1. did you ever w atch that show
‘hey dude’ on nickelodeon?

2. i did.
and it must ha stuck with me.
ve

3. just like her
because last summer i decided
iwanted to work on a dude ranch

4. iwasn’t exactl sure what a real dude ranch entails
y
or why they would w ant to hire me.

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

6. and then calling them when they didn’t respond.

7. for a month, i w networking my w y through every ranch from colorado to wyoming.
as a
attempting to win over the dudes with my southern charm.
apparentl southern charm doesn’t translate when it comes to mucking stalls.
y

8. they were looking for someone who:
had experience
could work through the fall season
knew something about horses
i w none of the above.
as

9. but i did ha one winning quality: persistence
ve
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

10. i finall talked to a friend
y
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

11. a few da later,
ys
while i w pulled off to the side of the road
as
standing under the towering sombrero at south of the border
i got the call.

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

13. 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 lea much to be desired.
ve

14. my brother volunteered to
do the long drive with me
from virginia to wyoming.
we had three days.

15. 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

16. and finall we sa
y, w
the ranch.

17. at breakfast the next morning,
i sa my first real cowboy.
w
he ate his
meal in
silence.
then
cleared
his plate
and
w alked
a a
w y.

18. that night i called my mom and asked her:
“did you ever w atch that show
‘hey dude’ on nickelodeon?”

19. real dude ranches are nothing
like that.

20. except after my first week.
i realized i w wrong.
as

21. dude ranches ha everything a good tv show has:
ve
plot twists
heartbreak
adventure
emergencies
surprises
secrets
and a lot of very interesting characters

22. i ma not ha had cable during my
y ve
summer at the dude ranch.
but to be honest,
i didn’t even notice.

23. because i got to see the real deal.