Marble, Redstone, Aspen and Vail

Here I am doing what I love the most, after what seems an eternity…yup…I’m blogging again…yay!!! For those of you who remotely like reading my blog…so sorry for this unannounced hiatus. A lot has happened since my last post. One amongst those is a major major weight gain after a major major weight loss due to a chronic illness. I’m glad to announce all is well now. More about that in another post. Today I’m here to share our latest family adventure. Our second visit to one of the most picturesque locations I’ve laid eyes on…(I don’t claim to have seen a lot of places…but still…you get what I mean)

Today is a happy day and time for a happy post.

We came back to the Colorado area for our annual summer getaway this year in August . We were here almost 5 years ago and loved it. Our son Dyaus (DD) was little at the time so we couldn’t do too much. We were determined to get him back to this breathtaking mountainous terrain to enjoy its beauty.

Last time we were here, we stayed in a tiny village called Marble. “Marble, Colorado???? Where the heck is that???” I know…hardly anyone has heard about it. The husband on the other hand wanted to stay far from the madding crowd so Marble it was. (No cell phone connectivity, no internet, not even running water and electricity)

Marble was a novel experience but we wanted to be on the grid this time around. So, we settled on a cozy little house in a little village/town called Redstone. Redstone is situated along a river called Crystal river. The little cottage we rented was built more than a hundred years ago. The village which was primarily established in the 19th century to mine coal, has several historic buildings including the Redstone Inn and the Redstone Castle. Our cottage was and is still called ice house and was used to store ice for the coal miners. Nestled amongst spruce and aspen laden mountains, this town is quaint and relaxing. Here’s the link to the VRBO listing in case you are interested. The best part was  that they allowed Fitch, our little Westie to stay with us. I clicked the pic you see here from the backdoor of the little cottage. The little stream is so beautiful. The lyrical sounds of it flowing in the night lulls you to sleep.

What was disappointing – most rivers and streams were half their proportion. Five years ago we had tried white water rafting at the Roaring Fork river. This time it wasn’t as roaring as it used to be. Actually none of the streams, rivers and water falls’ were as full as we remembered. We carried our little charcoal grill all 1,100 miles to grill in the evenings but couldn’t due to a fire warning. On talking to the locals, we found out that they’re experiencing worse drought conditions in decades. Global warming???? Nope, lets get back to happy thoughts since this is  happy post.

Our hikes. There was a leisurely one we did in Marble and a harsh one of over two miles spanning fifty floors incline to Lizard Lake. Both were extremely enjoyable and exhilarating.

We had an extremely sumptuous yet extremely expensive lunch at this place called  The Grey Lady . PS: The lobster salad and oysters were yummy.

But I have to say, our two-day stay in Vail far surpassed my fondness for Aspen. While Aspen and its people were overtly prosperous, Vail had its old world charm which was warm and inviting. The Sebastian at Vail village was luxurious and accommodated our furry friend. We  walked around only to discover that Vail was hosting The Colorado Classic cycling tournament. We had always watched high-speed cycling on television, now we actually got to witness it. The surroundings were beautiful and the atmosphere was magnificent. My mom was with us. On the second day mom and I walked around while my husband and son went golfing at the Vail Golf Club. They really really enjoyed themselves although they did say the course was kinda looooong…more that 8 miles.

We bundled activity and relaxation in one vacation. But most important of all, we got to spend a lot of quality family time together. Especially during the 1,100 miles drive each way. “Didn’t you get bored?”, you ask???? NO is the answer. We listened to an audible book Jaya by Devdutt Patnaik. This is our thing to do these days on long trips – listen to audibles together.

Guys, if you love mountains – Colorado is the place to go.