Travel Report – Page 30 – The Hermits' Rest

Rocky Mountain, Literally, Very High

Hello from someone who has crammed an entire vacation’s worth of visiting an area into two days. I had a blast today traveling all over Summit County, Colorado, as well as a nice, long visit to Vail. I don’t think I would have ever imagined going to any of these spots in my whole life, so I’ve checked things off my bucket list that I didn’t even know were on there!

Breathtaking, and not just because of the elevation.

I am very lucky that one of the women who’s been on an email list/Facebook group with me for many, many years (since our children were young) retired to the area where I’m visiting a few years ago, and she and her husband volunteered to take me on a tour of all the ski resort towns around here. Cathy and Ken were fantastic tour guides and magically seemed to know the kind of stuff I’d be interested in seeing (mountains, water, quaint towns, tasty food, and some shopping).

As soon as I finished unpacking, Cathy came and got me. She took me to a beautiful spot where we went for a short walk with splendid views of the Dillon Reservoir, which is a HUGE lake way up high here! I was happy to discover that I wasn’t too winded at all. I only had to slow down once. It was interesting to look at the forest after all that reading I’ve been doing on them. There were signs of beetle infestations as well as some controlled burns.

Can’t deny it’s breathtaking, not just because of the altitude.

Looking out over the mountains, it was easy to see where fires had been and where there have been other issues. We were grateful, though, to see new trees coming up, vibrant and healthy.

After dodging a wedding party, we went for a tour of Dillon, including Cathy’s lovely neighborhood. Their house is very Western/Mountain in theme, because they bought all the furniture from the previous owners, who had the house as a vacation home and hardly used it. That was convenient, since they were moving from those horrible floods in Houston a few years ago.

Cute bench Cathy got thrifting on Facebook.

Their house is in a valley, but has amazing mountain views, including the Continental Divide from their game room. Anyone who ever wanted to visit them would really enjoy the home’s bedrooms (and the occupants’ hospitality).

From Dillon, Ken joined us and was an absolutely perfect tour guide of the area. I learned a lot, and wow, I saw some beauty. The little reservoir we stopped at, which is at one of the trail heads of a hike they’ve taken in the past, was so pristine, clear, and serene. I could have sat there and looked at it for hours, but there was so much more beauty to see!

We decided to go to Vail, which was a scenic trip. We went over a super high point, up and up. You could see where there were avalanches, old mines, beautiful trails and so much more. It’s hard to believe they were able to build an interstate highway through there in the 1960s. I actually can’t imagine how the people who lived in the area in the 1800s coped. Mining could not have been an easy life.

We made it to Vail in time to eat at the Blue Basil restaurant, which was one fine experience for us all. I really miss eating “fancy” food with beautiful presentations and interesting ingredients, so I was in heaven. We all agreed it was one of the nicest meals we’d had in a long time.

After the great lunch, we spent some time wandering around Vail. I hadn’t realized it was a sort-of-planned community place. Who knew? There is a lot of faux Bavarian architecture, to fit with the alpine theme. It’s pretty, though, and certainly was a fun place to wander through. I’m glad I wasn’t there in mid-summer or mid-winter, though, because Cathy said it’s full of people then. I enjoyed the stores being open, but not too many people. Last year, when I was in Park City, Utah, most of the stores and restaurants were closed, so I’m glad the ski season opens a little earlier here.

This is the famous bridge that proves you are in Vail.

I got myself the all-important smelly candle for my condo, and some darned important lotion for my hands, as well as a nice necklace from a local artist, on sale. I’d say that the highlight of Vail was the immense store selling every kind of rock, crystal, and thing made of it, that you can imagine. Cathy and I oohed and aahed at huge geodes, natural crystals, and jewelry made from every kind of stone imaginable. I am impressed that I left the place with no treasures, but it was like going to a museum, not a store!

We detoured through neighborhoods of the type you’d imagine in Vail. Thus house has a funicular to get up to it!

We came back through Frisco, which was okay, but I can be okay with not going back. I did like Dillon a lot, though. Then we went back to Breckenridge where I stocked up on wine, bourbon, and a few more groceries for the days I’m going to be pretty stuck in my condominium with no transportation. I even got some flowers. I’ll be fine, because I have a lot of pasta, yogurt, and ice cream. Oh, and coffee, of course! I am set up for Suna’s version of decadence.

Now it looks like a homey place to watch animal shows.

Anyway, it was really kind of the Steeles to do all this with me today. We will hang out some more later, too. I enjoyed getting to know Cathy better and meeting Ken, who I’d heard nothing but good things about in the past. They are such athletic people, too. It was fun listening to all the mountains they have climbed, cycling trips they’ve taken, and skiing they’ve done. And by the way, Cathy loves pickleball. I now know where all the pickleball courts in the area are.

Once again, the internet has brought people together who enjoy each other’s company and can have fun in real life! I’m so lucky to get out of the hermitage occasionally and see people (well vaccinated people, of course).

Travel to the Rockies

I spent all day traveling, but it was pretty good. I always like plane travel. Since I don’t do it often, I find it fun. I go back to being a little kid when plane travel was glamorous.

I got a good bit of knitting done, and people watched happily at the Austin, Dallas, and Denver. On the flight to Denver I really enjoyed the women I sat with. We had conversations about elderly parents and wanting them to be safe and stay in their homes, about horses, and so much more. Such nice people. The one who had to put her parents in assisted living was so beautiful and caring.

This dude reflected my mood after waiting in baggage claim in Denver.

The only bad thing was that my shuttle was 4 hours after I arrived. I did a lot of walking around and knitting. I headed outside quite early, but the guy arrived early. I was the only passenger, so off we went. We talked the whole way.

Jim is a classical guitar player and teacher, whose politics and spiritual views are just like mine. So, even though I didn’t get to see much, because it was dark, I had an excellent trip to Breckenridge.

And yay, I have a new temporary home. It has a desk for my 6 am calls!

I got to the condo place at 8 pm Mountain time. That’s 9 Central, so I’m tired. Tomorrow the fun starts. My friend and her husband are going to drive me around!

I’m looking forward to the cool weather. It was 73 in Denver and 36 here in the mountains. That’s altitude!

Bye-Bye Bobcat

Dateline: Austin. Today was sorta hard in a few ways. For one, I worked on so many things that my head was spinning, plus I was trying to get packed for my next condo stay. Because of that, today’s brief visit with Anita was my last time in Bobcat when I own it.

We’re looking out at the sunset, as the sun goes down on our time in Austin.

And, whoa, it was windy even for out at the ranch! Gusts were well over 40 miles per hour. It was actually hard to walk, which helped me reach my exercise goal. That’s rare. Things were banging around the chickens and the horses, so I worked on shutting them up.

I got everything done in time, including horse and donkey hugs. Apache got his feet trimmed, so there was bonding time for all.

Eventually, the relatives returned from their duties at the Hermits Rest Home, as I secretly dubbed the farm in Yorktown. After watching the dogs frolic in the wind and staring at the pool, Lee and I headed to Austin with my luggage. As Lee shared how thrilled he was to never go over the speed bumps again, I got all sad about selling my house.

Maybe it’s homely outside, but it was a refuge.

Lee reminded me that we plan to come back each month for book club, so it’s not like I’ve left forever. But, I’ll really miss this haven of peace and quiet.

I was so sad that I really couldn’t hang around long. I’ll just call Anita Saturday and really talk about her house, her job, and plans. Good thing she’s such a good friend.

So, we headed over to the always unique Austin Airport Hilton, the one that used to be an Air Force command center.

They recently redecorated, and it’s really nice now. It was nice of Lee to join me. We’re enjoying some local-ish bourbon and watching some football. I’m glad we get to spend the evening together peacefully.

I’m looking forward to my trip to Colorado tomorrow. I’ll get to hang out with some old friends, see some snow, and do my annual solo retreat. Of course, I’ll be working, since contractors get no vacation! But I’ll have plenty of afternoon and evening time, thanks to 6 am meetings starting my day off long before sunrise!

It will be fine. I love working in new places. I’m not so worried about getting sick, with all my vaccinations, too. It’s getting better, a bit. Maybe. Knock on wood.

Complaints? Nope.

Well, it’s been a nice couple of days, that’s for sure. The worse thing that happened to me was driving through the confusing world of Dallas, Texas traffic. But, I lived! So, what’s up?

Here’s the progress on the little baby blanket I’m working on. So far it’s very blue and purple, but you can see that will change soon.

House News

The first good thing is that the Bobcat Lair house finally sold! We were surprised it was on the market for so long, but we guessed it’s because the house has zero curb appeal. You literally can’t see anything but its miniature driveway! But the best part is it sold for what we asked for, minus an allowance to replace the deck, though apparently the new buyers are normal people and not afraid of a house with imperfections. Anita says the folks are nice and will fit in well, which makes me happy for our wonderful neighbors.

Pool News

We have good pool news, too. Yet another surface is going in (probably done by now, since I’ve been gone for a couple of days), this is some lovely flagstone that is covering the “beach area” where we can sit in little chairs and the dogs can safely enter. It was another one of the works of art that the tile guys do. Laying the flagstones was like filling in a jigsaw puzzle where you’re allowed to tear up the pieces to make it fit! In the end, it turned out really pretty. I can’t wait to get home to see it all grouted in and smoothed out.

They also did a pretty cover for the fire pit. By the time I get home, it will have a circular opening.

Horse News

Before I left yesterday, I checked on Apache’s eye. It looked way better. However, it sure was hard to keep his head down to put the drops in. I ended up with a sore arm! Glad I had help, for sure.

Fun Times

I’m in Plano this morning, because I drove up to attend my bonus daughter, Ellie’s baby shower. I’m so happy she and her cute husband are going to have a baby! They announced the name by showing us a cute sign they’d had made on Etsy. I was thrilled to see her name will be Ruby. And they were all dressed in ruby clothing. So cute.

The baby’s middle name came from her grandmother.

I was so happy to see Ellie. There were multiple extremely long hugs exchanged. She is just a dear person and has done so well with her life. I met her when she was in college with my older son, and our families became good friends after we let her stay with us while she was doing summer internships and stuff.

This young woman is a therapist in her own practice now. Go, Ellie.

I am so happy to have also gotten to see her mom, Pouri, who has been a great friend to me for the past decade and more. She is one of the kindest and most generous people I ever met. And the best cook. If you’ve never had a home-cooked Persian meal, well, I’m sorry for you, because they combine some of the most interesting and delicious ingredients. I still dream about a beef dish with some kind of fruit in it that Pouri made once, no exaggeration.

Anyway, it was a sweet party, and then I got to spend an evening all alone. There were no dogs, no noises, and no distractions. I enjoyed knitting, reading, and watching mindless HGTV. Pouri and I agreed that that’s the best part of any trip or vacation!

The cake had rock candy on it, to go with the gem theme. It was a moist lemon cake. Really good.

I hope, so dearly, that all of you get a chance to enjoy your friends, rest, or recharge this weekend or soon in the future. All of this good stuff has really helped me, and I wish it for all of you.

It Was a Good Break, No Bull

Time for something that won’t get a zillion hits (so it’s not about changing jobs). I enjoyed this weekend’s little break at a ranch outside of Bandera, Texas. We didn’t even leave the place the whole time. Yesterday, everyone mostly sat around in the very comfortable house, read books, or watched football.

I, of course, went outside to see what I could see. You’d think 29 acres of pasture wouldn’t yield anything, but that’s not the case! There is a lot of native grass and other plants out here, so I was able to find some new things to put in iNaturalist. And since I’m always scrounging around, I found interesting poop and some dead things (a large mouse and a fairly recently deceased fawn (boo hoo)). I’ll spare you photos of that.

I had to get Kathleen’s picture with the big guy, too!

I also spent a lot of time with the longhorns that live here. The steer (Howdy) is really well trained, and used to work at shows and stuff. He puts his giant head down so you can pat him between the horns. That’s the safest place. When flies bother him, he flings his head, and those attached horns, pretty dang hard. Anyway, that’s the no bull part. The cow is Little Sister, and she is friendly, but just learning to accept pats.

Really, though, the woman who owns this place is great with animals. The two horses are so well behaved and happy, the longhorns are friendly, and her dogs are a total hoot. She has one Aussie shepherd that apparently is a double merle, so he is deaf and can only see in one eye, so the other one leads him around and fetches him when she calls. Aww. (Sorry no pics.)

These are the broodmares next door. They have very fancy hay feeders.

Enjoy some of the things I saw as I wandered around looking at the neighboring very fancy quarter horses and the random plants. I’m heading back home after a work meeting (yay Zoom) to pee in a cup and prove I am a US citizen for the new job. Then it’s back to “normality” for a couple of weeks.

Escaped to Another Ranch

To celebrate my job change and help me wind down, the family surprised me with a getaway to Bandera.

It’s a different place than we went last year, though nearby. We are the first guests in the guesthouse at Farmer’s Daughter, so everything is fresh and new. Even the trees are new. But it’s also really familiar, with horses, cattle, a bunch of dogs, and rustic stuff.

It turns out you can bring dogs and horses here, so we might return! I’ve walked around and identified some plants, you know, because I do that.

I also am thrilled to have a horse to pet. This fellow will show you how Drew will look in a few years. He even has a snip on his nose like Drew.

The cattle are two longhorns, one friendly, one not. The bull is so beautiful!

I’m doing my best to relax, though I’m annoyed I didn’t know there would be a hot tub. Mine is all wire, so no good yet! Because I’m just wiped out, I’m going to just going to share some scenery and sign off.

I’ll be more coherent tomorrow. Now I shall eat my celebration cake and drink wine.

A Bit of Digital Culture

What a treat today was! Anita bought us tickets to Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience months ago, because we’d read about the exhibit when it was in other cities. Today was the day of our appointment, so I drove in to Austin and worked until time to go over to the Circuit of the Americas place where they do car races, concerts, and such.

At first, all I could think about was how easy the exhibit must be to transport, since almost all parts of it fold flat, other than the projectors. Eventually I got more immersed in the immersive experience.

The exhibit is well designed, like a grownup Disney World, where you’re in a queue but don’t realize it. I enjoyed all the quotes over extreme close-ups of paintings, as well as the fun empty picture frames.

The second part of the exhibit was a room with bits of paintings projected on the walls and floor. You could lie down in it, watch it, or stand in the light. There was theorizing that drugs might enhance the experience. Anita didn’t need drugs.

This needs to be made into a large print

The patterns were so much fun!

The final part of the exhibit was a big immersive room with paintings and words and beautiful music. I really liked the patterns on the floor.

The paintings weren’t static. They transitioned in cool ways and there were very well implemented digital effects that made birds fly, water ripple, and clouds scut through the sky.

Most fun were the self portraits of Van Gogh. Every so often, they’d blink! And we slowly realized that his pipe’s embers were burning and very subtle smoke came out. It was not cheesy; it was cool. But, we were too busy watching to get photos, so here’s a beautiful illusion of cherry petals flowing.

The big room’s program lasted 35 minutes, so we ended up being there an hour. We both declared it unusual, but well worth going. Plus, there was a little humor.

I had to drive back to the ranch in bad rain and did one of my meetings from the car, but that was a small price to pay for getting to see ART in a pleasant, uncrowded environment.

Don’t Let the Chickens Out

It was a fun, relaxing day, except that I did a thing I probably shouldn’t have. The chickens were trying so hard to get grasshoppers from within their pen. I was throwing them in, but felt sorry for them, so I let them out.

I watched them for at least ten minutes as they flapped and ran around after grasshoppers and crickets. They’d fight each other for them and squawk away.

I went off to take care of the horses, and when I came back they were scattered all over. So, I went in for a while. I went back out with half a watermelon shell. The minute I walked by, four of them came running, led by Bertie Lee, of course.

But the other two? Nope. I couldn’t find them. So I came back a few minutes later, and Star and Henley, the skittish one, were behind the coop. I couldn’t get them in. Well, I got Star in, but Buttercup went out. So, I had to get Lee to help. There are no photos, because we were too busy!

That dang Henley ran out in the field, ran around us, and got stuck trying to get in the wrong way. But, we did it! More teamwork! However, they stay in for a while longer, I think!

Earlier today, we rewarded ourselves for hauling all the hay by taking a spontaneous trip to Temple for lunch. We ended up downtown and Kathleen looked for a restaurant. We headed to a place with pizza, and ended up in a really pretty area that appears recently renovated.

We had a great time at Treno’s, even with the weird trendy ordering system. The outdoor eating area was so pretty, and the oven-fired pizza was fantastic.

Pretty eating area. There were also really cute play areas.

We were delighted with our meals, and we want to go back and try their beer bar. I’m impressed with the work they’ve done there, and it was good to see families having fun.

One funny thing is that I wore an old t-shirt today that says, “I apologize to anyone I’ve not offended yet. I will get to you eventually.” I had three different people come up and say how much they liked it. One guy took my picture. That was weird!

In all, it was a good Sunday. I worked, had fun, and ate good food. We’re going to try another Temple restaurant soon!

An Equitation Educational Event

Today Sara and I went and did something together! What? Yes! We ranch ladies went off and did a horse thing somewhere near Waco. We hadn’t done anything together since last year!

We went to a beautiful facility and audited a working equitation class. The clinician was really nice and let us stand close enough to hear her. It was tons of fun learning all the things horses and riders do in this relatively new sport in the US.

The hay thing simulates a cattle chute. the barrels and sticks you do a turning pattern through.

The idea is that working equitation includes aspects of cattle working from European, US, Mexican, and South American traditions. There are dressage elements (fancy horse steps), cattle working elements, finesse, and speed.

There were lots of different horse types and riders.

Another cool thing about it is that riders wear apparel from their own tradition. So you see all kinds of saddles, tack, and riding outfits. Some horses are big Andalusians, others are gaited horses with fancy walks and runs, while you also see quarter horses, too. Sara and I sure enjoyed all the beautiful animals and skilled riders!

This rider on a deep brown gaited horse is working the barrels.

My favorite of the things the students learned was picking up a pole in a barrel, snagging a ring on it and depositing it in another barrel. the gate opening task was fun, too.

That’s the pretend gate you have to open and close without “letting the cows out.”

I can see why Sara is interested in this sport! We learned all the patterns and figured out some of the skills we’d need to learn (me way more than Sara). Now we just need horses that are healthy and can learn with us. I still have faith in Apache.

Tomorrow we’re going to watch a show, which also will have dressage. This is all new to us cowgirls, but everyone was so nice to us, supportive of each other, and eager to learn. The horses all seemed to be having fun, and most of them were sweet animals, too.

I had to take this, because the flowers will get mowed soon.

In other news, there were more floods and rain today, but some fence work did get done. And I got to play with Vlassic much of the morning.

Another fun thing this morning was watching how curious the cows are about all the fence work. They are compelled to explore each new piece.

And the little steer has been so cute and friendly. He kept coming up and licking my hand with his rough, black tongue. I can’t wait until Haggard joins the friendly cattle (hoping that will be tomorrow, since he is officially cleared).

Anyway, despite the rain and more rain, it was a fun and educational day. Hope yours was, too.

A Damp Welcome Home

Hooray for being back at the Hermits’ Rest! by the time we got home, I was all shaky and frazzled, and probably the relatives thought I was babbling. But the dogs sure were glad to see us. It felt fantastic to have my Carlton in my lap again. It was great to get back in my bed, and even great to have Penney lined up right beside me all night!

The trip through Louisiana was beautiful, mostly following US84, and then following roads that made up the original El Camino Real de Tejas, which goes right to Milam County and is what our Master Naturalist group is named after.

We are in the section just to the left of Bryan on this map.

Highlights included a whole area devoted to catfish farming, including a place that made al the nets and a huge catfish food plant. Talk about specificity! The catfish farms also could have passed for egret farms. There were so many birds!

The lake that used to be the Sabine River and separates Texas from Louisiana.

We also drove through many beautiful national forests, and I carefully observed all the logging activity. Mostly it was lush and beautiful. There were plenty of cute towns, town squares, and such as well. It’s nice to see thriving small towns with no television presence to make them go into tourism overdrive.

What’s this? A dike, holding back the Mighty Mississippi in Louisiana.

The farther we drove, the wetter it got. It’s apparently been drizzling all week at the ranch, which slows down the fence-building operation. Today it’s pouring, but I did manage to go see Apache, Fiona, and the other horses to help put some medicine on poor spice, who has a big wound where a growth was removed. Apache has developed thrush in his feet from all the dampness. Can that poor horse catch a break? But the highlight was seeing the newest member of our farm animal family, Haggard, who is a young Black Angus bull from the sale barn. He’s tame as a kitten, and looks like he’ll be a nice small bull, perfect for first-year heifers to get easy births from.

Right now, Haggard is in quarantine, but he sure loves it when people show up with food!

Our field is covered with flowers. Can’t wait to get out there in the sunshine.

I said hi to the chickens yesterday, but didn’t see Steel, who is the only chick left and keeps escaping to hide in some tall, thick grass behind the coop. At least that one didn’t wander off and get lost. I’ll try again with chicken babies!

What a sweet little wildflower in Mississippi!

Otherwise, all is well. I may have more fun news later in the day, after I go into town for a bit, but right now I’m just trying to get settled back into a routine and figure out what’s going on. I’m lucky that this week is our work’s week to go do volunteering, because that will let me catch up on the volunteer work I have to do! Ain’t that great!

And, just one more flower from my travels yesterday. There’s always something pretty growing near a gas station, I guess!

It sure is good to be back home, especially since Kathleen cleaned the dickens out of the house. They sure did a great job taking care of things while we were gone. Now maybe we can have some FUN.