We headed out at 7:00 this morning and met our oldest daughter where she is staying with her in-laws. We moved all of our stuff to her car since she has a much more sensible snow car than we do, and started our way up toward Buena Vista.
There are two ways into the town of Buena Vista, one goes through Fairplay, CO, and the other goes through Leadville, CO. Since it was a Saturday morning, we decided to avoid the ski traffic, so we went through Fairplay.
As we got to Buena Vista, we made a quick comfort stop at the City Market before making our way to the five mile driveway on their property.
Once we were on their property, they told us to stay to the right each time the road branched, and they would be down to meet us. So down the driveway we went.
Before long, our daughter and her boyfriend met us in the side-by-side and began leading us through the property.
There is a portion of the driveway that is fairly steep. They were concerned about our oldest daughter's car making it up (and even more importantly back down), so we parked the car at the bottom of the road, and we all rode the rest of the way in the side-by-side. It was a fun ride up!
We made it up the five mile driveway, and as we came up on the property, we couldn't believe our eyes! It was some of the most amazing views!
As we made our way into the house to warm-up a bit, the snow stopped, and the clouds began to clear. The views from the front window were stunning!
The animals that you can see in the distance are yaks that they raise on their property.
Our youngest daughter decided to put one of her favorite Havasu beers out on the deck for a picture.
It looks pretty good in a mountain setting!
We had a chance to warm up a bit, then we headed back out for a hike to the overlook.
It was stunning!
Oh, you probably didn't want to just see pictures of us, so here are some pictures from the overlook as well.
Then we made our way back to the house, for a tour of the barn. This place is amazing!
The kids put together a nice pot of elk chili so we could let it simmer until our daughter's boyfriend's dad and brother made it up.
We all took turns watching the yaks and enjoying the beauty of the mountains!
Arrow loves walks. I think he's hinting.
He loves texting his friends too.
Once the kids got the chili put together and simmering, we headed out again for a walk to the fishing pond and the yurt.
Arrow was looking for a rabbit, but he never found it.
Is this incredible or what?
When we got to the pond, our girls somehow got inspired by their past and decided to do a synchronized skating routine. It didn't seem to matter to them that the pond was covered in snow. There now seems to be a small battle on whether the pond should be used for ice fishing or ice skating in the winter. It'll be fun to see who wins!
Then we got a quick tour of the yurt. It was built by a friend of the family, and lined with insulating cloth to keep it warm. Even without a fire, it was probably 20 degrees warmer in the yurt than outside. They enjoy staying in the yurt in the summer, and using it in the winter for ice fishing.
As we left the pond and the yurt, our youngest daughter ran down the hill to show us the skull of a yak that died on the ranch a few years ago. While she was down in the meadow, Arrow was really conflicted about who he should be with. He just kept running back and forth between us. He is a great dog!
Back to the cabin for a little more puppy love.
We enjoyed our elk chili, amazing conversations and hospitality throughout the afternoon! It was such a nice visit to the ranch, and a really fun time with his family!
Once the sun had set, we made our way back down the mountain in the side-by-side and a truck (since there were seven of us now), picked up our oldest daughter's car on the way, and continued into the town of Buena Vista for some dinner.
We went to a little restaurant called Quincy's. Their Saturday special was sirloin or prime rib. It comes with a salad, roll, and a baked potato. It was wonderful! This little restaurant in this little town made Steve and I feel so at home. We loved the small town feel!
After a wonderful dinner and more great conversation, we said our goodbyes and the three of us headed back down the mountains. This time we took the route through Leadville since the ski traffic should have died down. It was a really pretty drive home. As we drove through Leadville, the outside temperature on the car said -7 degrees F. Man, we are not used to this!
A huge thank you to a wonderful family for sharing their day and a very beautiful part of their life with us!
Beautiful!
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