Hi my name is Dan Gray, back in the early 60s when my wife Karen was young, her family broke ground on this property with the hope of building a working ranch that they could retire on some day. They traveled 100 miles every weekend to Newberry Springs to work on the ranch. Friends and family would camp while they drilled the wells, stretched fences, planted trees and constructed the buildings. They dug a four acre lake to serve as a reservoir and planted 40 acres with alfalfa. Karen tells me these stories with so much pride that I feel good just to be a part of this continuing effort. Later that decade her father lost his life in a horrible accident working with the hay wagon. The family worked very hard keeping the ranch in production, Karen's mom and her brother juggled running the ranch and going on with their own family lives. When I met Karen in the 80s we would use this place for weekend get-aways fishing, off-roading, windsurfing and mainly just for fun. After we married and started building our family and home of our own, the fun budget got swallowed up by the cost of living. Cherished trips to the ranch got more infrequent and neglected maintenance started to take its toll. It was suggested that in order to keep the ranch in the family it needed to be worked. Knowing Karen was itching to get out of the city the decision to move was a "no brainier" I sold our house and then I surprised her with "we are moving". WHAT?, Where? she asked. Thank god I had the right answer, "The ranch".
Although we were excited to be here it was soon apparent we bit off way more than our budget would support. Raising our children was priority and most of our income went to just survival. With equipment and labor expenses out of our range the farming just wasn't feasible. After a few years the clay lining that sealed the lake had eroded and we had to dry it up, with no water this desert is a really uncomfortable. We would look around at what we had left (a lot of property that needed a whole lot of maintenance), yet we still held on to the dream of what it could be. Before the kids got too old and moved out we were determined to reseal the clay and fill the lake. it took a few years and lots of sacrifice, but I'm happy to say we did it. In 2002 we dug it out deeper resealed it and in 2003 we started filling the lake and stocking the fish.

Full name:
Email address:
Comment or question:
What is the best way to contact you?	By email By phone
If by phone, what is the best time of day to get in touch with you?