Cabiny Cabin, Snowshoe and Skiing

We reserved this little cabin for three nights starting the day after Christmas. It was one of several cabins at Sagewood Cabins between Buena Vista and Leadville in Colorado. It was small and cozy with the basic amenities. There was no television (we don't pay for television stations at our home anyway) or radio. We did bring our portable DVD player and some movies to watch. We also had lots of reading material.

Two quaintly decorated guest journals by the bed also made for interesting reading. The entries appeared to start back in 1997 and many of the guests were repeat visitors. Some pages were filled with the large, awkward handwriting of children and others where a lonely writer seemed to spill out their heart. There were some hand drawn pictures. One entry in particular caught my eye. It was one written more recently in a frail hand. It stated that although the writer and his wife had visited several times in the past, that this would be their last visit. They were in their 90's and felt unable to continue making the journey. The last line said "our next meeting will take place in heaven".

*****************************

The snow was smooth and pristine except for the path we followed and the occasional animal track. According to a passing cross country skier, it was a 3 mile loop that wound through a beautiful forest, slightly uphill and then back down. After about an hour and a half, we started to become somewhat nervous as we figured we should have finished the loop. It's a strange feeling to think that maybe you might have accidentally gotten off onto a longer side path and might not make it back before it got very dark and cold. I thought about people I'd read about who were not prepared for a night in the elements and I fought off little flickers of fear. "Just keep going", Merle said. The path was still well trod and the blue diamond metal tags nailed to the occasional pine tree told us we were still on an official path. After what seemed like a very long time, we suddenly came upon the bottom of the loop. The parking lot was just around a little bend and we made our way quickly to the car, back to the cabin, to soup and sandwiches and Indiana Jones - Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Lesson learned: Never go anywhere without a map, take emergency gear along in case you have to spend the night.

*****************************

Riding the ski lift is a very peaceful experience. It's very quiet. We glided smoothly by the snow clad trees and watched the skiers and snowboarders sliding silently by. This was our first ski outing in a couple of years and we were just a tad bit apprehensive about how well we would ski. Merle was fine and so was I, other than getting off of the chair lift for the first couple of times. We managed to stay on our skis, upright and mobile for the entire time. It was lots of fun. We had never skied at Ski Cooper before and were very pleased - especially with the prices. Most ski resorts charge about $70+ per day to ski per person. This little ski resort was much smaller and less crowded and only charged $38/day. It's still a lot of money for most of us, but at least it could be considered somewhat affordable. Whatever the case, it was very enjoyable and we wish it wasn't so far from where we live so we could go there more often.

Here are a couple of pictures from the cabin in closing.

Shadow of an angel

Frosted windowpanes

Crazy Christmas

OK. Does this give you an idea of our Christmas festivities today? This is Grandma modeling one of the finer White Elephant gifts that included a naked cherub pottery statue, a sexy bedroom game (well used from my wildest and funniest sister), toilet paper rolls, a remote controlled monster truck and other "stuff".
This is a loud family. It also doesn't help that 21 people were stuffed into a too small family room either. We ate, we white elephant gifted, we all talked a once, we watched the only baby aged child balance precariously on the glass topped table until Uncle Merle felt compelled to intervene, the women discussed childbirth topics in some detail leaving little to the imagination and then everyone left in stages. Quietness reigned and it was good. Here are two of my nieces, who early on discovered our big bed and decided to snuggle down.
I think everyone had a fairly good time although I think we would all agree that more space would have been better. Oh well, it was a good effort.My youngest sister gave each of the other women (including yours truly) the coolest presents. They are called Envirosax.
I got three of them in great colors and intend to use them for all shopping purposes including groceries. They come in sets of 4 and each rolls up to a small size and a snap holds it closed. They fit in your purse and when you are shopping, you just pop however many you need out and use them. What a superb product.
Christmas is over now and I always feel a sort of relief that some of the holiday expectations are ended. I know Christmas is supposed to be a time of joy and good cheer, but for many years now, it has been just OK. I think that probably if we would forgo with the expensive gift giving and use the money to help those in need, we would feel much better. I think that Merle and I may want to think about some changes for next year.

CHRISTMAS EVE

It's been an on (running around working) and off (laying on the couch under a fuzzy blanket) busy day today as we prepare for a family gathering tomorrow here at our home. The forecast (at NOAA, my webby weather guru) is telling me that there will be some new snow on the ground in the morning with a little bit more possible until around noon, a total accumulation of maybe one inch. Merle has been itching to get his new mongo snow blower cranked up again. It's just a wonderful piece of pricey machinery. No effort in getting lots of snow out of the way. I even took it upon myself to use it one day and have to say, I enjoyed it very much. Our driveway is long and at one point goes downhill. The self propelled snow eater just moved itself along, downhill and up and spat out the snow in neat rows along each side of the pavement. It even has an optional electric starter. No more pulling your arm out of it's socket trying to crank the engine manually. Just push the button and it comes to life.

Anyway, back to Christmas. The originally planned "simple" Christmas celebration has turned into something bigger although I am going to try to keep it from getting to it's usual level of frenzy. One effort was to try and simplify the food and so our main dish will be my version of English Cottage Pie. This is a very basic food that is not particularly exciting, but should accommodate the less tolerant palates. My rendition consists of cooked beef chunks that are very tender in a savory gravy with or without peas and carrots topped with mashed potatoes that are slightly browned before serving. The recipes on the web all say to use ground beef, but as stated, I made a couple of changes. No turkey, no ham, no Roast Beast this Christmas. Everyone is bringing a dish or dessert so there will be plenty of food.

WHITE ELEPHANTS

.....as in White Elephant Gift Exchange, a potential for lots of fun. We did this a couple of years ago and everyone really enjoyed it. Merle and I, along with the daughter and son-in-law scrounged around the cabinets here looking for our gift contributions. We found 3 suitable items and the 4th is still being found by the kids somewhere at their place of abode. An old, but hardly used stadium seat, a remote controlled monster truck I gave Merle a few years ago for who knows what reason and a really ugly rug checker board with giant checkers. I believe the last item was purchased during one of our basically non-existent visits to the chain restaurant know as the Cracker Barrel. It is a restaurant for high cholesterol junkies - those people who have high cholesterol, but cannot help themselves when it comes to biscuits and gravy, fried chicken tenderloin, country fried shrimp or chicken fried chicken (it is on the menu). So, I think we've been there once. They have a gift shop filled with resin figurines, gingham stuff, silly signs to post and offend your friends and lots of other garage sale fodder including giant rug checkerboards with giant checkers. There is no question that the food tastes good in a totally disgusting sort of way, but I can't get past the fat grams, thank you very much.

More news to follow after the big event tomorrow.

I hope no one gets hurt tomorrow fighting over who gets that stadium seat - we have some serious sports fans in the crowd................

Christmas and Winter things.

CHRISTMAS LIGHTS
Last evening, we went on a Christmas lights viewing drive with my sister, her husband and their son. I hadn't done that for several Christmases and we saw some beautiful lights. My favs are the ones in the bare branched trees and I should have gotten some pictures, but we couldn't stop all of the time. The grand finale of the tour found us at the Greeley Grizwold's house. It was amazing. All of the lights were synchronized to music that you could listen to when you tuned into a special radio station. We sat there for several minutes watching the house morph to the music.

Here's a video - you can't hear the music so it's not particularly effective, but use your imagination. The link to their website above has some pictures and videos, but I couldn't get the videos to work - maybe you can.

SNOW HIKING
I've been out quite a lot over the past couple of weeks. I think this is one of my favorite times to hike. If you have the right equipment, winter hiking can be so refreshing. I have learned what layers to wear, I have good waterproof hiking boots, better than average gators and my Stabilicers. Here's what they look like on my feet.

They are fantastic for anytime you want to walk in snow that is not very deep and have good traction - uphill and down. For deeper snow I have snowshoes.

I enjoyed a warm, sunny, peaceful hike at Bobcat Ridge. It's one of my regular hiking spots except when it's really hot in the summer. It's fairly close and has lots of variety. I sat on a rock on a hillside and ate my snack of sliced apples that I dipped in a little container of my favorite peanut butter from Whole Foods - 365 Organic Value Brand. It is a great value, it's natural and it's delicious. On the way back to the trail head, I came across this snow angel by the trail.

That's all for now. There's a meatloaf calling to me from the kitchen - no, not my husband, a real meatloaf, like the kind you have with mashed potatoes and peas.

HI HO - HI HO HO HO...........

This is me driving to work. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT attempt to do this yourself. Although I was looking ahead with one hand firmly on the steering wheel and only moving the camera, it was probably not that safe and no doubt, illegal. However, I was moved to share with you part of my pleasant drive to my part time job along the back roads next to the foothills that eventually turn into the big Rocky Mountains. (I do believe that is the Nutcracker Suite I'm hearing in the background.)


We feel very fortunate to live in a beautiful area that is so close to the mountains. Within a 30 minute drive, we can be in Estes Park for a quick Starbucks and then another half an hour and we can be at 12,000+ feet in elevation over Trail Ridge Road. In the summer an alternative one way road to the top of Trail Ridge is called Fall River Road. It is open from about late May until maybe mid September, depending upon the weather. It's a dirt road that winds upward through the forest until you are above tree line or timberline. Before it opened early one spring, I hiked down it part way with a friend. There was still some snow, as you can see by this picture.

Yes, I am wearing shorts. I'm one of those Colorado people who sometimes even wears shorts in the winter. I've found that if the rest of me is covered, my legs don't get very cold, especially if there is strenuous hiking involved. On this same hike, after we were returning to the top, we found ourselves hiking the clouds.

CAMPING FEVER! I had to go out and get into the camper today to put something away. When I opened the door and went inside, I had this overwhelming urge to crank up the heater and sit around in there for awhile. The smell inside still had a slight hint of campfire. I was remembering how cozy it was to sit in the camper when it was raining or how, on those sunny, summer days of vacation, I could open the windows and gaze out at Devil's Tower in Wyoming or the desert in Moab. Winter has only just started, so it will be awhile before we can plan on camping................... I can dream, though.
Aloha, Baby!