The Rolling Hills: Lisa & Whitney visit and our wrap up at Snow Mountain Ranch

Wednesday,August 27

My niece, Whitney, came for a visit and we drove to Denver to pick her up at the airport, a 2 hour one way drive. On Thursday we took Whitney to Rocky Mountain National Park, where Whitney and I walked to “the top of the mountain”, 12000 feet.

We stopped at Grand Lake for dinner and dined at this wonderful little bistro called O-A Bistro. There was a single man sitting next to us and he overheard us talking about the wines and cheeses. He made a few recommendations and we invited him to join us. His name was Michael Thomas and he was chef at a local resort. We had a most enjoyable dining experience and of course I had my picture taken with the owner, Christina Pedersen.

Christina Pedersen owner of O-A Bistro

Michael the chef in center

Friday, August 29

Whitney and I drove to Denver to shop a little and to pickup Lisa at the airport. Whitney met a friend there and went off with her friend to spend the weekend in Fort Collins. Lisa’s flight got in on time, but her luggage didn’t. After waiting around to file the claim, she and I headed back to Granby.

Saturday, August 30

I showed Lisa around the Rawley Homestead, where I was an interpreter and then we went into the “big town” of Granby. We hiked a little around Snow Mountain Ranch and just enjoyed each other’s company.

Sunday, August 31

Lisa and I went to Rocky Mountain National Park and walked to the top. That day it was really cold. The temperature was 37 degrees with winds of 20 to 30 miles an hour, making the wind chill in the 20’s. After leaving the Alpine Visitor’s center we drove through the park to Estes Park. There we happened upon a street festival. Unfortunately, we got there too late to take it in. We shopped a bit and wandered around, found a river walk and while strolling came upon an outdoor venue with a young fellow playing music. We had dinner at Mama Rosa’s restaurant sitting on the balcony, while enjoying the music. We tried to come up with a way to not go back through the national park to get back to Granby. Lisa thought she had found a way. Just to be sure we knew which way to go we asked the manager of the restaurant and thank goodness we did. The alternate route would have taken us four hours to get back to camp, due to the roads having been flooded out last year and still not repaired. We got back home safely around midnight.

Whitney,Lisa & Glo @ Red Rock

Monday, Sept 1

We headed into Denver once again to pickup Whitney and take in the street festival, “Taste of Colorado”. We all had a great time and headed back to Granby around 1:00pm. Having left Denver a couple hours ahead of schedule we decide to take in Red Rocks Amphitheatre.

“Red Rocks Amphitheatre is a rock structure near Morrison, Colorado, 10 miles west of Denver, where concerts are given in the open-air amphitheatre.”

The first concert there was in 1910. What a magnificent place for a concert. The park was beautiful. It was a quick visit, due to our having been invited to enjoy marshmallows by the fire with our neighbors who wanted to meet Lisa & Whitney. We got back in time for a quick bite to eat before joining our neighbors for a farewell fire.

Carolyn, Don & Kiwi Sparks

Carolyn & Don Sparks and Linda & Buzz Clarke will be friends we’ll remember for sometime.

Linda, Buzz & Suzi Clarke

Tuesday, September 2

This was the last day Lisa & Whitney were to be with us. T chose to work, so the three of us

Whitney,Glo & Lisa @ Cascade Falls

decided to hike Monarch lake. We got started a little late but had plenty of time to do a 4.4 mile hike around the lake. We had wanted to hike to the Cascade Falls, but the ranger said it was 9 miles round trip. So we decided we didn’t have time to hike to the falls and be off the mountain before dark. We enjoyed wandering and taking pictures, chatting and seeing the scenery. We were enjoying ourselves so much that we missed the sign that would have pointed us around the lake and ended up hiking to the falls. We kept going thinking we would eventually get back to the lake. We even a stopped and asked some campers. We finally realized we were hiking up the mountain, not down, so we turned around and headed back. All the while thinking, “It is getting dark and it will be cold on this mountain after dark.” We had no cell phone coverage, so we couldn’t call T and let him know what was happening. We kept hiking and hiking and hiking. We finally got off the mountain at 7:00 pm. We’d been hiking since 1:20. What an adventure.

Lisa & Whitney @ Monarch Lake

The three of us almost to the top.

Whitney & Lisa loved being outdoors

We called T to tell him where we were and that we were going to dinner at A-O Bistro.

We had a wonderful meal and recovered from our adventure. After resting for awhile we got up to go and could hardly walk. Our muscle were so tired.

The next day, Lisa & Whitney left for home. What a delightful visit we had, one we won’t soon forget.

Snow Mountain Wrap Up

As I always do, I want to recap and add a few pictures of our stay at Snow Mountain Ranch. We had a great time in Colorado. My job as an Interpretive Guide at the Fred Rawley Homestead gave me the opportunity to learn about the Homestead Act and about the hardships of homesteading. I then got to share my knowledge with people who came from all over the world to see the homestead that was founded in 1919 with all of the original buildings still standing.

I met an old codger, named Dusty, who was the chuck wagon cook. Dusty prepared a Cowboy breakfast almost every morning and I often shared coffee with him.

The views around Snow Mountain were magnificent and we got to see them everyday. Though we were ready to leave when the time came, we had a great experience during our 2 1/2 months in Colorado.