summer is almost done...

the slow lazy days of summer are coming to an end as school starts back up in the next couple weeks... we are anything but lazy out here though!

the last week or so has been super fun, meeting new people and getting involved in the community even more...

we joined the Santa Ynez Valley Wine Club, a social networking site which highlights the fun things to do and see while in the Valley.. of course we had to join!

we are going to the Buellton Chamber of Commerce mixer on Wednesday, to hob-nob with the other local businesses... should be fun!

we also have been donating tours to a few local charities doing some fundraising events in the near future such as for the Mayor's Ball in Santa Maria soon and the Santa Maria Children's Museum benefit in October... we hope whomever wins the tours is up for an adventure!!

our riders have been amazing as always... here's a few to mention...

here are the Cohen family bandits... they had a great time and we sure enjoyed having them out to experience ranch life..

cowboy toby found a pretty big gopher snake out on the trails and as a reptilian dude he had to show everyone before letting the snake back into the wild...

the lageman's from solvang came out for an evening ride to celebrate their wedding anniversary before heading out to dinner... we hope they showered before going out because they were pretty dusty!

just fyi... our evening tours will be ending shortly as daylight is starting to fade earlier and earlier... probably by mid-september...

joe and stephanie came out for an adventure before heading up to morro bay for a few days... they had a blast on the side by side with guide Daniel :)

thanks to everyone who has come out and we for those who haven't we hope to see you on the trail soon!

happy trails..

Raiza Giorgi

summer lovin happened so fast....

howdy there ya'll!

hope you are having as good a summer as we are! it's been pleasant here on the ranch lately and we hope this trend continues...

after the fourth it was a little slow, but that was to be expected as people are usually at the beach or at the lake and we are still a new adventure so word has to spread...

in the middle of july we had an awesome weekend with all international guests!

these guys were visiting from Google and they were from Switzerland, Romania and Russia!

We also had a group from Saudi Arabia and Peru later that afternoon with a family from Denmark who were traveling up the coast...

the weekend after that we had mostly locals from the Valley as well as Santa Barbara and a few from LA area...

our first repeat rider was Lexi who brought her friend Amber to have a girls day

our other repeat rider was Karyn who came up with her children and their friends! they came back with smiles and that's what we are all about... having fun while learning about the ranch and what we do out here and why we want to keep it agriculture.

a Giorgi relative Catherine came out with her college girlfriends - Catherine had grown up on the ranch but was never allowed to go to the top of the mountain with "the boys" on their trips! how funny now at 70 years and better, she finally made it to see the top of the ranch!

we've had some great write ups we need to mention - first by the Santa Barbara News Press Scene Magazine writer Brian Coe who came out and experienced the adventure.

also it was awesome to open up the September issue of Dirt Wheels Magazine and see a nice spread on us!

well... we are looking forward to another great summer month and to those who decide to ride with us. we appreciate you all and we feel lucky to meet you.

remember to tread lightly!

Happy Trails!

Raiza Giorgi

july begins with independence

howdy there everyone! hope you all had a wonderful fourth of july and celebrated our nation's independence well! we sure did!

we were in the annual fourth of july parade in SOLVANG and won the crowds over with Daniel's impressive riding skills

the kids were screaming at him to do it again! it was such a great time can't wait to do it again next year!

the weather has been hot hot hot lately with temperatures in the upper 90's! so we started going out a little earlier in the morning and later in the afternoon to beat the heat!

we did have to cancel a tour unfortunately because 20 minutes before they showed up a fire broke out on the ranch! a malfunction with beekeeping equipment started a small fire on the other side of the freeway, but still required us to be safe in case it jumped across and we didn't want anyone on the mountain. thanks to the firefighters for coming out quickly and getting a handle on it before it got too big! toby was quick on the dozer and made fire breaks to keep it from spreading. he had so much fun! he loved watching the helicopters over him dumping water.

the heat has had a great affect on the flowers as they are blooming like crazy!

this is a native tiger lily which we are seeing in lots of places on the ranch!

our guests have been really awesome this past week! thanks to you all for being respectful and treading lightly!

happy trails everyone!

Raiza Giorgi

summer is here!

summer is in full swing here on the ranch as the trails are nice a dusty! every rider that comes back are filthy and we love it!

we have had an exciting month and we hope the rest of the summer stays that way!

everyone who has come out has so awesome and we appreciate all our riders! atv's are so fun and a great way to experience nature. we want to remind all those out there we are a guided tour - it's not a race so don't expect to just be unleashed on the ranch on a free for all. we like going fast too, but we are a working cattle ranch and we have to be respectful of nature

and

our family who also use the ranch. we also tread lightly so please don't litter ;)

since toby's quad had a little mechanical problems the gents at Kawasaki Santa Barbara lent us the Polaris Ranger RZR 900 for a week. booya!

toby and i went on a romantic ride ;) we had to test it out it was begging us. it just screams 'drive me!'

we've had such an ecclectic mix from locals and tourists, families, couples, friends, kids, seniors it's been amazing that all of them come back smiling and saying how much fun they had. it really shows that ATV's are made for everyone - and no matter what kind of person you are - you will enjoy the ride! here are some photos of our recent riders...

this is bobby and jessica - he is being shipped out to Afghanistan this August so everyone send him well wishes and think good thoughts he comes home safe!

the ashford family

our father's day ride! we were booked solid! it was such a great day even my parents came out!

the wells family were our second father's day ride and they had a ball!

we also had a celebrity in our midst! Corri of Brokedown Cadillac a country rock band based in LA/Nashville just did some scenes at our barn for their upcoming music video! It was so fun to watch! We can't wait to see the whole thing! We will post it as soon as we can! Here's a still from today...

starting next month we will be charging full prices for groups of three and under, those dang gas prices! but for groups of four or more we will honor a 15% discount!

also look for us at the 4th of July parade in Solvang! we are so excited to drive down Mission on the quads!

Have a happy fourth and give thanks for being an American!

week in review

this week has been amazing and slightly weird

amazing because we have had wonderful patrons ranging from small to big groups and they all did remarkably well

weird because the weather threw us for a loop with a freak rain storm that left us with 2 inches of rain, but it was good because it knocked down the dust

the rain storm also allowed us to have a mud tour as a family from Arizona/SoCal came out and decided to brave the rain and get a little muddythe perillo/mcelhone group after their tour soaked and muddy but check out those smiles!

two days after the rain we had a group of CPA's from SoCal come out from The Alisal Guest Ranch and experience the tour. one guy even came in his slacks and he had a great time! who says CPA's are boring? not us!
tonight is our first sunset tour! pictures and info to come later on that!

we are getting more and more phone calls about tours and looking forward to hopefully a busy summer! the end of june is sure booking up fast and we hope that's a good indicator!

on friday we will be preg-checking the cows and giving a tour so that should be interesting! life on the ranch is never dull ;)

(preg-checking is when we check to make sure the cows are pregnant)

here is the photo of the week of a horny toad Toby found on the top of the ridge.. he was sunbathing :)until next week ...

Happy Trails!
Raiza Giorgi

rearin to go!

The past week has been amazing with gorgeous weather and some interesting visitors from local Santa Ynez Valley businesses...

We held our first industry day on Wednesday with a few test subjects to drag (against their will of course teehee) around the ranch. They just hated it, you could tell by their smiles and rants of how awesome the views are... (I hope you all can sense my sarcastic tone)

The first group to come out was reps from Figueroa Mountain Brewing Company and Captain Jack's Tours. (From left is Nojoqui owner/guide Toby, Chris and Erika from Figueroa, Captain Jack and Andrew and Nojoqui owner/guide Daniel looking over the SYV)

We hope to have a special package set up by next week with Captain Jacks - he also does kayaking, wine tasting, horseback riding and other fun tours available to set up ;) shameless plug.

At Figueroa - our guests can get two for one beer tastings with proof of coming here first .. not a bad deal they're Davy Brown Ale is simply delish.

That same afternoon we had the girls from the Chumash Casino Resort and Social Buzz SYV

out... (Christin from the Casino wanted to ride her own the rest of us were in the crew cab)

We were all dusty and a little chilly from the wind but it was so much fun looking down on the waterfalls and seeing the gorgeous views ...

A special thanks to Social Buzz for the nice review ;) You can read it here

Some news - we will be offering our Summer Sunset Tours for two people at $125. Tours will go out at 5:30 p.m. and return by 8 p.m.

We are also in the Chumash Casino's Passport which offers discounts to a lot of SYV local businesses.

Coming up next is the Sunset Magazine conference in Menlo Park on Saturday, June 4, we will be attending to help out the Santa Ynez Valley Visitor's Association!

Looking forward to a lovely Memorial Day weekend - since owner Toby is a former US Marine we will be giving 20% discount for vets and current servicemembers!

Go America!

Happy Trails,
Raiza Giorgi

it's official!

we are open for business people! step right up and get a tour of one of the most unique and beautiful spots in the Santa Ynez Valley!

our first trail blazers Joan and Gunther from Solvang came out this morning and had a great time even though the fog was a little thick! going through the canyons and up hills - they were all smiles when they came back to the parking area!



we had a pseudo tour yesterday with the Santa Ynez Valley Wagonairs Club - a group of RV'ers that camp at different spots up and down the Central Coast every month! 14 quads in total (some not ours) came out and created lots of dust! it was a blast!


here are the Gamble's on the the side-by-side up on the loop behind Nojoqui Falls...


The Bentley's enjoyed the crew cab wandering around...

We were all dirty from the trail when we got back, but it was so much fun!

Can't believe we get to do this for a living! Amazing Santa Ynez Valley!

Happy Trails to You!

Raiza Giorgi