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".
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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.
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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. .JPG)
Shadow of an angel
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Frosted windowpanes
