the owner of a new pair of cowboy boots.

From the moment we turned down the dirt road into Rancho Los Banos, we were stunned by the scenery: dry desert vistas, slickrock bluffs, ten-foot ocotillos in bloom everywhere. Over five days with the vaqueros, the improvised family that formed around the cookhouse each day, the horses, cattle, and the dogs, we settled into the rhythm of life on the ranch.