Another World

We woke up this morning to find that five inches or so of beautiful sugary snow had fallen during the night.  This was the view up the street from where my morning Pilates class was held.  Lovely.  It won't last since the sun was already shining strongly by 9:30 and no additional snow is predicted for the next five days, but for the moment it was quite entrancing.

Later in the day Ben and I took a drive up into the mountains, heading up one of the canyons near Boulder and driving up, up, up to reach the Peak to Peak highway.  Up there they had a foot or more of snow and it was quite another world.  We stopped at the Millsite Inn, an old structure which hearkened back to a much earlier and more rugged time.  

It was a place full of character, starting with the "Free Beer tomorrow" sign on the front door.  

I loved the painting above the bar of a nude woman by the seaside just waiting for a wave to wash over her.   Made you wonder, as did the hand printed sign above her.   The super large bottle of Irish Whiskey led Ben to quip "It gets pretty cold up here!" 

The collection of copperware was a surprise.  Pretty refined for such a rugged place. 

More copper, here shown on the taps for beer, but also on the counter and the refrigerator doors.

The fellows running the place were also full of character.  Two brothers, both I'd guess in their seventies, long haired and leathery faces, talking about going back country skiing up by Brainard Lake and "falling on my ass in the deep snow" while they filled their cups with coffee and doctored them with a shot of whisky and a second shot of something else alcoholic.  

On the way out we noticed this drawing hanging near the entrance.  Clearly Chester was also full of character.

It only took us thirty minutes to drive back to Boulder but I felt like I'd been in another world.