Our Casa

We are getting our little tin can 'winterized' due to some unseasonably cold weather. That is not a bad thing however, now we will be more prepared for January. Sure we live in a campground, but, the location is pretty amazing. Here are a couple of pics from the homestead.

This is Mt. Shavano, sitting at 14,229, it is the 17th. highest peak in Colorado. This is our view out the front door. Out the front window we can see Monarch Ski area. We were on the southern edge of the big storm that made it's way across the country in the last couple of days. Monarch Ski area recieved about 15" of snow, they are pretty sure that opening day will be November 26th. I drove up to the top of Monarch Pass, it was a winter wonderland. Trucks were required to have chains, and they actually closed the pass for a few hours to deal with 3 semi-trucks that went off the road.

For a couple of inside pictures, we have a small borrowed woodstove (Thanks Pete & Jeff) that keeps us warmer than the outside air. We collect sticks when we go hiking, a couple handfulls keeps the chill off for an evening.

We spend a lot of time in the Kitchen. It felt incomplete until we put up this great hook system that friends at the North House Folk School got for us before we left Grand Marais. Super Cool!

With the howling winds coming off the pass, they've been 30-50mph up there, we were loosing way too much heat from the floor, so we put up some roofing material around the bottom. Although it is a nice night tonight, we feel like it made a big difference. Temperatures last night were right around zero, but it was 52 degrees in town this afternoon. As soon as the sun hits the tin can in the morning, I think it warms up about 5 degrees in the trailer. This view is to the East from our Casa. This view is looking out over the Arkansas river, this gives us great sunrises. It is about 10 miles to Salida down the valley.

We need your help! We can't keep refering to our little shelter as the 'tin can'. We're asking you to submit names. This is like a contest without any real tangible prize, just the satisfation of helping us sleep better at night.