Marlboro Ranch Party 2003
White Stallion Ranch, Tucson Arizona
Sometime in late December, or early January I received an annoucement from Marlboro for a call-in sweepstakes.  It informed me to call this number on January 11th, 2003 between 1:00pm - 3:00pm, and if I was one of the first 100 callers from the Midwest to call, I would win a trip to the Marlboro Ranch. 

I had HIGH hopes, and on January 11th, I called-in right at 1:00pm.  It went through and congratulated me, saying if I met all the criteria I would be a winner.

A few short weeks I received some verification papers that I needed to sign and then have notorized, and one for my guest also.  We signed away and fedExed it back.  In about 6 weeks or so, I got the official CONGRATULATIONS!  I had really won!!  I was informed I would be going to the White Stallion Ranch in Tucson Arizona (the state I have ALWAYS wanted to visit!), and to get ready to party all night, and play all day!!! 

We received activity sheet sign-ups, asked cigarette brand information, sizing information for pants and jackets, measuring tape for cowboy hat, information about Arizona, and I don't even remember what else.  I still had doubts that there were some sort of catch, as well as my Mom too...but Marlboro later surprised me when there was NO CATCH!  (We signed up for scenic horseback ride, tour of Tombstone, 4x4 Jeep tour, desert hiking, mountain biking, and the Sonoro Desert tour.  You could also sign up for fast horse back riding, and team cattlepenning, but neither Shelly or I wanted to do that! hehee!)

The day finally came when we got our airline tickets, leather luggage tags, activity confirmations, and I received ?$1300 cash, to pay the taxes for it at the end of the year.  When we got those tickets, it all became very real...and VERY exciting.  My best friend, Shelly, and I couldn't believe WE were going to the Marlboro Ranch!!!

2 days later we received luggage made by Samsonite!!  WOWWOWOW!  Marlboro went ALL out!  The luggage is TOP dollar luggage, very nice...and of course RED and BLACK! 

DAY 1 - May 29, 2003
On May 29th, 2003 we set out for Indianapolis with eagerness like we've never had!  We were really going to Arizona to the MARLBORO RANCH!  Our first flight out of Indianapolis to Chicago was delayed, and we ended up missing our plane in O'Hare because of the delay.  So we had about a 2 hour layover then.  We finally found our way out of O'Hare so we could smoke...and then spent some time shopping around the airport and grabbing a bite to eat.  There was another winner and guest that were there (they had the wonderful black Marlboro Ranch hats that Marlboro sent us to wear so we could easily spot other winners)...whom we found out later were brothers Mitch and Bill -- Hi Guys!!  The plane ride from Chicago to Tucson was awesome, beautiful, and wonderful views.  It was a long flight, but we didn't care.  When we arrived at the airport in Tucson, and got out of the terminal there were 3 people standing waiting for us.  They had blue jeans, cowboy boots, red long sleeved shirts, and cowboy hats on.  They were holding up a sign that read "Welcome Marlboro Ranch Party Guests" - or something to that affect.  I was so excited I started screaming.  They picked up our luggage (that's why they sent us that luggage, so they could easily find it!), and took us to a Mexican Restaurant to get some drinks and if we wanted something to snack on.  They also showed us where we could go to smoke.  Me and Shelly bolted to the doors, and Mitch and Bill followed, as all of us were dying for a smoke!!!  When we went back to the restaurant I grabbed a bite to eat, and later found out that everyone was waiting on me! hehee!  I was so hungry, nervous, and excited -- I just HAD to eat!!  It was GOOD too :)  The first thing I noticed about Arizona though was that there wasn't any grass.  It was all dirt, sand, gravel.  But the catci were unbelievable!!!  There were SO many everywhere.  It was awesome feeling that HOT air hit us in the face.  We had froze as soon as we got to the airport in Indy...all on the plane rides, not to mention O'Hare airport also.  So the heat felt GREAT!!

Tracy took us to the Ranch in the nice BIG red Suburban.  She talked the whole way about the ranch, about Arizona, Tucson, about the activities we were going to do.  She told us basic info we would need to know...she was just super sweet.  She asked us personal questions about our jobs and our lives, and was just the greatest!!  She was BEAUTIFUL...long brown hair, very nice dark skin...looked Indian of some sort I would assume. 

When we got to the Ranch they were there to meet and greet us and get our luggage.  Josh (HOTTIE!) took Shelly and Me to our room.  He informed us there was some good news and bad news about our room.  The good news was that we had the best suite, but the bad news was we were the farthest from the bar! hahaa!  Oh well, we didn't mind, especially after we got in and saw how AWESOME our room was!!! 

We were to meet for Ranch Orientation, and then a Horse Orientation in just about 30 minutes.  We had just enough time to go through all the SURPRISES laying on our bed for us!  All I can say is WOW!!  Marlboro spent some money on us!  They had given us everything we would need for every activity while there! 

Here is a short list:
Platypus, cowboy hat and sponge, pants that zipped off into shorts, red windbreaker jacket, oilcloth coat (NICE), Canon Elph Sport Camera (WOWOWOW), leather keychain with the Ranch 2003 emblem that was on everything else, Ranch emblem zippo, Swiss Army watch, Swiss Army sunglasses, Acme whistle, and a nice big red and black duffle bag to carry it all back home with.  I know I'm missing a ton more of what we got, but I just can't remember everything. 

The Ranch orientation was with Russell True -- and he was GREAT!  I loved hearing about how they came to own the ranch, he talked about the mountains that were a backdrop of the ranch, and all the dangers of the desert.  He was an awesome speaker, and we were already feeling at home.  The horse orientation was awesome too.  He was the speaker, and told us all the basics we would need for tomorrow's ride.  He also informed us that Marlboro had already set up that if we wanted to take lessons we could do that too! 

Dinner that night was --- umm....jeez, what was it?!  Oh yeah, Bbq chicken, and bbq ribs.  Oh my gosh it was sooo good!  One of the Marlboro Security guys (Sal) sat with Shelly and me, and he was SUPER sweet.  He ended up eating supper with us the next night too.  For drinks they had tea, lemonade, or what they called a "cowboy mix" which was tea and lemonade mixed!  Dessert, as well as EVERYTHING was HOMEMADE...and OH SO DELCIOUS!  Wow, they really knew how to treat ya right. 

After dinner we went and hung out at the bar, getting to know some people, but retired early at 9:30, as we were BEAT.  We'd gotten up at 4:30 in the morning, and with the time difference, it was SO late.  We went to our rooms, filled out postcards to send home, worked on getting our new cameras ready, Shelly took a bath in our Jacuzzi tub.  We hit the hay about 11:30, setting the alarm for 6:30, so we could get ready for breakfast at 7:30 the next morning. 

WOW!  What a day, and what a vacation -- already!!!!!