seekrit anniversary getaway
Apr. 12th, 2018 04:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ilanaramaAs some of you know, my husband Britt is running for re-election to the board of directors of our local electric co-op. It's a highly polarized and contentious election despite being nominally non-partisan, and he's got a lot of house parties and forums and events going on for it. We're also building a house, and he's got a lot of things going on with his company, so he's busy and stressed out. But Saturday was our anniversary, and so even though he had things going on Friday night and Sunday afternoon, I told him that he had to leave Saturday through Sunday morning open on his schedule for "Seekrit Anniversary Getaway".
Back in August 2014 we took a van trip to climb Lone Cone, west of Telluride, and on the way we passed the ghost town of Dunton, which looked from the road like a dozen or so broken-down cabins. When I looked it up later, I discovered it was (as I said in my trip report)"a breathtakingly expensive hot springs resort". I've always kind of wanted to check it out, though, and so a couple of weeks ago I was browsing on their website thinking that their least-expensive cabin would be a splurge, but doable since we only had one night, and while I was looking a chat window popped up and one of their reservations people asked if I had any questions. It turned out that they give a 10% discount to locals, and would be willing to waive the normal 2-night minimum since it's shoulder season, and I decided to go for it. I settled on their second-least-expensive cabin (their least expensive has only an outdoor shower, and in April that's chancy) and handed over my credit card number.
I directed Britt as to what to pack, and we got in the truck. I don't really like driving, so he drove; at the first intersection, I told him to go left, which is south. "So we're not going to Ouray," he said. Then I told him to turn right, to get on highway 160 westbound. "Okay, we're not going to Pagosa." The next intersection's direction meant we might be going to Telluride, or to Moab. But after we passed through Dolores and I sent him off on a small county road, he knew where we were headed - because there was nowhere else it went! (He admitted that Dunton was on his shortlist of possible destinations, since once I told him to pack a swimsuit he guessed we'd be going somewhere with a hot spring.)
We pulled into the drive and parked by a dilapidated-looking building, but once we went inside, wow! It was all very nicely fixed up and decorated, and the people who greeted us were super-friendly. Julia greeted us with, "Happy anniversary!" and took us into the saloon where we had some small glasses of good dark beer while we filled out the paperwork. The bartender, Allie, told us about the history of Dunton and about the current owners (super-rich Germans who fell in love with Colorado). Julia took us on a tour of the grounds, ending at our cabin, which was not the tiny second-least-expensive one I'd chosen but a much nicer and larger cabin right on the river - they'd given us an upgrade! (Hooray for shoulder season!) Our bags were waiting for us along with a bottle of wine.
We unpacked and poked around the cabin. Its name (they're all named) is 'Dolores' for the river it sits on (actually the West Fork of the Dolores), though it used to be called the Honeymoon Cabin. Then we sat on the deck watching the river go by until it was one o'clock and time to go up to the saloon for lunch. They have a big open kitchen and a long table for all the guests. This is the outside of the building that contains the office and saloon (yeah, going up to the office - the door behind the mat - you wonder, is this really the luxury resort I booked??):
And here is the inside:
There were not many guests. The only people staying for the night were us, a couple from LA, and a family from Denver with a high-school-aged son. There were also a half-dozen people from Telluride who had come for a "lunch and soak" afternoon deal (which we may have to do sometime). Lunch was delicious, trout in a paprika sauce with roasted radishes and brussel sprouts and other vegetables, excellent bread, and wild rice (which I wasn't so crazy about). We had a little pinot grigio with it, and then lemon squares for dessert. When the woman from LA said she didn't like lemon, the staff immediately asked her what kind of cookie she'd like - they had some ready to go and they'd bake her one fresh right away! (They had asked ahead of time if we had any food allergy or preferences - the boy from Denver had a gluten-free diet, and they had special stuff for him all prepared - and in fact they had asked me on the phone if I wanted a special dessert that night. But that comes later...)
The weather was cool and cloudy, and there was still quite a bit of snow in the trees, but I wanted to go for a hike. Julia had given us a map showing their "winter trail" loop, and Sarah, the manager, had offered us a walkie-talkie (which we declined); they also had loaner packs, boots, hiking poles, and snowshoes, but we had the first three and figured we could do without the last. We filled a water bottle and headed up the road to where the trail took off.
The snow was mostly packed enough that we could tromp on top of it, but we both fell through in numerous spots; usually up to mid-calf, but sometimes all the way above the knee. But we'd dressed for it, with hiking pants, wool socks, and gaiters, and our feet stayed mostly dry. We went to the high point of the loop, where another trail went higher, but we only managed about half a mile before the snow was too deep and soft to slog through, so we turned around and completed the loop. It ended up being about four miles total, and 750' vertical.
After this strenuous excursion in the snow, it was time to warm up! We headed over to the bathhouse, which has a warm pool inside and also one outside. The water is rich with calcium bicarbonate, dissolved iron, manganese, and a little lithium. This makes it look a murky orange, but it certainly felt nice.
Cocktail hour was at 6:30, and Britt and I each had a drink, along with a lovely charcuterie board with meats, cheeses, and olives, then dinner was served at 7:30. A citrus salad with pinot grigio was the first course, then a local beef and wild mushroom ragout and some really good focaccia, served with cabernet sauvignon. One of the chefs came out to tell us about the food, and Britt mentioned we like to pick wild mushrooms, and the chef got into an excited conversation with us about the mushrooms in the area, which was fun. For dessert, they brought out my special request: creme brulee! It was decorated with berries and tasted delicious. They had a special gluten-free cake for the boy from Denver - the trip was celebrating his birthday, and that was his special request - and we all tasted it, and it was also quite good. (I liked the creme brulee better, though!)
It had started to spit rain while we were eating, but we had worn our rain jackets to the saloon, so we didn't have to use the umbrellas that stood ready in the saloon's hallway, but hustled back to our cabin. It rained quite a bit overnight, but in the morning, the sky was blue and beautiful.
After breakfast (Britt had granola and fruit, I had French Toast Waffles with apple compote) we took a little mini-hike over to the waterfall at the back of the property, which was just beginning to melt out. (They do ice climbing on it in the winter.) We could hear the water gurgling below us, but the snow was well packed and we didn't fall in. Someone had made a heart out of petals or leaves, how cute! Then we warmed up with another soak in the hot springs.
We left right around noon, with a picnic lunch they'd made for us (bacon and avocado wrap sandwiches, and a selection of apples, potato chips, and cookies) that we ate on a bench by the Dolores River in the town of Dolores, about halfway to home. It was a soft landing before getting back to real life, but it was a nice break while it lasted!
Anyway, I have to say that considering all the wonderful things the Dunton staff did for us - the upgrade, the late departure, the food and wine and attentive, friendly service - it was worth the ridiculous amount of money. (Minus discount, plus taxes and service charge, it worked out to about $835.) I'd like to go again sometime! Just got to save up....
Back in August 2014 we took a van trip to climb Lone Cone, west of Telluride, and on the way we passed the ghost town of Dunton, which looked from the road like a dozen or so broken-down cabins. When I looked it up later, I discovered it was (as I said in my trip report)"a breathtakingly expensive hot springs resort". I've always kind of wanted to check it out, though, and so a couple of weeks ago I was browsing on their website thinking that their least-expensive cabin would be a splurge, but doable since we only had one night, and while I was looking a chat window popped up and one of their reservations people asked if I had any questions. It turned out that they give a 10% discount to locals, and would be willing to waive the normal 2-night minimum since it's shoulder season, and I decided to go for it. I settled on their second-least-expensive cabin (their least expensive has only an outdoor shower, and in April that's chancy) and handed over my credit card number.
I directed Britt as to what to pack, and we got in the truck. I don't really like driving, so he drove; at the first intersection, I told him to go left, which is south. "So we're not going to Ouray," he said. Then I told him to turn right, to get on highway 160 westbound. "Okay, we're not going to Pagosa." The next intersection's direction meant we might be going to Telluride, or to Moab. But after we passed through Dolores and I sent him off on a small county road, he knew where we were headed - because there was nowhere else it went! (He admitted that Dunton was on his shortlist of possible destinations, since once I told him to pack a swimsuit he guessed we'd be going somewhere with a hot spring.)
We pulled into the drive and parked by a dilapidated-looking building, but once we went inside, wow! It was all very nicely fixed up and decorated, and the people who greeted us were super-friendly. Julia greeted us with, "Happy anniversary!" and took us into the saloon where we had some small glasses of good dark beer while we filled out the paperwork. The bartender, Allie, told us about the history of Dunton and about the current owners (super-rich Germans who fell in love with Colorado). Julia took us on a tour of the grounds, ending at our cabin, which was not the tiny second-least-expensive one I'd chosen but a much nicer and larger cabin right on the river - they'd given us an upgrade! (Hooray for shoulder season!) Our bags were waiting for us along with a bottle of wine.
We unpacked and poked around the cabin. Its name (they're all named) is 'Dolores' for the river it sits on (actually the West Fork of the Dolores), though it used to be called the Honeymoon Cabin. Then we sat on the deck watching the river go by until it was one o'clock and time to go up to the saloon for lunch. They have a big open kitchen and a long table for all the guests. This is the outside of the building that contains the office and saloon (yeah, going up to the office - the door behind the mat - you wonder, is this really the luxury resort I booked??):
And here is the inside:
There were not many guests. The only people staying for the night were us, a couple from LA, and a family from Denver with a high-school-aged son. There were also a half-dozen people from Telluride who had come for a "lunch and soak" afternoon deal (which we may have to do sometime). Lunch was delicious, trout in a paprika sauce with roasted radishes and brussel sprouts and other vegetables, excellent bread, and wild rice (which I wasn't so crazy about). We had a little pinot grigio with it, and then lemon squares for dessert. When the woman from LA said she didn't like lemon, the staff immediately asked her what kind of cookie she'd like - they had some ready to go and they'd bake her one fresh right away! (They had asked ahead of time if we had any food allergy or preferences - the boy from Denver had a gluten-free diet, and they had special stuff for him all prepared - and in fact they had asked me on the phone if I wanted a special dessert that night. But that comes later...)
The weather was cool and cloudy, and there was still quite a bit of snow in the trees, but I wanted to go for a hike. Julia had given us a map showing their "winter trail" loop, and Sarah, the manager, had offered us a walkie-talkie (which we declined); they also had loaner packs, boots, hiking poles, and snowshoes, but we had the first three and figured we could do without the last. We filled a water bottle and headed up the road to where the trail took off.
The snow was mostly packed enough that we could tromp on top of it, but we both fell through in numerous spots; usually up to mid-calf, but sometimes all the way above the knee. But we'd dressed for it, with hiking pants, wool socks, and gaiters, and our feet stayed mostly dry. We went to the high point of the loop, where another trail went higher, but we only managed about half a mile before the snow was too deep and soft to slog through, so we turned around and completed the loop. It ended up being about four miles total, and 750' vertical.
After this strenuous excursion in the snow, it was time to warm up! We headed over to the bathhouse, which has a warm pool inside and also one outside. The water is rich with calcium bicarbonate, dissolved iron, manganese, and a little lithium. This makes it look a murky orange, but it certainly felt nice.
Cocktail hour was at 6:30, and Britt and I each had a drink, along with a lovely charcuterie board with meats, cheeses, and olives, then dinner was served at 7:30. A citrus salad with pinot grigio was the first course, then a local beef and wild mushroom ragout and some really good focaccia, served with cabernet sauvignon. One of the chefs came out to tell us about the food, and Britt mentioned we like to pick wild mushrooms, and the chef got into an excited conversation with us about the mushrooms in the area, which was fun. For dessert, they brought out my special request: creme brulee! It was decorated with berries and tasted delicious. They had a special gluten-free cake for the boy from Denver - the trip was celebrating his birthday, and that was his special request - and we all tasted it, and it was also quite good. (I liked the creme brulee better, though!)
It had started to spit rain while we were eating, but we had worn our rain jackets to the saloon, so we didn't have to use the umbrellas that stood ready in the saloon's hallway, but hustled back to our cabin. It rained quite a bit overnight, but in the morning, the sky was blue and beautiful.
After breakfast (Britt had granola and fruit, I had French Toast Waffles with apple compote) we took a little mini-hike over to the waterfall at the back of the property, which was just beginning to melt out. (They do ice climbing on it in the winter.) We could hear the water gurgling below us, but the snow was well packed and we didn't fall in. Someone had made a heart out of petals or leaves, how cute! Then we warmed up with another soak in the hot springs.
We left right around noon, with a picnic lunch they'd made for us (bacon and avocado wrap sandwiches, and a selection of apples, potato chips, and cookies) that we ate on a bench by the Dolores River in the town of Dolores, about halfway to home. It was a soft landing before getting back to real life, but it was a nice break while it lasted!
Anyway, I have to say that considering all the wonderful things the Dunton staff did for us - the upgrade, the late departure, the food and wine and attentive, friendly service - it was worth the ridiculous amount of money. (Minus discount, plus taxes and service charge, it worked out to about $835.) I'd like to go again sometime! Just got to save up....
(no subject)
Date: 2018-04-13 12:20 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2018-04-13 02:47 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2018-04-13 03:34 pm (UTC)I'm looking at the snow pics again and feeling guilty that I didn't go out this morning when it was in high forties.:) Maybe tomorrow.
warning: tl;dr ahead!
Date: 2018-04-13 04:06 pm (UTC)Progressives believe that coal is likely to become more expensive due to environmental costs eventually being assessed, and that renewables are already cheaper on some scales, and that if we can produce our own power (southern CO has abundant sunshine) it will provide jobs and local economic benefit. Conservatives believe that renewables are only cheaper due to subsidies, which will be discontinued soon and then prices will go up, and that only wealthy liberals will benefit. Though they're throwing around entirely fake statistics, like the guy who said that it takes so much energy to make wind turbines that they never pay for themselves (which took me two minutes of googling to disprove), and my gut feeling is they just hate the idea of renewable energy because they hate environmentalists, who are "the other" in their world.
This is fueled (hah) by the local environmental advocacy group helping the progressives, and the local "liberty coalition" (property rights, God, and guns) supporting the conservatives. They're also insinuating that Britt's support for increasing local solar generation is due to his part-ownership of a solar company, so that he can make oodles of money by building the future solar development here. (Which is bogus because his company doesn't do installations in Colorado.) So battle lines are sharply drawn as a matter of culture rather than on any real factual basis.
Hah, thank you for letting me rant. :-)
Re: warning: tl;dr ahead!
Date: 2018-04-13 06:37 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2018-04-13 12:32 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2018-04-13 02:48 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2018-04-13 02:28 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2018-04-13 02:48 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2018-04-13 02:51 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2018-04-13 02:49 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2018-04-13 06:15 am (UTC)I will have to add that to the short list for our 25th.
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Date: 2018-04-13 02:51 pm (UTC)For our 25th we went to NYC and saw Hamilton, and all things considered that was definitely more expensive than this was!
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Date: 2018-04-13 12:43 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2018-04-13 02:51 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2018-04-13 01:48 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2018-04-13 02:51 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2018-04-13 03:45 pm (UTC)Love the shots of you guys hiking through the snow. And what a nice thing to stumble on in your anniversary hike, that heart made out of leaves/petals :)
Happy anniversary!
(no subject)
Date: 2018-04-13 04:12 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2018-04-13 04:26 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2018-04-13 04:28 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2018-04-16 08:05 pm (UTC)Good luck with election and house-building :)
(no subject)
Date: 2018-04-18 02:38 pm (UTC)Next time you come visit you can stay with us in New House!
(no subject)
Date: 2018-04-21 07:31 am (UTC)I really want to come visit again, but I have to figure out how to not just lounge around on your couch all day, which totally works for me (vacation!), but is frustrating for you (understandably) :D