By Brian E. Clark Special To Channel 3000

ROTHBURY, Mich. -- A dude ranch in the Upper Midwest?

Dang tootin', pardner. And a mighty nice one, too.

With more than 130 horses, a passel of wranglers, some 70 head of cattle, a few big bulls, a couple of rodeo arenas and a faux Western town, the Double JJ does a good job of making guests feel as if they are in Colorado, Montana or Wyoming –- minus the mountains of course.

Situated less than 10 miles from the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, the lodging options include cabins, a campground and condos set along the 18-hole Thoroughbred golf course, which is also part of the sprawling resort.

(Now under construction is a $40 million, 60,000-square-foot waterpark and conference center. But that's another story.)

Once known as the Jack & Jill Ranch (check this out), the resort has been drawing city slickers from around the Midwest and beyond for nearly seven decades. For those who love horses -- but don’t want to make a long trip to the West, the Double JJ is an attractive option.

Even more so for my wife and I -- plus our 4-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter -- because we live in Madison and love big ferry boats. This adventure meant a voyage on the S.S. Badger, a 410-foot-long ship that sails between Manitowoc and Ludington and has been plying the waters of the Great Lakes for more than five decades.

We boarded the Badger on a Thursday afternoon and spent four hours cruising across Lake Michigan, watching sailboats, playing bingo, napping in our cabin, and relaxing on the expansive foredeck.

Once we docked on the far side of the lake, it was a short 30-minute drive south on Highway 31 to the ranch. We knew we were close when we saw the barns and stables and scores of horses. Soon we were settling in to our small, rustic log cabin in the Back 40 section of the ranch for a pleasant night's sleep.

Up early the next morning, we headed for breakfast of flapjacks, bacon, coffee, juice, milk, fruit and more in the Dance Hall. Then it was time for our daughter's first riding lesson.

She was pleased as punch that she got to ride a "real" horse, not just a small pony like she had been on before. She even got to train with four big girls, which made her feel even more grown up.

Her brother was too small for a regular class, but he still got to sit on a horse and be lead around a small arena by the barn by his mother and father. His feet were far from the regular stirrups, but he didn't mind a bit.

Once Maddie's lesson was over, we headed for the petting zoo on the side of the big red barn to see the goats, chickens and other critters. Truth be told, they enjoyed playing with these animal as much as they did their time on the horses.

Then, it was off to the ranch’s outdoor waterpark, where they slipped and slid on tubes, played with jets of water and walked on wobbly logs in an attempt to cross from one side of a pool to another.

That afternoon, Maddie -- our resident animal lover -- got to pet and play with the ranch's sled dogs and learn a bit about their care from their handlers. Both of them loved the craft barn, where they got to paint rocks and work on other projects.

By supper, 4-year-old Anders was beat. So Maddie and I left him with his mom and hopped on a hay wagon for a two-mile ride to the ranch's big rodeo arena where we saw bronc and bull riding, steer roping and barrel racing, among other events.

But the best part for the youngsters was chasing down calves and plucking off the ribbons that adorned them. Fortunately, no children were run over, though a few ended up thoroughly covered with dust and dirt.

The next day -- after Maddie had another riding lesson -- we took a break from the ranch and drove to the coast to spend a few hours on the beach just south of Silver Lake State Park. We buried the kids up to their necks in the sand, chased sea gulls, waded in the lake and built sand castles.

We also climbed to the top of the 100-foot-tall, 133-year-old Little Point Sable Lighthouse for stunning views of the surrounding landscape.

On the way back to the ranch, we stopped for summer fruits and berries, pastries and a tour of Cherry Point Farm and Market, which featured a labyrinth and arbor filled with herbs and surrounded by fields of lavender.

But we weren’t done with the ranch just yet. Back at the Double JJ, we caught most of the Saturday night Wild West show, which featured fancy riding, colorful wagons, rope tricks, music and no small amount of flag waving.

Wally Wojack, a spry 79-year-old who owns a third of the Double JJ along with Bob and Joan Lipsitz, wouldn't have it any other way.

Wojack, who traded his company tie for cowboy duds in 1992, has been coming to the ranch since 1950 when he was still in college.

"I fell in love with the place and ended up working as a wrangler the summers of 1952-54," he said. "I thought I'd be a cowboy the rest of my life."

But Wojack's business career got in the way and although he spent nearly all of his vacations at the ranch, he didn't get to indulge his fantasy full-time until 42 years after he first saw the spread.

With Wojack’s money -- he sold his Cleveland power transformer business for a bundle -- the ranch has expanded the offerings on the property's 2,000 acres to include an Arthur Hill-designed golf course with its pleasant Sundance restaurant, fancy new condos and the soon-to-be-opened indoor water park.

"Coming here changed my life," said Wojack. "And I still get a kick out of taking folks -- young and old -- out on cattle drives, teach them how to handle a horse and tell them about the history of the cowboy.

"In my mind, it doesn't get much better than that," he said.

For details on the Double JJ, call (800) 368-2535 or go to the ranch Web site at http://www.doublejj.com/ . For details on the S.S. Badger, call (800) 841-4243 or look up http://www.ssbadger.com/. The Cherry Point Farm and Market’s Web site is http://www.cherrypointmarket.net/.