January 20, 2009

A Weekend of Views

Over the weekend, we went to Westcliffe - just the two of us - no pups. We spent Saturday just wandering around, on foot and in the car, trying to learn more about the town we hope to some day call home. We stayed at a little motel in the heart of the town, with views of the nearby Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

Below are those gorgeous mountains and the view we get every time we top the hill going into town. The Sangre de Cristo Mountains are the southernmost sub-range of the Rocky Mountains, located in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. Sangre de Cristo means "blood of Christ" in Spanish, and the name is said to come from the red color of the range at some sunrises and sunsets, especially when the mountains are covered with snow. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Here is a grove of aspens on one of the country roads we take to get to our property...Did you know that aspens share a common root system?

An abandoned cabin along the route...

Neal is especially fond of exploring old cemeteries. This is the Silver Cliff Cemetery and some of the headstones here date back to the 1800's...(notice the beautiful Sangre de Cristos in the background?)
The cow in the foreground was trotting down the road in front of us as we drove to the cemetery. Once she got off the road, she turned to give us a look of disgust for disturbing her grazing...

This is our road and the view as we approach our property...

There were critter tracks all over our property and here's the proof... I'll be glad when I no longer have to say "our property" and I can say "our house", "our barn", "our garage". At least I can now say "our shed", however, if I have anything to say about it, the shed may one day be a chicken coop! We have gone back and forth with what to build next and when, but I think we've finally decided. If all goes our way, we plan to build a garage/workshop with an attached apartment this spring. That way, we will have a comfortable place to stay on weekends and holidays until we can build a house. That's the plan...for now anyway.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

beautiful!!!

JOE and JANE said...

Awesome pictures!! (But looks cold.)

Lilla said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lilla said...

Let me try this again....too many typos the first time!

Daune - thanks. I like to call it our little piece of paradise... with views that you never get tired of.

Joe and Jane - actually, it wasn't too cold, considering the time of year. It was very bright and sunny and the snow glistened like diamonds. It was mesmerizing.

basicliving@backtobasicliving.com said...

Wow - what an awesome place! I know you are aching to be there for good.

I love old cemeteries too. At Christmas we visited my grandmother's grave, which is in a very small, old cemetery in the middle of no where. She died when my father was a small child. Not only was it moving to pay respects to a woman without whom my father would not have come to be, it was just fascinating to see headstones from the civil war era and before. And I could literally feel the grief of families who buried two, three, four, and sometimes five family members in one year.

I'm excited to see the garage/apartment as it begins taking shape. I know you can't wait to have a place to stay on your property - and soon to be homestead!

Penny

Lilla said...

Hi Penny - yes, old cemeteries are interesting and educational. I agree it's sad to see so many family members dying within a short timeframe, as well as babies and young children, which was quite common back then.

You are right I can't wait to get a solid structure built for us to have a place to stay and plan out the rest of our future on the "homestead". I'll be sure to post updates as soon as things start taking shape.

LiveWorkDream said...

It looks SO pretty. As soon as it's warm enough that we don't freeze our butts off in the RV, we'll be up there to check it out.

Lucky you for already making the move to at least buy a piece of paradise!

Lilla said...

Rene - be sure to let me know when you're heading this way. We'll meet up somewhere and talk shop. And, if you're interested, we'll take you to Westcliffe to look around. Pictures just don't do it justice.

Robbyn said...

Oh I love your plan, Lilla!! Can't wait to see what happens...it's beautiful :)

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