June 1, 2012, Pike's Peak, Middleton Cabin, Buena Vista and Gunnison

June 1, 2012, Middleton and Seewoester Cabins.  Up early today, we drove down I-25 to Colorado Springs, then west on Highway 24 to Buena Vista.  We finished the day by topping Monarch Pass - elevation, 11,300 feet above sea level - and settling in Gunnison.  Gunnison has special meaning to us, because we stayed in the Farm and Home cabin on the Taylor River near here in 1974 when Casey was one year old.  We spent a week there and our love for the mountains was cemented. 

On first trip here, in 1974, we stopped by the Middleton cabin in Florissant, west of Colorado Springs.  The cabin had no electricity or plumbing.  Floyd was a frugal man and saw no need to improve a cabin they occupied only a few weeks each summer.  The following year, the Middletons allowed us to stay in the cabin a few nights in exchange for doing a few odd jobs while there.  Fred and Anna joined us the final night, before moving on to Estes Park.  We rented a pop-up camper and stayed in Moraine Park Campground for about five days. 

Somewhere between Florissant and Buena Vista is the Tourtillott property.  We were there 6-7 years ago and I thought I might be able to find it again.  I failed.  So on to Buena Vista where we thought we might spend the night.  We arrived in the early afternoon, too early to camp.  So, Annie Googled Fred's brother Doug, got an address which I punched into the GPS. 

We drove directly to the house and Doug and Kim were in residence.  We chatted a while, then departed for Gunnison.  We settled in here about 6:00 this evening and got a space with a cable TV connection.  For the first time in a week, we watched the news.  Not much has changed, except the Dow Jones dropped into negative territory for the first time this year.  I didn't need to know that. 

The pictures show Pike's Peak, the Middleton cabin, scenes along the highway and Doug and Kim's home.  Tomorrow, well, we have no idea what tomorrow will bring.  We may stay in this area a day or two, or we may move on.  I like this.  After 41 years of responding to deadlines, it is nice not to have any.