After over a month of problems trying to get internet access, then catching up with friends and clients via email, then travelling to LA and back again, here I am, in my new home, in Colorado.
“What a long, strange trip it’s been…”
I have had to settle for dial-up while living in my temporary home in this condo overlooking a valley, surrounded by hills and mountains. “Unserviceable” is what they call me in the high-speed world. This whill change when we buy our own place in a more accessible area. So photos may be few in the meantime. It takes forever to upload them.
But I have so many to share!
The Colorado Rockies are, in a word, breathtaking. The more I live with them, in them, the more I love them. The hills are alive. Mule deer prance around our condo every night. Coyotes sing songs to one another. Porcepines move unexpectedly across the road like tumbleweed. Hares, larger than Maggie, startle me as they leave their holes at dusk. Geese, ducks, comorants and herons pass through on their southern migration, stopping at the wetlands down the road. Mountain bluebirds flit here and there, catching the last of the summer’s insects.
In just 6 weeks I have witnessed several changes of season… it was late summer upon my arrival. Within 2 weeks the aspens began to turn golden and the air chilled. Then one night, the frost came and covered the valleys with sparkling glitter. Within another week or so came our first snow of the season. It was light and melted quickly, but left the mountain peaks pristine white. No sooner did it melt that it snowed again, this time for 2 days. Denver got the brunt of it, and some mountain resorts received more than 18 inches. Our resort got about 12, and our condo no more than 4.
The weather here is unpredictable, no matter how hard they try. We are situated just west of the Contiental Divide, where jet streams get caught, build up pressure, release with a fury or dissapate quietly. Usually in stark contradiction to what the weather channel forecasts. The local stations don’t even bother, they stick to Denver. “The mountains may get snow or rain or sunshine” is usually all they predict.
It is kind of nice not knowing what the weather will be. I like the surprise. The key is just to be prepared. Always have a jacket in the car.
Cars. We started out with one, to keep our expenses to a minimum. Then it broke down one day, and we were struck with the reality that one car would just not be enough. I drove in the cab of the tow truck for 3 hours while the car was towed to the nearest dealership, 90 miles away. I got to know a lot about my new home from Bob, the tow truck driver, a Grand County local for over 35 years. I wouldn’t doubt that he told a lot of tall tales. He was quite colorful. I know his whole life story.
So that was a lesson learned… nothing is easy in Grand County. I ended up driving to Boulder 3 more times in 2 weeks not only for the car, but also to buy some shoes for a wedding, and to have my hair cut and colored. They don’t sell wedding shoes up here. Just boots–for hiking, skiing and riding horses.
Yes so we now have 2 cars again, our newest being a Jeep Wrangler–ideal for off-roading, driving through the mountains with the top off in summer, and of course plowing through 3 feet of snowfall in winter. Our other car just doesn’t have the clearance for deep drifts.
Well, today I’m going to take the low-clearance car to see one of dozens of condos for sale in our target area: Fraser and Winter Park. I can’t wait to move closer to the action. Where we are now, in Granby, is a half hour ride from the action. The skiing, the restaurants, the social life, the galleries. I am rather alone here during the day.
So wish me luck with this one… it just came on the market and it looks promising from the photos. Others we’ve seen are too small, too dirty and old, or too expensive. This one might be just right. Oh I hope so.
