Greetings From Beautiful Colorado

I am somewhere way south of totally exhausted. It is not even lunchtime yet and I have consumed more calories than I usually do by dinnertime! Whatever works to keep me going!

Our trip to Arizona to drop off our 5th wheel was over 2200 miles round trip. Our “schedule” called for us to leave Kansas and make the move to Colorado a mere 6 days after getting home from Arizona. I’m really not sure why we scheduled it so tightly, except that maybe we didn’t know what we didn’t know. Regardless, I had scheduled a house cleaning followed by a photo shoot to market our barndominium. Deviating from our schedule would mean rearranging a lot of people. We left one day later out of necessity… we simply couldn’t get it done any sooner. There are still many things to do in Kansas.

The joys of puppyhood

Alan is returning to Kansas as I write this, taking his friend home who helped us move. Additionally, Alan will complete some repairs and then return in a couple of days with the LQ trailer. It, too, is fully loaded. The back end contains the much-used round pen panels. The smaller of our two wooden horses crafted by an artist in Estes Park, which is not far from where we live, will ride home in the living quarters part of the trailer.

One of the necessary repairs is to finish the drywall patch where Kara chewed a hole next to the dog door. We think she started on the trim around the dog door, only to discover the drywall crumbles much faster and was much more fun to destroy. Listing the barndo for sale required something other than a piece of wood nailed over the hole. Early in the week, Alan had replaced the drywall and done one layer of mud and sanding. We briefly left to pick up the U-Haul trailer. We forgot about our little demolition queen… so we returned to a hole in the wall once again. After that, we crated her until we left!

A very long, long drive

We had a great day to travel. The temps were not too cold and not too hot. The horses travel well, as do the dogs. Alan drove the U-Haul and towed his car. I drove the truck and pulled the 2-horse trailer, with the ATV in the pickup bed. Alan’s friend Paul drove another vehicle and towed a waverunner. (Alan has a lakehouse and we still have a boat to retrieve and a lakehouse closing to accomplish.) The U-Haul truck was no speed demon. We didn’t even manage to go the speed limit, much less fudge it a bit as we have been known to do in past trips.

I was relentless in pushing on, as I really didn’t want to make my first drive up the mountain with the horses in tow in the dark. It is a narrow road, half of it gravel, with multiple switchbacks and blind spots. We literally reached the summit where the road “T’s” as the very last vestiges of light faded into darkness. I had communicated our approximate arrival time on the Storm Mountain listserve. One neighbor graciously offered to sit at the T and ask folks to wait for us to get up the hill. Passing a car is not possible on parts of the access road. Passing a convoy is near impossible.

Five cars heeded our neighbor’s request and pulled off the road at the top of the hill. One didn’t. We encountered him about halfway up the mountain. Alan was in front with the large U-Haul truck. He didn’t budge. Eventually, the guy had to back quite a way up the hill to find a wide enough place to allow our large vehicles to pass!

When we got to the top, all the neighbors started cheering and welcoming us to the mountain! It was amazing! The neighbors have been very, very welcoming.

Home Sweet Home

Literally hours before our arrival, our horse fencing was completed. We have no actual barn, and may not before summer is over. COVID-19 shutdowns have impacted permits on many levels. But the horses are very happy on an acre of grass with a shed for protection. Tomorrow, a neighbor is going to go riding with me and we will ride the mountain roads. Many new neighbors have invited us to their home but I have no idea which road is which. The horses must be smelling some new wildlife smells, as they are a wee bit reactive.

Alan ran the dogs up the hill using the ATV yesterday. I am way too tired to add a walk to my daily schedule at this point. However, the dogs really love it here. They like lying out on the deck in the sun, with cool and dry temps. This past week has been very hard on them. They were so confused as we dismantled their previous home.

I look forward to blogging about some of my favorite eastern slope trails. More to come about the beautiful Rocky Mountains!

Postscript: this blog posts on what would have been my 42nd anniversary from my past life. My current life is amazing. I am incredibly happy, and for those of you who have experienced similar struggles, hang in there. There may be some great things in store for you. Don’t give up!!