Splendid Isolation

For not being anywhere near where we'd planned to be, we really couldn't ask to be in a better place. Gunnison is simply great. Have we mentioned lately how much we love it?

We really do.

We went Jeepin' yesterday with our friends Karen and Arvin and their grandsons. Our route was Alpine Road, which took us on an amazing and incredibly scenic ride high into the mountains above Curecanti National Recreation Area. It was awesome!

One of the treats of our arrival back here in Gunnison was a chance meeting with a couple of folks over there on our blog roll. When we pulled into the park Saturday, the manager looked at our rig and said, "Hey! There's another one of those here." As we drove to our spot we couldn't help but notice a 2009 Tour with the exact same paint scheme as our moose. With a different floor plan, it was Bullwinkle's fraternal, rather than identical, twin. Our first thought was it would be fun to meet our Winnie kin. Our second thought was how much we lusted after their healthy heat pump. (But, I digress!)

Sunday night we were sitting outside enjoying the evening. A menagerie-walking couple came our way. There were two dogs, two cats and a familiar face. "We've come to meet the other Tour folks," they announced. As we shook hands, I was flipping through the visual rolodex in my mind. I tried my best to identify this familiar face. After the handshakes, we moved on to introductions.

"I'm Carrie," said the familiar face I couldn't place. With a name, I instantly made the match.

"I know you!" I exclaimed.

Carrie Barton is a blogger we've followed for years. Back in 2010, we tried to hook up in Texas Hill Country, but we weren't able to connect. We exchanged a few emails, but lost track as we got back to the business of living. What a pleasant surprise to have this chance meet up here in Gunnison! We exchanged pleasantries and made plans to catch up later. We look forward to getting to know Carrie and her husband Bill better and comparing Winnie stories. (Perhaps somebody should warn them...)

Tonight, we met up with Carrie, Bill, Doug, Nona and our neighbors for a park happy hour. The special guests of tonight's gathering were Dave and Susan, local experts in hiking, biking and 4x4 trails in and around Gunnison. (There are many!) Dave and Susan have lived in Gunnison for some 15 years and are obviously in love with their hometown. They told us about the all of the "can't miss" trails around town. (Suddenly, we have a long list of places to visit while we're here!)

As they gushed about all that is good about Gunnison, one of the things they pointed out was how, unlike all of those "popular" destinations along I-70 across the Rockies, Gunnison is quiet. This favorite town of ours has all of the scenery (and then some) of places like Breckenridge and Aspen, but with a fraction of the the folks.

Dave had a name for it. "We call it splendid isolation."

That's it! Those two simple words so perfectly capture what we love about Gunnison! It's beautiful. Yes, in fact, it's splendid. And, it's far from the beaten path. To get here, you need to be willing to traverse a healthy mountain pass or two. As the crow flies, I-70 isn't all that far. But, if you weren't born with wings, that busy interstate is seemingly a zillion miles away. In that way, it's isolated.

But, in this lush green valley between these mountain passes lives a community of friendly people who simply love living in the mountains. They're friendly. They're welcoming. They're wonderful. And, for a few weeks this Summer and last, we have the wonderful privilege of calling them our neighbors.

Yep. We love it here.

Turns out this lovely local couple who provided us the perfect description for our favorite place has made some exciting history of their own. Dave is an elite mountain biker who has competed (and won) against the likes of Floyd Landis and Lance Armstrong. (Who knew?) And, tonight, as Dave bragged on is wife, we learned that Susan competed in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. She won a bronze medal in Women's Mountain Biking. (How cool is that?) She brought her medal along to share with us all. She was so gracious!

After all of the congratulations, we shared a few minutes talking with this Olympian from Northern California who has happily made her home here in Gunnison. Over the years, she explained she's learned to live with and come to love the brutal winters here in the mountains.

Maybe we could, too!