I arrived in Denver around sunset, just in time to miss the hourly bus to Boulder. This gave me an opportunity to catch up some reading, as well as to make some new friends among my fellow bus-travelers, which helped pass the time once we were actually on board and rolling westward.

By the time I reached the Boulder bus station, where Ben and Kathy met me, it was completely dark. I noticed lots of people bundling up in thick jackets, and started to worry that my pile of layer-able sweaters might not be enough. Surprisingly, it turned out to be a pretty warm evening; I didn’t even need one sweater for most of our walking-around, and was even feeling warm enough to have ice cream after dinner. Of course, I’d eat ice cream in the middle of a blizzard.

We drove up to Nederland in the dark, and stopped by Jen’s place for a short visit since Jen and Jeremy were heading out of town for the rest of the weekend. It’s too bad I didn’t get to see her place in daylight, but I was impressed enough in the dark! They’ve had a lot of fun decorating, and the house was beautiful to start with. And I finally met Jeremy! Next time, hopefully I’ll get to hang out with him for more than 30 minutes.

Then it was on to Casa Del Brantley, where I was equally impressed. Nederland has some seriously gorgeous houses, and they’re not exactly small, either. I drooled over the enormous kitchen; Jeff and I might actually cook more often if more than one of us could squeeze into the kitchen without bumping into things. Then I drooled over the space-age washer and dryer. I drooled some more over the balcony with the hot tub on it, though I couldn’t fully appreciate it in the dark. By the time we got to the master bath, I was running out of drool – you could fit four of me in their bathtub!

Speaking of drool, Bonzo was extremely happy to have a new person to bounce around, and even Chaco seemed to remember me this time. At least, he wasn’t constantly backing away and looking nervous, like usual.

Saturday morning dawned bright and warm – after all my fear of freezing, the temperature was comfortably in the 70s for most of the day. We puttered around the house for a few hours, taking pictures in the “backyard” (in quotes because it’s a whole side of a mountain, for crying out loud) and getting some more drool out of my system.

Ben and Kathy had mentioned they had a view, and they were not kidding. Here’s my somewhat shoddy attempt at a panorama, just to give you an idea of what their “backyard” is like:

We had lunch in Nederland, as cute a little mountain town as you ever saw. There was the requisite “Rock Shop,” a supermarket slightly larger than you average Trader Joe’s, and a Nepalese/Indian restaurant that seemed rather out of place. (No bookstore. I couldn’t live there.)

Ben decided to spend the afternoon working on the aquarium plumbing, so Kathy and I grabbed Bonzo and our cameras and went for a walk up at Long Lake. It was supposed to be a short, flat kind of walk; something we could both handle easily (Kathy tires easily since the stroke, and I had trouble with the altitude – just going up stairs had me panting). It turned out to be a little bit longer than she remembered, but still pretty flat and not too hot or cold. There were patches of snow by the sides of the trail in spots, so Bonzo got his first chance to play in (and eat) snow. He seemed a bit befuddled at first, but quickly figured out that snow was fun, and pounced on every patch we passed by as if it was some sort of tasty animal.

Stream running out of Long Lake:

Slightly more than two hours later, we finally finished the circuit of the lake. I was tired from the altitude; Kathy was worn out from the effort of holding Bonzo’s leash, which is a workout in itself as I soon discovered. We decided we’d had enough, and it was time for some dinner and hot tubbing.

First, we had to drive home – and Bonzo was MUDDY. Of course, we’d forgotten to bring any sort of towel, so we just sacrificed my jeans (actually, this was just my sneaky way of making sure I’d get to try out their fancy washing machine). Muddy as he was, he was also extremely cuddly, and I was quickly covered in doggie drool and mud that I told myself contained 99% dirt and surely only a very tiny fraction of poo. (I couldn’t quite convince myself of this, after seeing how eagerly Bonzo would seek out any sort of poo by the trail; I don’t understand why dogs think it’s edible!) Despite the mud, he was awfully cute, and completely exhausted.

Sunset from the Brantleys’ balcony:

Snow was predicted for Sunday, but we woke up to boring gray skies and drizzle. Kathy and I opted for a Gilmore Girls marathon in their TV room (more drool ensued), snuggling up on enormous beanbags with Bonzo while Chaco barked at moving objects on the screen.

A few hours before sunset, the promised snow finally rolled in, and we immediately headed out onto the balcony to snap some photos and enjoy the first snowfall.

Photo by Ben:

Then it was out front to play with the dogs:

We went for a drive in search of good photography opportunities, but I was pretty out of my element taking pictures in low light and falling snow. I think it might be time to shell out for a better wide-angle lens! Ben and Kathy both got some lovely shots, and I came away with one or two that I’ll dump in my gallery, but nothing too special. Guess I’ll have to go back for more practice!

By Monday morning, there was a good six inches of snow on the ground, and it continued to fall.

I like this shot because it shows Bonzo’s enormous ears:

Chaco turns out to be a world-class snowball-catcher. And he never gets tired of it. We all took turns hurling snow and snowballs at him, distracting him so Bonzo could get a chance, and photographing the action. Bonzo doesn’t quite have the hang of catching things yet, and Chaco won’t be giving him much of a chance to try!

Kathy and I started to worry about getting the car out of the steep, snow-covered driveway and up to the plowed road, since we had no snow shovels and no gass for the snow-blower. Ben managed to maneuver it up with minimal slipping, and we headed down the canyon to Boulder for lunch.

It’s too bad I didn’t get a chance to admire the view coming up the canyon, because it would have been cool to compare the pre- and post-snowfall versions. No pictures; the snow was coming down pretty steadily, and we’d neglected to bring plastic bags to hold over the camera.

We had a mellow afternoon in Boulder – well, two of us did. Kathy had several physical therapy appointments, so Ben and I passed the time in a Barnes and Noble. Books for me to browse, and wireless internet for Ben; what more could you ask for?

There was just enough time for tea and snacks at an Indian/British-style teahouse in Boulder before I had to head back to Denver. I said goodbye to the Brantleys at the Boulder bus station, and had an uneventful drive to Denver.

Alas, the airport was slightly more eventful. There was no snow on the ground in Boulder, but as we got closer to Denver there started to be several inches visible on the ground. Sure enough, the first snowfall of the year had thrown the airport schedule out of whack earlier that morning, and everything was running late. I was one of the lucky ones, with only a four hour delay – and plenty of company in my waiting!

Once we landed at Ontario, I still had to get my car and drive back to Glendale. Suddenly, taking a shuttle started to make sense again. At least there’s no traffic on the 210 at 2am!

I think Kathy was worried she wouldn’t be able to keep me entertained enough since she was in recovery mode, but I had a wonderful visit. I’m perfectly happy to do one or two interesting, out-and-about things, but spend the bulk of my time sitting around chatting with the people I’m there to visit in the first place (or even just sitting checking email, watching tv, and petting dogs, for that matter).

I really enjoyed my stay; it’s too bad Jeff’s allergies would do him in if he ever came with me! We’ll have to schedule another Brantley-visit on dog-free turf somewhere so Jeff can tag along, but I’d love to head back to Nederland sometime on my own. Just not to live! Much though I enjoyed the dogs and the snow, they reminded me why I love living pet-free and in Southern California, and I’ll be keeping it that way for a while. :)

More pics here: http://gallery.thelaitys.com/v/anastasia/200510_colorado/