After several weeks on the road, we decided to head on over to Colorado and look around to see where in the area we might like to settle down when we finished our travels. And so we began our search for a home in Denver. We started searching in the mountain areas approximately 10 to 20 miles west of Denver. The houses really varied. Some of them were nice with excellent views, but others were in rather bad condition. One wasn't even finished inside.
After only about a week, one of the houses our agent came up with looked very interesting. Not only was it a great house but the price was right. We ended up buying it, photos below. However, our timing was difficult because we were to be in southern Nevada in a week for IGRA Finals Rodeo. So just after taking possession, we were off to Nevada for a couple more weeks. Here are some western scenes and some snow scenes as we travelled with the trailer over the mountains. One has to carefully check the mountain weather forecast and if clear make a mad dash over the 14,000 foot Rockies. It isn't fun to get trapped with a trailer in snow.
Prior to leaving Virginia we had oldered a new 2011 Ford F-250 diesel. It took the dealer several months to get the truck, and when it was available in Luray, VA, we drove back across the country to turn in our 2007 truck and pick up the new one. Also one of the unusual things we did was to have the dealer store the tailgate of the 2007 truck for us, since we did not use it with the trailer. While the trucks look very similar, the new 2011 is very much nicer, with things like both heated and cooled front seats.
We closed on the home we now have on November 1, 2010. Having moved to Colorado, we also needed a new snow blower. Some of these photos are of our first snow storm in the new home. Some of the lighting is driveway lights at night.
After owning the house a few months, we had to take off again to head to Reno Nevada for IGRA Convention. On the way back we stopped at Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona.
After returning home we began to set up house. There is a more detailed description of our move in and the hastles we had with timing on our website's travelog page (Internet connection required). Here are some photos taken with wildlife in the backyard by the fountain.
Photos of our new house
Living room
Kitchen and pantry
Front foyer with a restored and fully functional 1940's phone booth
Formal dining room, breakfast nook and main hallway to the bedrooms
Master bedroom and Frank's hat closet. Notice the skylight inside the closet, the house has 19 of them.
Master dressing room, cloths closet, master bathroom including a separate toilet, bidet and sauna
Work study off the master bedroom and the laundry room at the end of the main hall
Guest bedroom and private guest bath
Powder room off the garage, workshop and garage
Outside shots of the pergula, front entrance, and around the back of the house. The driveway entrance and a shot of Pikes Peak as seen from the living room
Sadly, we were so busy during the end of 2010 and through much of the following spring, that we were unable to complete this 2010 Christmas CD and it got put away. So we are including this 2010 Christmas CD with the 2011 CD. Continue now on to the current year of 2011.