The Trip To Telluride - Part Two

As far as I'm concerned, the place to stay in Telluride was in Mountain Village, not in the actual town of Telluride which was situated in narrow claustrophobic valley.
Granted the Village was a bit removed and a car was required,
but unlike the town it was quiet and had expansive views

The house that we stayed in was part of the Lodges on Sundance
all built with classic Western style log construction.

It was adjacent to the Sundance run

so it had the all important ski in - ski out access

There were windows everywhere so there was plenty of interior light

not that you can tell from this photo

Here's the image from the rental website.

See how bright it was?

I loved the fact that the house was decorated in warm shades of earthy brown with comfy wing chairs, a distressed leather couch, a cozy fireplace and a flat screen tv.

Looking backwards from the living room was an open kitchen with carved wood cabinets and granite counters.  Above it was the open loft-office.

In the corner next to the kitchen was the dinning area with comfortable high backed chairs and a large wooden table.

Since there were six of us staying in the house I appreciated the spaciousness of the interior.
I also loved all of the details in the decoration such as this antler chandelier

and this carved wood armoire

I would definitely recommend the Lodges on Sundance

as long as you can handle the altitude.

Finally, on the topic of altitude, the highlight of my trip was taking the gondola up the mountain to meet up with some friends for drinks then dinner at Allred's Restaurant. 

The food was great and the view of the valley was amazing.

If you go to Telluride, in summer or winter, do not miss Allred's.

The Trip To Telluride - Part One

I have decided that you're really not on vacation unless you leave your computer at home, which is what I decided to do on my weekend jaunt to Dallas and Telluride.  All hell may have broken out abroad but I had absolutely no idea about it.
I was strictly on vacation.
It started early Saturday morning with meeting up with the group of my fellow travellers at the Van Nuys Airport.  I rarely take vacations but having been offered the option of travelling by general aviation rather than commercial, I couldn't say no to this trip.  It's an unbelievable luxury to be able to drive your car right onto the tarmac, unload your bags and then have your car valet parked for you....not to mention avoiding the crowds and the TSA.
So we were off on a quick 2 plus hour flight to Love Field in Dallas for an early afternoon wedding.

Here is the view of the airport with the skyline of Dallas in the distance.
The wedding ceremony was held at the pretty chapel at SMU and the reception was held at a nearby country club.

Out of respect for the bride and groom I didn't take photographs at the actual wedding but I wanted to show you this photo of the flowers at the reception.

The wedding party sat at a V shaped table set with towering glass vases overflowing with white flowers and spot lit for dramatic effect. It was stunning.

The reception went on as receptions do, dinner, speeches, dancing, drinking...
and after a few hours we got the universal signal that it was time to take our leave,
which of course was when the DJ put on "Play That Funky Music White Boy".
Is there some special DJ code that this particular song always has to be played at the most white bread of weddings?

The next morning, after a brunch at the home of the bride's parents, we were off to the airport for the 2 hour flight to Colorado.
Here is the little Cessna Citation that we flew in.

The flight was uneventful, except for the severe turbulence that we hit as we descended over the mountains on our approach to Montrose. For the record, severe turbulence is when you are lifted completely out of your seat and you hit your head on the top of the plane. Thank God it only lasted only couple of minutes.  While I had complete confidence in the competence of the pilots, and while I was fortunate to have been holding a goldendoodle puppy in my lap which kept me calm,  I'd rather not have that particular experience with severe turbulence again.

Once we landed, we piled into our huge SUV and drove up into the mountains. 
It had just snowed the previous night and the storm had passed over
so everything was white and bright.

Here's a view of the mountains from the car. We had the most incredible weather, cold but clear.

Finally, after an hour or so we arrived at our 4 story townhouse in Telluride MountainVillage. 
The house had an amazing view, but being situated at above 10,000 feet altitude was an issue.
I'll post photos of the house tomorrow.

Snow Photos

Until I have time latter this week to catch up with my blogging, I'll leave you with 2 photos that I took yesterday in Colorado.

This photo is of a herd of elk cows that crossed the highway just in front of our car then headed off through a snow covered field.

This is the view of the Rocky Mountains as seen from the car as we drove from Telluride to the airport Montrose.