Big Owl Road

Dave and I, being true flatlanders, forgot about the sun setting behind mountains and aimed our arrival here in Allenspark/Estes Park to be during daylight. But if we’ve learned anything this trip, it’s that the best laid plans go awry – so as we traveled a canyon road and the sun set in the mountains, we opened the sunroof and all enjoyed the view (as Sophie exclaimed: “The sky is purple and pink and yellow and blue and red…”). By the time we got to the mountain cabin (as John calls it), it was too dark to see anything. Our hosts, Don and Eunice, left a light on so we could see the warm interior of the cabin and hear the stream that runs around it, but other than that it was pitch dark.

I felt at home immediately upon arrival – it has the feel of our old cabin on Lake Eunice but with it are owls. If you’ve been a blog reader from the beginning you know how my mom used to collect owls – they were scattered all through our house in the form of figurines, ceramics, paintings and wood carvings. This cabin, if possible, has even more owls – from my perch (HA!) in the living room, I can look around and see ten. They’re all different – one is the bottom of a lamp, one is macramé, three are pencil drawings, and the rest are figurines. There’s even an owl toilet seat in the bathroom. It’ll be interesting to see if we hear as many outside tonight – so far no luck. But then again, we’re on Big Owl Road, there must be some reason for the name – we’ll keep our eyes open and our heads turning.

Editor's Note: The top photo is the daytime view from the front windows - Meeker Peak.