did you ever watch that show

‘hey dude’ on nickelodeon?

i did. and it must have stuck with me.

because last summer i decided

i wanted to work on a dude ranch

just like her

i wasn’t exactly sure what a real dude ranch entails

or why they would want to hire me.

but that didn’t stop me from emailing my resume to every one i could find.

and then calling them when they didn’t respond.

for a month, i was networking my way through every ranch from colorado to wyoming.attempting to win over the dudes with my southern charm.

apparently southern charm doesn’t translate when it comes to mucking stalls.

they were looking for someone who:had experience

could work through the fall season

knew something about horses

i was none of the above.

but i did have one winning quality: persistence

persistence

persistence

persistence

persistence

persistence

persistence

persistence

persistence

persistence

persistence

persistence

persistence

persistence

persistence

persistence

persistence

persistence

persistence

persistence

persistence

persistence

persistence

persistence

persistence

persistence

persistence

persistence

persistence

persistence

persistence

persistence

persistence

persistence

i finally talked to a friend

of a friend

of a friend

of a friend

who directed me to a ranch

that knew of a neighboring ranch

that had an opening

a few days later, while i was pulled off to the side of the road

standing under the towering sombrero at south of the border

i got the call.

i katie chapin, landed myself a job. at a dude ranch. in moose, wyoming.

so i packed up my powder blue prius

with the most cowboy looking things i owned.which included: a plaid shirt

bandana

boots

a book to keep me company

and a sleeping bag

i admit, my cowboy possessions leave much to be desired.

my brother volunteered to

do the long drive with me

from virginia to wyoming.

we had three days.

during our many hours on the road we saw: touchdown jesus

buffalo bill’s ranch

lots and lots of corn

more cows than people

and every state license plate except rhode island

and finally, we saw

the ranch.

at breakfast the next morning, i saw my first real cowboy.

he ate his

meal in

silence. then

cleared

his plate

and

walked

away.

“did you ever watch that show

‘hey dude’ on nickelodeon?”

that night i called my mom and asked her:

real dude ranches are nothing

like that.

except after my first week. i realized i was wrong.

dude ranches have everything a good tv show has: plot twists

heartbreak

adventure

emergencies

surprises

secrets

and a lot of very interesting characters

i may not have had cable during my

summer at the dude ranch.

but to be honest,i didn’t even notice.

because i got to see the real deal.