When You Hear This Sound, Wendy

Inspirational song: The Rocky Mountains (Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind)

While we still don't know exactly how our contract will unwind, whether we dance around the tens of thousands in repairs the brick house needs or just both quit the field with our dignity intact, the Mister and I did some reconnaissance driving to view houses we've seen in emails and on Zillow. We saw one house in a decent neighborhood not super far from the brick oven, and one in an area where I really did not feel comfortable. After errands and gathering two extra passengers (daughter and boyfriend), we expanded our scouting range to include certain mountain towns. I learned quickly several pros and cons for that idea.

Prices in the mountains have not risen as sharply as on the front range, and the houses seem to stay on the market longer. Of course, down low houses sell in about three days, on average, so it's easy to seem like a stable market compared to that. However, it doesn't take much driving to be out if my comfort zone on torn up, washed out, or simply unpaved mountain roads. I picked my tiny car for narrow streets and parking garages in downtown Charleston. It was not chosen with twisty-turny canyons or snow in mind. I was uncomfortable most of the day today, and that is not an indicator that we were in a good spot to buy a house. It was cool and rainy at altitude today, which was a pleasant change. But to the thousands of people exiting Rocky Mountain National Park after the holiday weekend, it was probably a shock. Driving was a snarled mess, and restaurants all down through town from the entrance to that Park were packed. We tried to get on a wait list for one, but gave up long before the predicted hour wait was over. That leads to an important consideration--do we want to live in a small resort town where the streets and restaurants can barely handle the increase in population during certain times of the year? Sure, living there would be close to a good family friend who is starting a new job there, but it might be extra far from other amenities I particularly want nearby. We eliminated a few areas off our renewed search, saving our realtor some time and gasoline. But we still have no hard answers.

It was when the kids were little bitty that we spent vacation time up in these particular communities. Before the girls started school, my father and stepmother rented a vacation cabin along the Peak to Peak highway, and we all stayed there, living rustically and going horseback riding. We also spent one night in the Stanley Hotel, which was the inspiration for The Shining. We may or may not have been in the famous room 217, the one where Stephen King and his wife stayed in the 1970s, the room that was said to be haunted. I do remember clearly waking in the middle of the night and feeling like Mr S-P and I were most definitely not the only ones in our room. I am not sure I ever really got over that moment. I got a chill just looking at the Stanley today, and not because I had the car window down to take a picture on a cold, rainy day.

We sure had an interesting day playing in the mountains. I don't know yet whether I want to live and work up there yet. It depends on the housing market (on many levels). The search for Park West continues.