Roy's Ranch House: Area

 

About Virginian Resort

The Virginian Resort is an authentic gem located in the heart of "God's country." With amazing scenery on all sides you can't help but untie all the knots in your rope. We're just a half mile south of Wild West Winthrop Washington State. Our brand is W4 and our hospitality is legendary.

Mosey your horse to the nearest hitching post and settle in for the night. Sit out under a blanket of stars and contemplate the state of your herds. With wonderful amenities and first class service you'll want to return to visit us time and again. You'll love the grounds and flowers.

40 cabins, rooms and ranch house. Even a bridal suite and a presidential suite (For President Teddy Roosevelt that is.) There is a nice pool, volley ball and basketball court and, of course, horse shoe pits.

VITTLES COWBOY CAFÉ:
You can eat breakfast, lunch and dinner at our Vittles Cowboy Café, the valley's favorite stop in any time, bar and grill. Or stay up late at our popular Vittles Bar where we often have live music on weekends. We offer both kinds of music Country and Western. (OK, we do throw in a little Rock and Roll and R&V every now and then.)

VIRGINIAN SPA:
The Virginian Resort even has a spa and salon on site that offers hair care, massage and sun beds. The quality rivals that you can find in any big city from a big time and far more expensive salon.

CAMP FIRES:
Best of all, in the summer we offer summer time campfires on weekends with real live singing cowboys (or cowgals). The marshmellows are free. But BYOS (Bring Your Own Sticks)

CAMP WINTHROP:
Spring, Summer and Fall families flock to the Virginian for the Sunday through Thursday Camp Winthrop festivities. Ranch type rooms, meals in the Cowboy Café and just about every Wild West activity you can imagine. Horseback riding, fishing, black smithing, crafts and those famous nightly campfires.

WINTHROP WEDDINGS:
The Virginian is a perfect place for a high class wedding or a horse back nuptials. If you must tie the knot this is where we know how to tie them. Catering, ministers or officials, flowers, salon services and of course surprisingly sophisticated catering from Vittles Café. Our event coordinator is your host and handles all the details.

FREE OUTDOOR MOVIES:
It's bound to be a tradition. Classic and modern movies under the stars on a giant screen right on our giant South lawn. Plenty of free popcorn heavy on the butter. Movies are held on Friday nights and open to the public.

HISTORY:
In the fall of 1891, New Englander Guy Waring and his family came to the remote Methow Valley to sell supplies to miners and a few farmers who homesteaded in the area. His family pitched a tent at the forks of the Methow and Chewuch Rivers, while Waring established Winthrop's first retail business and successfully insured the future site of the town.

On March 1, 1893, Waring's general store caught fire and burned to the ground. Heavily in debt, he left the valley to return three years later, in 1896, with funds to start over. Waring promised to build his wife a proper house if she would accompany him.

Owen Wister, a Harvard classmate, was a houseguest in the Waring's new home, presently the Shafer Museum. Wister was later to write "The Virginian," often praised as the first true western novel. Characters and events were drawn from life stories told by Methow Valley miners and homesteaders.

The town was eventually named after the Colonial Governor John Winthrop of Massachusetts. But over the years it has evolved into anything but back East. Now known as Wild West Winthrop Washington, the entire valley is full of wild west scenery, outdoor activities and good old boot slapping fun.

 

About Methow Valley

The scenic Methow Valley is a land of constant wonder. Thick forests of lush evergreens cover the nearby lower slopes of the towering Cascade Mountain Range. Once you enter the valley, the forest melts away and is replaced by picture-perfect meadows surrounded by rolling hills covered with purple sage and scattered pines. Tall cottonwood trees form a canopy over the sleepy Methow River.

In recent years the valley has become a favorite with river rafters, mountain bikers and cross-country skiers. The valley offers excellent accommodations and gourmet restaurants as well a relaxed country atmosphere traditionally to the true West.

At the heart of the Winthrop area is the Virginian Resorts and Vittles Cowboy Café managed by Sunspot Resorts of Seattle.

HISTORY
The valley was originally the homeland of Native Americans. The first white settlers came in the 1880s, lured there by rumors gold in the valley’s streams and hills. The town itself was founded in 1891 by Guy Waring from the east coast, who opened the Methow Trading Company.

A devastating fire in 1893 nearly destroyed the small frontier town. Waring was forced to seek additional financial backing from eastern bankers. When he returned in 1897, Waring incorporated the town and named it in honor of John Winthrop, the famed colonial governor of Massachusetts. Waring stayed in business for nearly half a century and, at one time, owned nearly every building on the main street of Winthrop, excluding the town hall.

THE VIRGINIAN NOVELS
One of Waring's old Harvard classmates, Owen Wister, came west to visit him. Later he would incorporate his friend's western experiences in his famous novel, THE VIRGINIAN. Many considered his book to be the first true novel about the West. After the failure of gold mining in the area, the valley seemed headed toward oblivion. Lumber and ranching offer the only regional employment available. Even the resourceful Guy Waring went bankrupt and had to return east.

END OF THE ROAD
For the next several decades the Methow Valley became the hidden treasure of the Northwest, often enjoyed only by local residents. But in the late 1960’s the scenic North Cascades Highway was completed. Inspired by the successful transformation of the nearby community of Leavenworth, the citizens of Winthrop began looking for a way to let the world known about the marvels of the Methow Valley.

A local community leader, Kathryn Wagner, offered to match all development funds. Working together with leading western architects, the Valley dusted off its old western heritage and got ready for guests. By the time the first cars crossed Washington Pass in 1972, the valley was ready to share the best of the West with their long awaited visitors.

Today the Methow Valley continues this tradition and will greet you with a "Howdy! Glad to see ya!" From tasty dinners to locally brewed beer and wine, the Methow Valley is an experience of how the true west really was, and still is today! As the locals like to say, "In the Methow Valley our cowboys are really real."

 

About Washington

The Evergreen State lives up to its name. In Western Washington vast forest once covered most everything and even today new visitors are sometimes stunned by the ever present green that can be found in the forests of course, but also in the vegetation that seems to spring up everywhere.

Much maligned as a rainy place, most areas of the state such as Seattle actually get less rain than New York City, Chicago and Florida. And in Eastern Washington vast stretches of high plateau and vast agricultural areas are actually hot and bright in summer and have a great many days of sun even in winter.

THE COAST:
Washington also has some of the most diverse coastal areas in the U.S. To the Southwest, the Long Beach Peninsula is the longest beach in the world and visitors can even drive their cars right out on the sand. There they'll find color kiting, legions of shore birds and a brisk ocean environment.

Further up the cost are Willapa and Grays Harbors home to forest industries, fishing fleets and moderate year round climates. From Seattle and the larger cities, visitors flock to both Harbors during the spring, summer and fall. Many come for fishing, claming and beach front activities.

Still further North is the vast Olympic Peninsula where beaches rise steadily to numerous snow capped summits including Mount Olympus, the Hoh rain forest and the rain showed Sequim recreational areas. The Peninsula is also home to numerous low land lakes where spring fishing gives way to summer water skiing and other great fresh water fun.

PUGET SOUND:
Tucked between the Olympic Mountains to the West and the metropolitan areas of Seattle, Tacoma and Everett to the East is a vast salt water estuary known as Puget Sound. It is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the pristine Straight of Juan De Fuca. State ferries and the engineering marvels of floating bridges, allow visitors to move around "the Sound" with ease. The Sound has been reshaped by the scouring action and till deposition which extended as far south as Olympia.

SAN JUAN ISLANDS:
At the Northern edge of Puget Sound lies a cluster of spectacular rocky islands known and the San Juan’s. A ferry or float plane is required to access the islands but worth the trip.

SOUND CITIES:
Almost dead center on the East coast of Puget Sound lays the large city of Seattle and its cross lake cousin Bellevue. Home to big industries such as Boeing, Microsoft and Starbucks Coffee the cities of Puget Sound offer much to visitors. There are restaurants, tours and places to visit such as the Pike Place farmers market. Professional spots teams and major arts organizations including Opera, Ballet and many Live Theatres provide things to do on every night of the year.

CASCADE MOUNTAINS:
Running North-South and splitting the state in half are the Cascade Mountains. Sometimes forgotten in comparison to the Montana, Idaho and Colorado Rocky mountains, the Cascades are vast and sheer. Mt Saint Helens eruption in 1980 brought attention to the area but there are a dozen other major mountain climbing areas including Mt. Rainer and Mt Badams. All are within easy driving distance of major cities and international airports.

At the Northern End of Washington State's Cascades is Mt. Baker, birthplace of snow boarding and still one of the snowiest ski areas in the world. Just to the south is the North Cascades Wilderness area which boasts one of America's most scenic roads. So precipitous, in fact, that it closes in winter due to immense snow falls.

EASTERN WASHINGTON:
From the Eastern Slopes of the Cascades spreads the sprawling areas of Eastern Washington. On the south it is bordered by the Columbia River gorge how to numerous dams and world famous wind surfing. Above that lay the deep rich fields and wine grape vineyards of the Yakima Valley which compares in longitude and composition of renowned French growing areas.

The Columbia river flows north through the middle of Eastern Washington State where dams have created long and winding lakes surrounded by campgrounds and recreational areas. North Central Washington is home to the Replica Bavarian Village of Leavenworth which boasts over four million visitors per year, as well as to Lake Chelan a 50 mile long natural lake one of the cleanest in the United States. Its gorge - if it were emptied of water - would be deeper than the Grand Canyon. North of that can be found the Wild West town of Winthrop Washington where real live cowboys ride the ranges during hot summers and frigid white winters.

On the border shared with Idaho and about central North to South, lays the Inland Empire city of Spokane headquarters to industry and agricultural activities. To the south likes the Palouse region known as the bread basket of the world because it produces more grain per acre than anywhere else.

In short, the Evergreen state is a very diverse place full of recreational activities like boating, fishing, water sports, professional sports arenas, high class arts organizations and so much to do you'll need a month just to begin to see much of it.