Colorado Dreaming

A-Basin is Open

2009-10-09T10:00:00.002-05:00

My other favorite place to ski is now open :) I find the comment about "there will be no beginner skiing" to be quite funny. Is there ever true beginner skiing at A-Basin? The green runs there would be double blacks in the Midwest!!

From the A-Basin website...

Arapahoe Basin Announces Opening Day
Ski Season will begin 10/9/09
10/6/2009

Arapahoe Basin ski area officials announce that its opening day for their 2009-2010 ski season will be Friday, October 9, 2009, the ski area’s earliest opening in history.

The Exhibition chairlift will open to the public at 9:00 a.m. Friday. Skiers and riders can look forward to an 18-inch base on the intermediate High Noon run and six features in the High Divide Terrain Park. There will be no beginner skiing.

A-Basin congratulates Loveland Ski Area for being the first ski area to open in North America when it opens tomorrow. It’s nice to see our neighbor take the crown this year, but we will be back in the race for the 2010-2011 ski season.

Opening Day at Loveland

2009-10-07T10:00:00.000-05:00

So much for "global warming", huh?

From the Loveland website...Loveland Ski Area will be the first ski area in North America to open for the 2009-2010 ski season when Chair 1 starts turning at 9:00am on Wednesday, October 7th. "We took advantage of the cold temperatures and got an early start making snow this year. Those extra days paid off and we are opening a week earlier than last season," said Eric Johnstone, Snowmaking and Trail Maintenance Manager. "Now we can move some equipment to other trails and try to open more terrain as quickly as possible."

Land Map

2009-02-14T09:24:00.001-06:00

View Larger Map

Government Red Tape Part 3

2009-02-09T20:15:00.002-06:00

We received the following response from Costilla County today (note that the poor spelling is theirs, not mine!):

"Your best bet is to contact the Company you purchased this property from and have them straighten it out. I do not have the proper information on any thin on this property."

Huh? If you guys don't know what is going on, how would anyone else? Even if someone took it upon themselves to assign a bogus address at some point, aren't you the gatekeeper? I would think that someone in the County office would have had to been involved in order for the address to wind up on the public record! Maybe they think that we're stupid. I am done beating my head on the wall. If they aren't worried about it, then I won't worry about it.

Citizen or Customer?

2009-02-07T08:30:00.003-06:00

Chicago's Mayor Daley was in the hot seat this week regarding comments he had made to justify privatizing some city services. He had said,

"They’re not customer-related. They’re gonna leave at 5 o’clock. They’re gonna leave at 4:30 or 4. I’m sorry. We’re on a time clock. They walk out. But in the private sector, when you have a customer, you’re gonna stay there making sure they're happy and satisfied. We can't compete with the private sector. The private sector has a complete idea of who your customers are. Government doesn’t have customers. They only have citizens."

It made me think about the poor response that I have received from Costilla County regarding the phantom address I wrote about in my previous posts. I guess that we are even lower on the food chain than a citizen, because although we own property there, we live out of state. Never mind that I just wrote out a check for property taxes.

By the way, we still have not received a response to our January 15th e-mail. The clock is ticking away at 23 days. I sent a follow-up today. Let's see how long it takes to get a response this time!

Government Red Tape Part 2

2009-01-15T19:54:00.001-06:00

The Costilla County saga continues. On January 13, 2009, I sent the same message to the Planning & Zoning office that I had sent to the Assessor.

On January 15, 2009, we received this response:

"According to our plat map this property is located on {deleted} Lane. {deleted} Road does not even exist anywhere on the plat map Unit {deleted}. I have located {deleted} Place on unit {deleted} and the closest matching that address is lot {deleted} that shows vacant land. Question I would have is who assigned your address in {deleted} because they do not match what they should be as we are assigning them. We need allds the information we can get to get this mess straightened out. Many people in {deleted} are giving themselves their own address without checking with us."

We promptly responded on January 15, 2009, with the following:

"I'll tell you everything that I know. We definitely didn't request / assign an address. There is nothing there but vacant land, and we have no plans to build anything there in the immediate future.

We purchased the property in {deleted date} from {deleted entity}. I have all of the tax records since we purchased it, and I do see now that the {deleted year} tax notice (dated {deleted date}...and still listing {deleted entity} as the owner) has the {deleted address} listed as the property location.

We would greatly appreciate any help with straightening this out!"

The question that I have is if someone randomly assigned the address themselves, how in the world did it end up on the official county records if the county had nothing to do with it? Inquiring minds want to know!

Government Red Tape Part 1

2009-01-13T19:43:00.001-06:00

Sent December 30, 2008 to the Costilla County Assessor's Office:

"We have a question regarding a piece of property that we own. The parcel # is {deleted}.

The legal description is {deleted}. The property location is showing up as {deleted} (on the q-Public website). However, based upon the maps that we have (and our previous visits to the property), we thought that it is actually on {deleted}.

Just wondering, since I received a call from a telemarketer today asking about my property on {deleted}. I told them we didn't have any there, and started doing some checking and found this.

Please advise. Thank you."

Response received January 13, 2009:

"I'm not sure about your property location, you might want to contact the Planning and Zoning office. They're actually the ones that assign the physical addresses. Perhaps they can look into it, and correct it if necessary. I can't change anything in my system until they give me the correct address if the correct address is not already on it. Their number is {deleted}."

How is that for customer service? First of all, it took two weeks for a response! A better answer would have been, "I'm not sure, but let me walk across the hall and have somebody look into this for you." We have been to the Costilla County offices. They are about the size of a shoebox, so it's not like it would have been that difficult!

Wish us luck with this one!

Loveland and A-Basin are Open!

2008-10-15T06:01:00.001-05:00

This year, Loveland and A-Basin tied for the Colorado race to opening day!

Closing Day at Arapahoe Basin

2008-06-08T19:33:00.003-05:00

Today was the last day of skiing at Arapahoe Basin. According to the Pali's Pitch report we received yesterday, they have been open an incredible 245 days this season. AMAZING! I had a post on October 10th which said that it was opening day, so that's about right. They received 2 inches of fresh snow last night, and still had the mountain open top to bottom. They expect to open back up for the 2008-2009 season in 18 weeks.

Regretfully, I didn't make it out to Colorado to ski this year. But, Bryon managed to get in about 20 days of skiing out there...not too bad for a Midwest flat-lander :) We'll have to do better next year!!!

Westward Ho!

2008-06-04T18:19:00.000-05:00

We're back from a week of vacation out west...happy and exhausted! We had an awesome trip, and can't wait to go back again :)

Day 1: MDW to ABQ to SLV
Our adventure started out bright and early last Saturday morning. We had a mid-morning flight from Chicago Midway to Albuquerque. We had free airfare vouchers that we needed to use, and we had never traveled that far south into New Mexico. Plus, it is a bit shorter to the San Luis Valley from Albuquerque than it is from Denver. Here is a picture that Bryon took from the plane...

The flight was smooth, but the landing was ROUGH! As soon as the front wheels of the plane touched down, the plane started to shudder and shake. Ceiling panels and trim pieces started falling down, and a few of the oxygen mask panels also came loose. We were a bit shaken up after that, but were glad we had made it safely. We hopped in the rental car, and started our trek up to the San Luis Valley. We bought some groceries, and had dinner at the San Luis Valley Brewing Company in Alamosa, Colorado. We tried the Valle Especial beer, and had the Grilled Shrimp Skewers and Bacon Mushroom Burger for dinner...all very good! Then it was off to relax for the night at a log cabin that we rented.

Day 2: Log Cabin and Land Tours
On Monday, we had appointments to tour two log home models. We want to build within the next few years, and got lots of ideas and learned a lot! We also spent some time driving around Forbes Park, and saw tons of "forest friends". Forbes Park was subdivided back in the 70s by Malcom Forbes (of Forbes Magazine). It is a 30,000+ acre gated subdivision, with only about 50 homes right now. There is no hunting allowed there, so wildlife is abundant. We saw lots of deer and elk all over the place. They would move out of the road, and then stand alongside of the road and stare at us. They would quickly lose interest, and go back to grazing. If we moved the car again, they would stare at us for a few minutes more and then go back to doing their thing. So very cool! We also spent some time exploring the two parcels of land that we have there. We had dinner at All Gon Pizza in Fort Garland. I had the lasagne, and Bryon had the spaghetti and meatballs. Very delicious, huge portions, at a great price!

Day 3: Zapata, Great Sand Dunes, and Sangre de Cristo Ranches
Tuesday was a very busy day. We headed up to Zapata Falls, which we had passed many times but never had visited. It was well worth the quarter of a mile hike uphill! The views were amazing, and the creek was gushing with the fresh icy cold snow melt. Then it was a short trip down the road to the Zapata gated community. We ate lunch at the upper lake, and then wandered around the four parcels of land that we have there. I am dreaming of the day when I can wake up and stitch the day away staring at this...

After that, we headed the short couple of miles to explore the Great Sand Dunes National Park.

We had visited there before, but had never explored the dunes up close. Medano Creek was flowing, and we ditched our shoes in the car and waded through the creek to the dunes. It is only a few inches deep, and was a refreshing walk.

The dunes themselves are amazing up close. You can see a few people on them if you look closely at the picture below. There were many people snowboarding or sledding down the dunes. In fact, that was named as one of the best things to do with kids on this list (it is #47)! We didn't have any equipment along to try it ourselves, but will definitely check that out next time! It was quite windy, which made the trek back to the car a bit challenging. We quickly reminded ourselves that it was this act of nature that formed these incredible dunes in the first place :)

We also wandered around Sangre de Cristo Ranches for a bit and checked out our three parcels of land there. They are all 5 acres +, and a bit different than the rest. Lots of sagebrush and sand, but no restrictions and so pretty!

We were exhausted by the end of the day, and wandered back to the cabin. Without any city lights, the sky was incredible! It was a clear night, and we felt like we were in a planetarium, since even the dimmest stars were sparkling!

Day 4: A Day of Rest, and Wild Mustang
We decided to rest most of the day on Wednesday. We had an incredible day just hanging out at the cabin. Late in the day, we decided to wander out to Fort Garland. We went on a tour of the museum (it was okay), and had a wonderful dinner at the new Silver Sage Steakhouse in Fort Garland. We also checked out our 35 acres in Wild Mustang...it is a bit rustic, with no power in sight...but the views were absolutely incredible...

On the way back into Forbes Park for the night, we saw tons of wildlife...9 deer, a mountain lion, and 11 elk!

Day 5: The High Road to Taos
On Thursday, we said goodbye to the San Luis Valley. We headed out towards Taos, New Mexico, and made a stop at the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. We had been there before, but wanted to see it again.

I bought a really cool necklace from one of the vendors at the bridge.

Then, we took the "high road to Taos"...which ran almost all of the way to Santa Fe. There were tons of little villages along the way which were very cool. Highlights along the way were a stop at Santuario de Chimayo, and shopping for textiles in Chimayo. We had lunch on the Santuario grounds at Leona's, which was awesome!

Day 6: Santa Fe
On the way into Santa Fe, New Mexico, we passed Camel Rock. We noticed that there was a flea market on the weekends, so we decided to check it out. Awesome find! It was not your traditional flea market...there were incredible jewelry, textile, and other southwestern treasures waiting to be discovered! Here are a couple of the pretties that I picked up...only $20 for the choker, and $23 for the bracelet and earrings....

We also checked out "The Plaza" and the "Palace of the Governors". For a capital city, this one was certainly very low-key and easy to get around in. We had a great time!

I also picked up a pretty rhodochrosite necklace at one of the shops downtown...

We had dinner at the Santa Fe Brewing Company. The food was very good, but it was a bit out on the outskirts of town (but luckily not too far from the hotel).

We had fun perusing the local real estate listings for Santa Fe. 5 acre lots with views of the Sangre de Cristo mountains were astronomically higher than the same lots (with much better views!) a bit farther north in the San Luis Valley.

Day 7: Albuquerque
Finally, on to Albuquerque, New Mexico! We checked out "old town" and found an incredible amount of shopping. We had lunch at the Church Street Cafe. It didn't look like much from the street, but we had a recommendation from one of the shopowners in Old Town. The place was huge...and busy...and had a wonderful back shaded courtyard. The best (and only!) jewelry finds of the day...amethyst, turquoise, and black onyx...

Day 8: Home Again
On Sunday, we had to leave this beautiful part of the world. The flight home was uneventful, and from the time we woke up until the time we arrived home was a short 7 hours!

If you have stuck through all of this, kudos to you! We loved our adventure, and hope to go back there soon :)

Arapahoe Basin from Space

2008-03-28T18:12:00.002-05:00

How cool is this? It is Arapahoe Basin, as seen from space. And, it is hanging on our living room wall. When I took the pic, it was in need of hanging wire but that situation has been remedied now :) It was a gift from our friends this past Christmas. It is so amazingly beautiful, and one of our favorite places in Colorado!

It's Snowing!

2007-10-14T08:22:00.000-05:00

Arapahoe Basin got 6 inches of snow last night, with more in the forecast! This is good news, since we're already working on planning the first trip of the year :)

A-Basin is Open!

2007-10-10T08:16:00.000-05:00

Arapahoe Basin won the race to open first this year!

Positives and Negatives

2007-06-22T07:33:00.000-05:00

On one of the San Luis Valley message boards, we were asked to list positives and negatives about life in the valley. Although we haven't been fortunate enough to live there, we have visited several times. Here's our list...

Positives:
1) Incredible natural beauty. Put the 14-ers up against Illinois cornfields any day, and our bet is on the 14-ers.

2) Lower cost of living.

3) Seriously lower property taxes. For the same size house as what we have now, property taxes in Colorado seem to be about a third of the cost.

4) Did we mention the incredible natural beauty?

5) Wide open spaces. If we want to plop a house down in the middle of our 35 acres, sit outside and drink a couple of beers while cranking up Dave Matthews Band or Bon Jovi on the stereo, it is highly unlikely that there would be any human close enough to complain!

6) SERIOUS skiing within a reasonable distance. Around here, the closest "big hill" has a whopping 700 feet of vertical and is 300 miles away!!!!!

7) The chance to live near a town (Alamosa) that is the same size as where we are now...with all of the same stuff...Walmart, Big R, Culvers. Only, it is dropped into an incredible beautiful place and is the biggest town for miles.

8) No traffic jams!

9) Moderate climate. In Illinois, the summers are hot and humid. We have been to the SLV during August, and it was wonderfully warm with no humidity. During the day, the temperatures seem to be about the same...or maybe 10 degrees cooler than here. But the lack of humidity and higher elevation makes it so much better. The nights are wonderfully cool. It seems as though the nighttime temps in the valley run about 30 degrees cooler at night, which is refreshing.

Negatives:
1) The serious lack of professional level jobs. It seems as though if you are retired, in the healthcare field, in the education field, a service worker, fortunate enough to own your own business, or potato farmer...you are in luck! Other than that, it is pretty scarce...unless we are looking in the wrong places! This is the biggest reason that we are still where we are at.

2) Lack of shopping. But...thank goodness for the Internet! We live pretty close to suburbia now, and hate to deal with crowds, so do most of our shopping online anyway. So this really isn't a downfall. We have heard reports, though, of issues with delivery companies (UPS, FedEx) not being allowed into at least one of the gated communities.

3) Lack of a close major airport. Denver and Santa Fe are quite a distance away. This isn't a problem, normally. However, if you have to get out quick, it will cost a bundle.

4) Lack of major concert venues nearby. We are so spoiled here in the Chicago area and would have a hard time giving that up!!

Full Log vs. Half Log

2007-05-15T06:48:00.000-05:00

We have been debating what we want our ideal house to be. One thing that I think that we have decided on is the construction. The consensus is that we would prefer a conventionally built home with half log siding. This will eliminate a lot of issues that go along with log homes, specifically what to do with the plumbing and wiring. It will also provide a lot more flexibility for interior decorating.

You Know You're From Colorado When...

2007-04-29T07:54:00.000-05:00

You Know You're From Colorado When...

People move onto the highway at 15 miles an hour.

You have absolutely no recognizable accent.

If the humidity gets above 25%, you consider it "muggy".

You only go to Central City when friends are in from out of town.

You have been skiing less than 10 times in your life

You think 5-points is a ghetto.

You are the third car to run a red light after it has changed.

You say things like "I don't care how big Golden is,
it's still a one-horse town".

You think only stupid people get lost in your town.

When giving directions, you never say "Turn left, turn right", it's always go West, then South.

During a thunderstorm you wonder "which I-25 underpass is flooding".

You never plan a picnic between 3:30 and 6:00 in Spring or Summer months.

If it rains more than 2 days straight you compare the weather to being in Seattle.

You voted for higher taxes to fund Coors field, but voted down taxes for public transportation.

You have a broken windshield.

You see no reason to travel to Aurora.

The only RTD bus you've been on is the 16th Street shuttle.

You carry your $3,000 mountain bike on top of your $500 car.

You thought "Californication" would be banned by Amendment 2.

You think "South Park" is a place to stop for gas on your way to Buena Vista.

You have a business degree and are frying burgers at a McDonald's in Vail.

You have a flat tire in your refrigerator and your garage.

You own a big dog named Aspen, Buck, Cheyenne or Dakota that wears a bandanna.

You cast out your fishing line while white-water rafting.

You've never seen the tourist attractions in your own city.

You think a pass does not involve a football or a woman.

You are 82 years old and take up snowboarding.

Your real Y2K fear was running out of Celestial Seasonings tea and trail mix.

The entire top of your head is bald, but you still have a pony tail.

You personally wouldn't pay $10 per head to drive up Pikes Peak unless it was the only mountain on earth, but you tell all our house-guests to do it.

You get depressed after one day of foggy weather.

You think that formal wear is ironed denim.

North means "mountains to the left;" south is "mountains to the right;" and east and west are where all those damned liberals keep moving in from.

You go anywhere else on the planet and the air feels "sticky" and you notice the sky is no longer blue.

You consider a three-piece suit to be a pair of shorts, a sweatshirt and Birkenstocks.

You see your East Coast relatives now more than when you lived there.

You think gun control is a steady hand.

You can run up 10 flights of stairs without huffing and puffing.

You've stood on solid ground and looked down on an airplane in flight.

You know what the "Peoples Republic of Boulder" means.

You're a meat eating vegetarian.

You think the major food groups are Boulder Bars, tofu and Fat Tire Beer.

You've been tear gassed in a riot to celebrate your local sports team's victory.

You can drive over a 12,000 foot pass in 4 feet of snow, but can't get to work if there are 4 inches of snow.

You know the correct pronunciation of Buena Vista.

When you visit friends at sea level, you can drink a case of beer and not get a buzz.

Your car insurance costs more than your car.

You have surge protectors on every outlet.

April showers bring May blizzards.

You see someone riding a Harley in a snowstorm, and you look closer to see if it's anyone you know.

"Timberline" is someplace you have actually been. Many times.

You know what a "Chinook" is. You know what a "rocky mountain oyster" is. You know what a "fourteener" is. But you don't know what a "turn signal" is.

A bear on your front porch doesn't bother you nearly as much as a Democrat in Congress does.

Your golf bag has a 9-iron, a 3-wood and a lightning-rod.

People from other states breathe 5 times as often as you do.

Having a Senator named Nighthorse doesn't seem strange.

Thunder has set off your car alarm.

A sudden loss of cabin pressure is not a big deal.

"Where we're going, we don't need roads!"

You know where Doc Holliday's grave is.

You can recognize the license plates of all 50 states on sight.

Driving directions usually include 'Go over ____ Pass...'

You've used "checking for ticks" as an excuse to get someone naked.

You've gone skiing in July. You've gone sunbathing in January. They were both in the same year.

You get a certain feeling of satisfaction from knowing that California and Texas are both downstream

You know the elevation of a town, but not its population.

You never pack away your coat and sweaters.

You can name only two people you know who were actually born in Colorado.

You call tumbleweed "groundcover".

You love your Broncos, your Avs, your Rockies, Nuggets - well you can't have everything.

You or someone you know plays golf 12 months of the year.

You don't have AC in your home, but you use it in your car all winter long.

If it snows in the morning you expect it to be gone by lunchtime.

You can name the states that make up the Four Corners.

You know what and where the Continental Divide is.

You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends from Colorado.

Get Your Own "You Know You're From" Meme Here

More cool things for your blog at
Blogthings

Reflections

2007-04-15T06:38:00.000-05:00

We have been talking about St. Mary's Glacier quite a bit since we returned from our trip. Our initial thoughts when buying property there was that it would be a way to live in Colorado and still be close enough to Denver to commute. We would be close to skiing, and also a reasonable distance to the San Luis Valley which is where we ultimately want to wind up. Let's face it...we'll still have to work for a few more years.

However, in my opinion, it's just too remote to be able to do that. I don't think that I would want the stress of *having* to drive up and down that road every day to go to work. The winters are long, and snow is plentiful.

We'll still hang on to this, though. It will be interesting to see what happens with Eclipse. Not sure if anything much is going on there, since the message board on the site has been down for quite a while. If that gets up and running, this would be a great place to have a cabin to use on the weekends!

Spring Trip

2007-04-04T06:35:00.000-05:00

We left for Colorado last Tuesday night, and had a fabulous trip! Our flight out was uneventful, and we finally arrived at our condo at 2:00 AM on Wednesday morning. We went skiing at Loveland on Wednesday, and it was fantastic! Thursday was a bit snowy...well...a lot snowy! I'm not that great of a skier, and the conditions have to be good, so I skipped out on skiing and went to the outlet mall instead. Bryon and the rest of the gang went to Arapahoe Basin for the day. Here's a pic of how the roads were on the way back down the hill...

On Friday, we went to Keystone. It's a very nice place, but way too out of control for prices. I did 4 runs for the day, all of them 3.5 miles long...which is a lot for me! Saturday brought more snow. We went back up to Loveland, and it was snowing like crazy (they wound up getting six inches that day, on top of the seven from the previous two.). We hung out for a while, and finally decided to do something else for the day. We went over to Breckenridge to do a bit of shopping. After that, we headed over to Frisco and then back home.

Sunday was a gorgeous day, and we were back to Loveland. This time, Mother Nature decided to cooperate for the most part. It was a bit windy, and the dismount from Chair 2 was a bit rough...in fact, I got clocked by the chair three times. Mind you, I have managed not to fall down in the trip so far until today. I have a lovely bruise on my arm and an achey knee from this, and was afraid that I would be banned from the lift for being such a poor passenger :)

After skiing, we headed across Loveland Pass...

on our way "home". We quickly changed, then headed off for dinner at The Mint. I love this place, and always plead my case to go. It's so cool because you pick out your steak and cook it yourself, and it's so fun to take people to who have never been there before.

Monday was a bonus day. We normally would have come home on Sunday, but airfares were soooo cheap to fly home on Monday instead that it was worth burning another day of vacation. After sleeping in, we left the high country and headed downhill. The first stop was St. Mary's Glacier. Since we bought our property last fall, Bryon has been there several times. This was my first trip, so it was quite interesting!

Here's a view of the area...

After the trip up to St. Mary's, we stopped for lunch at Beau Jo's Pizza in Idaho Springs. I had never eaten there before, but had heard great reviews...and it was very good!

The next stop was Red Rocks, right outside of Denver. This place was waaaay cooler than I thought it would be! Besides the incredible beauty of the place, I enjoyed looking at the displays of all of the concert memorabilia from events that had taken place there over the years.

View of downtown Denver from Red Rocks...

Red Rocks signs...

Hall of fame...

Concert venue...

View of the area...

Last stop before the airport was a model log home (for idea gathering). We had a 6:00 PM flight back, but didn't wind up actually getting home until almost 2:00 AM Central Time....long story, but it was a sad tale of mechanical problems for the plane coming to Denver to pick us up (despite showing as "on time" up until 10 minutes before it was supposed to land), etc. But we made it to work on time yesterday. Lots of unpacking and laundry, followed by lots of sleep last night. We're just catching up now...but it was so much fun :)

Eclipse Snow Park Zoning Passed!

2007-02-02T06:18:00.000-06:00

We received great news yesterday...the zoning for Eclipse Snow Park has passed! There is a story in the Clear Creek Courant.

Dream Home

2007-01-13T06:56:00.000-06:00

This year's HGTV Dream Home is absolutely gorgeous...and in a great location! How in the world would you come up with the $885,000 in federal income taxes, though? On the other hand, the property taxes are surprisingly reasonable.

We have never skied at Winter Park, but hey, it's Colorado...it has to be good :) However, it is also close to where the huge avalanche occurred a couple of weeks ago.

New Date

2007-01-10T06:45:00.000-06:00

The next hearing date is January 31st.

Continued Again :(

2006-12-21T18:50:00.000-06:00

The final zoning hearing for Eclipse was continued again until January 9th. We'll have to wait a bit longer for a verdict.

Bryon and Erik were out in Summit County a couple of weeks ago to do a bit of skiing, and they stopped by St. Mary's on their way back to the airport. Erik was pretty impressed with the views!

Quite a bit of snow fell all over Colorado yesterday. Reports were only 3.5 inches at the Alamosa airport, though. Should be some good skiing all over!

The cool thing about a storm like this is that everything is closed. It's another great case for living in a subdivision with a chair lift...can't get to work, but you can walk to the ski hill if you have to!

Great News!!

2006-11-16T20:11:00.000-06:00

The rezoning hearing passed 6-1 last night for Eclipse Snow Park!! This is really good news!! At least a big step in the right direction :)

There was a story in the Clear Creek Courant today....

Planning commission recommends Eclipse rezoning approval
By Meghan Murphy
11/16/2006

After the third meeting on Eclipse Snow Park, Clear Creek County’s planning commission recommended approval to rezone 280 acres, bringing developers one step closer to creating a new ski area near St. Mary's Glacier.

During two previous meetings the commissioners heard several hours of testimony from residents and local officials supporting and opposing the park. Then on Wednesday, the commission recommended to Clear Creek County commissioners that the application be approved on the grounds that it meets county rezoning requirements.

To address the planning department's concern that some of the parcels lack road access, the commission stipulated that the developer combine the plot into one parcel, said Fred Rollenhagen, county planning director. Concerns about wildlife, traffic and watershed impacts will be addressed during the next phase of the process.

"Obviously there are other issues that need to be addressed, but those would be addressed through the subsequent development review process," Rollenhagen said.

Eclipse planners are working on a development plan to submit for approval. The county commissioners are scheduled to discuss the rezoning case at 7 p.m., Dec. 6, at the Georgetown Community Center.

Latest Scoop

2006-11-05T21:20:00.000-06:00

Keystone opened this weekend, a week earlier than originally scheduled.

Somehow we managed to miss Ski-Dazzle this year. Today was the last day, and we didn't realize it until too late. Oh well, there's always next year :)

The Eclipse rezoning hearing has been continued until a later date. It sounds like there has been quite a large turnout at the meetings.

Eclipse Snow Park Rezoning

2006-11-02T19:30:00.000-06:00

We're still eagerly awaiting news regarding what transpired last night at the Eclipse Snow Park rezoning hearing. From what we have read, it was another long night, and it doesn't sound like much was resolved. We're hoping for a favorable resolution soon!!

Wolf Creek

2006-10-26T19:24:00.000-05:00

Wolf Creek is opening tomorrow, the earliest opening for them ever. They have received 65 inches of snow in September and October. Loveland got pounded yesterday, with 22 inches of fresh snow. A-Basin *only* got a foot.

Alamosa was spared with only a bit of snow in the latest blizzard. I'm really liking this!!

Eclipse Snow Park

2006-10-19T21:19:00.000-05:00

I have written at great length about southern Colorado. It is beautiful, and we intend to retire there someday! We don't want to live here in Illinois too much longer, and the job prospects in southern Colorado aren't that great. The logical thing to do would be to relocate to the Denver area, continue to work, and be a whole lot closer to where we want to end up!!

We have been visiting Colorado for many years. We recently learned about an area near Denver that is absolutely beautiful, and would meet our short term requirements. We have driven by there many times on our way up to Summit County, and had no idea that there was such a gem tucked away in the hills. That gem is called St. Mary's.

To start off, the area is drop dead gorgeous. I posted pics a few days ago. It is located about 10 miles off of Route 70 from the Idaho Springs exit. It is roughly 45 minutes to the Denver airport, and a bit less than that to downtown. It is totally feasible for us to live there and continue to work for a few more years...especially considering that the company that I work for has an office in downtown Denver.

One of the cool things about this subdivision is that there is a ski area there. St. Mary's Glacier Resort operated under various names from the 1930's until 1986. It has been idle for 20 years. Michael Coors has purchased the property, with the intent of reopening it as Eclipse Snow Park.

So...wait a minute...we can work in Denver, have a decent commute (or at least no worse than today!)...live somewhere that is absolutely beautiful...AND have a ski area in the subdivision?!?!?!?! Remember that this area has a glacier...and gets a lot of snow...so there are rumors of an extra long ski season. We could go to work, come home and get a few runs in for a good portion of the year. Sign us up!! So, we have now purchased two lots in the subdivision, with the intent of building within the next two years.

There is a bit of a controversy about the future of Eclipse at the moment. There was a rezoning hearing last night, which saw a large turnout of opposition. Seems as though everyone thinks that there will be underaged drunken hooligans careening up and down the roads between there and Denver and turning the area into a wreck. We totally disagree. You can read the Eclipse Snow Park proposal here. We totally support the effort, and hope that the rezoning request passes at the next hearing on November 1st!!

Loveland is Open!

2006-10-14T19:56:00.000-05:00

Loveland opened today!!

Loveland and A-Basin are always the first to open, and the last to close...and they are our favorites :)

A-Basin is Open!

2006-10-13T20:30:00.000-05:00

It's official! Arapahoe Basin turned on the chair lifts today, and the ski season in Colorado has begun!!

St. Mary's Glacier

2006-10-06T20:49:00.000-05:00

Bryon took these pics the third week of September. How pretty is this?!? I think that it looks just like Christmas :)

Snow!

2006-09-21T20:26:00.000-05:00

It is snowing already in Northern Colorado! And, Loveland has turned on their snowmaking equipment!!

Picture of the Day

2006-09-15T20:16:00.000-05:00

I have missed a couple of days of posting *something* but, here is a good one...it is the Rio Grande Gorge as viewed from the bridge about 8 miles or so out of Taos, NM. I'm the first to admit, I got nauseous walking across this bridge, let alone trying to focus the camera at what was below us...but it is really cool to look at!!

Picture of the Day

2006-09-12T20:57:00.000-05:00

Another one from Zapata...

Picture of the Day

2006-09-11T06:33:00.000-05:00

Here's a picture of a little cactus, taken at Zapata.

Picture of the Day

2006-09-10T09:01:00.000-05:00

On days when I don't have a lot new to say...or much time to post, I'll be trying to post a "picture of the day". I shouldn't have too much trouble coming up with those, since we took well over 300 of them during our last trip! It took me quite a while to finally buy a digital camera, but not that I have one, I wouldn't go back to film.

Anyway, this picture is from Zapata and is overlooking the San Luis Valley. The body of water in the distance is not a mirage! It is the San Luis Lakes State Park. The line above the trees in the distance (at the bottom of the hill) is the highway. It was a bit of a hazy day, so the mountains in the distance are a bit hard to see. The trees in the foreground are pinion pines.

Wild Horse Ranch

2006-09-09T18:06:00.000-05:00

Well, this is the "flop lot" as Bryon calls it. We bought this one because it was such a great deal, and because there aren't many rules. There are 35 acres to do pretty much whatever we want. So, if we get fed up with "Corporate America" and decide to quit our jobs, we could plop an RV on this one and have somewhere to call home. That's not likely to happen, but it sure is nice knowing that we have that option :)

The views are incredible...you can see Mt. Blanca and the Great Sand Dunes National Park. The property is located just a couple of miles off of the highway, and it is only 13 miles to Alamosa. It is pretty flat, with tons of sagebrush. No trees to speak of, but with a property that large, horses would definately be allowed and there are less restrictive water rules. There are a few small dunes on the property...maybe 8-10 feet high. This is no doubt the result of being down-wind of the park.

Sangre de Cristo Ranches

2006-09-08T19:47:00.000-05:00

Well, I wasn't all that impressed with this place the first time I saw it. But, it is HUGE...with over 400 miles of roads, stretching from Fort Garland to San Luis. So, it is a very diverse place, which I discovered on a later trip. It nestles up to Forbes Park on the eastern side. In fact, access to part of the subdivision is off of the same exit off of 160 as Forbes.

The terrain is more hilly and filled with sage brush than some of the other places in the San Luis Valley. But, I have seen it described as you could imagine John Wayne riding across the crest of the hill on his horse...and I think that's accurate.

The parcels of land in this development are mostly 5 acres. We have two. One of them is in nosebleed territory...and we weren't even able to definitavely locate it. We had maps...the old Streets & Trips, as well as the subdivision map from the assessor's office...so we *think* that we found it. But it is very steep!

The other one is much, much better! It is located less than 200 feet off of paved roads. In this part of the country, it is a BIG deal if the roads are paved...because that really is rare in the more rural developments. And, it is within view of Mountain Home Resevoir, which is a recreational lake. Not too bad, huh?

The cool thing about this particular piece of land is that there are homes either already existing or under construction on either side. So, utilities (power, phone) are readily available. Homes in the area are primarily modular, so this would be our first choice if we decide to build in this area.

What we have tried to do is to cover the gambut of what circumstances might provoke us to relocate. We definately know that we want to do that at some point. But, at what point...and in what capacity is under debate! We have everything from dream log home property...to cabin in the woods property...to modular home property...to do whatever you want to property (more about that one later).

Why All This?

2006-09-05T20:53:00.000-05:00

So by now, you're probably thinking...what are these crazy people doing buying all of this land out in Colorado???

Very simple! We live in a small town about an hour from Chicago. But, suburbia is quickly moving our way. The surrounding counties are among the fastest growing in the nation. The county where I work is #3. On my way to work, they have added at least 4 stoplights along what was previously a fairly rural trip. And, there is currently a "vinyl jungle" subdivision under construction in a corn field with at least 40 cookie cutter houses currently being erected. I can't believe how fast they have thrown these things up. When I say under construction, I mean still at the state of being either timber framed or Tyvek coated at this point. Unbelievable!!

At home in the #11 fastest growing county, it isn't much better. Progressive Farmer ranked us the #6 best place to live (now, there's an honor!!). But seriously, I'm not too sure what is all that progressive in the farming world when farmland is being gobbled up and replaced with endless subdivisions...unless it is the sound of the KA-CHING selling off the land!

There is only one main road through town, and it can be pretty congested. Until now, we have had an unobstructed view of a cornfield and creek line. Not the most scenic of views, but you didn't have to worry about neighbors behind you or cranking up the stereo if the mood hit. Now there are two monster houses under construction virtually in our back yard. Too close for comfort!! Mind you, we are an hour from downtown Chicago on a "good" day! Some schools in neighboring counties have gone to "split shift" schedules to accommodate the influx of students without having to build new infrastructure quite yet.

Another big factor is property taxes. They are absolutely out of control here...new schools to house all of the new students, etc., are just escalating the taxes. If we built a similar value home in Colorado, the taxes would be less than a third of what they are now.

The funny thing is, though, although we now own 9 pieces of property in Colorado totalling over 56 acres...and all of that cost us less than what an acre is going for here. We look at the real estate ads every week here for vacant land, and laugh with disbelief at what they are going for. It is sad, actually. So...we can have an acre of land with no views other than flat, boring cornfields (or the sorry remains of them) ...or the fabulous, majestic views of the Rocky Mountains??? We have so many parcels really because we couldn't decide which we liked the best...and because we have so many family and friends that we would love to have be able to join us when we decide to make this leap.

Okay...I'm stepping off of my soapbox now, and going to a calmer, more peaceful place...here's a picture of a storm brewing over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in the San Luis Valley (taken the week after Memorial Day this year)...how pretty is this?

Forbes Park

2006-09-04T19:31:00.001-05:00

Forbes Park was the second place that we visited in the San Luis Valley. This subdivision has a very interesting history. We saw it for the first time a year ago, and were fortunate enough to have someone familiar with the area guiding us. Wolfgang and Jane were absolutely wonderful to deal with! They have great documentation of the history of the area on their website.

Essentially, Malcolm Forbes bought up a huge amount of land in the early 70's, ran into obstacles trying to turn it into the private game reserve that he dreamed of, and wound up subdividing it and advertising in the back of his Forbes magazine. It all sold out. Now, a generation later, there is a resurgence of land sales in the development. Most likely, the people that bought it initially had big dreams that were never realized, have retired, and have no intentions of moving at this point. Or, the kids that inheirited it have no clue what they have!

We have two lots in this subdivision...both within a half mile of the other. For us, this would be the perfect place to put a getaway cabin. One of the lots is over an acre, and is essentially gently sloped with wildflower meadows and aspen.

The other one is a bit bigger, and is more heavily wooded. But, we can see a lot of potential for building a cabin.

We spent a bit more time exploring the subdivision this last trip in May...because we were now landowners, and also found an awesome cabin to rent within the subdivision! We figured that it would be a great way to see what it was really like to "live" there. It was really cool...very peaceful and quiet. And the wildlife was incredible! When we got up in the morning, we would put on a pot of coffee and take a mug or two out to the edge of the property and watch the wildlife show. On more than one occasion, we were greeted in the road by a family of deer.

We did see an elk from a distance while driving through the back areas of the subdivision one morning. The pics didn't turn out too well :( But we did hear them bellowing loudly each morning...the "buglers" making their calls. We did see numerous deer throughout the area...this one was lounging under a tree on our property...

The sunsets over Mount Blanca were also stunning. Here's one...

Realistically, though, it is quite a drive back into Forbes Park from the state highway (we're talking 8-9 miles on gravel roads). But, the roads are pretty well maintained, especially if there are permanent residents in the area. It is about 13 miles from the entrance of the subdivision to Fort Garland, which is the closest place to get groceries, etc.

Zapata

2006-09-03T19:20:00.001-05:00

Ahhhhh, Zapata! This was one of the first areas that we visited in the San Luis Valley. Luckily, we did a lot of research before we went on our trip...or we probably never would have uncovered this place. We were very fortunate to have made great contacts, and had someone familiar with the area show us around. John was an extremely valuable resource leading up to (and through...and since) our trip! It has certainly been a great pleasure doing business with him.

Zapata is certainly a gem...a gated community nestled in the Sangre de Cristo mountains about 3 miles south of the entrance to the Great Sand Dunes National Park. To the south, there is Zapata Falls. To the west, the Medano-Zapata Ranch. Less than 10 miles to the west is the San Luis Lakes State Park. There are incredible views of the San Luis Valley, the Great Sand Dunes, and the Sangre de Cristo mountains. There are views of several "14ers" in the area, which are mountain peaks greater than 14,000 feet in elevation.

It is about 25 miles to Alamosa, which is the largest town in the San Luis Valley. But, the roads are straight and flat.

Zapata is an alpine desert environment, reaching to elevations around 9000 feet or so. The base of the SLV is around 7500 feet, so there is a bit of elevation within the development. There are huge ponderosa pine trees, pinion pines, aspen, and even little cactus plants! There is an upper lake picnic area, which is a great place to take in the beauty of the area. Last year when we visited, there were many creeks flowing throughout the community. We also spotted a lot of wildlife, including deer and antelope. Although we didn't see any elk, there is a meadow where they like to hang out.

The weather is fabulously mild...at least compared to here. Sure, it can snow a bunch at the higher elevations during the winter. But, located just 60 miles north of the New Mexico border, this area is pretty far south. In the Midwest, August is usually pretty oppresive...very hot and humid. Out in southern Colorado, there is virtually no humidity because of the elevation. And the temperatures feel much warmer than the thermometer might indicate, again because of the elevation. Last August when we were there, the days were warm and the nights were refreshingly cool. I seriously don't think that there would be any need for air conditioning, since nature seems to do a pretty good job of that. We did see a dusting of snow on the top of one of the 14ers in August.

We fell in love with the area as soon as we saw it. But, we were a bit skeptical...and cautious about buying the first thing we saw. We had the laptop along, which was newly outfitted with Microsoft Streets & Trips with GPS. That was the smartest thing that we did. We spent a lot of time driving around, putting in little push pins with notes about everything that we looked at. By the end of the trip, we wound up buying 4 lots, with 3 of them in Zapata. Since then, we have purchased one more there.

Power and phone service are available throughout much of the subdivision. There are numerous full time residents, and several more construction projects underway.

The picture at the top of this blog is from the back of one of our lots in Zapata, and it overlooks the Great Sand Dunes. This would be a perfect spot for a log home, and is definately at the top of our list of favorites!!

How This All Started

2006-09-02T21:18:00.000-05:00

Welcome! Before I start rambling on, I should preface it with how all of this started. So, here it is :)

Every spring for the past several years, we have made a trek out to Colorado to do some skiing. I'm not a very good skier, but the weather is fabulous that time of year. The prices are cheap, it is not crowded, and let's face it...a bad day skiing is better than a great day at work!!

In April of 2005, we made such a trip. On the flight back, we were reading the airline magazine that they stick in the backs of the seats. Near the back of the magazine, there was a full page ad for large parcels of southern Colorado land for incredibly reasonable prices. We had been considering buying some income property here in Illinois, but everything we looked at was not meeting our minimum cash flow requirements...and was pretty much all around unsatisfactory. Still glowing from our great trip, this sounded pretty good!!

We sent for the info, and promptly received the old hard sell. There was no way that we were going out there to be bodysnatched from the airport and held captive until we bought something! But, we did as much research as we could about the area, and decided that it was worth taking another trip for.

In August, 2005, we loaded up the truck and headed west. We had no real agenda...other than the fact that the San Luis Valley in Colorado was our destination. A day later, we rolled on in to Alamosa...the hub of the valley. Alamosa is very like the town where we live now. The population is right around 10,000. They have a Walmart, Big-R, Chili's, Culver's, and just about every other fast food chain you could think of. And, they also have a regional airport that has several connecting flights to Denver each day. More about Alamosa later!