Moved In

We have officially been at 10,050 ft now for a little over a week and absolutely love it in our new home. It has been an adjustment. We have grieved the loss of the familiar but are excited about the new adventures that lie before us. We really didn't have any issues acclimating to the altitude, God's grace I guess, the weather has been absolutely gorgeous! I think one of the biggest misconceptions about the mountains is that it is cold. While the temps are lower, the proximity to the sun, the amount of sunshine and the dry air really make it pleasant, heck I was out in jeans and a t-shirt in the morning while it was about 25. As I write this there is snow on the ground outside, probably about 50 degrees and a majority of the windows are open just to keep the house cool.

Yes I did mention snow, it snowed yesterday here. It probably dropped 2-3 inches, but most of it has melted away. On the top Mount Elbert and Mount Massive the storm yesterday probably dropped 2-3 ft! They look absolutely beautiful against the blue sky. The snow did come a bit early this year, or so I'm told, and we are expecting another 3 inches tomorrow. It will all melt off by Monday. One of the misconceptions that we have, or so we've been told, is that even though the snow around here piles up we don't get it in a few big snow storms, rather we get all of the snow over many, many little snows usually 4-8in at a time. The temps don't allow the snow to melt. The roads are very well maintained, the sun usually melts the snow off the pavement very quickly, or the snow simply evaporates. It's kind of weird. All that said, we love the snow and the cooler temps.

Another aspect of living up here that we are adjusting to is how quiet it is and how dark it gets. We are only a mile from the Leadville main street (Harrison Ave), but we don't live in the city limits and at night you can actually see the cloud of stars. (I will try and get a pic of this at some point.) The boys and I walked the perimeter of our property (we have 11 acres) at night and turned off the lights. You couldn't see your hand in front of your face! It was kind of eerie but when you looked up and saw the stars... WOW!

The boys are loving it, they have so much room! They are eagerly awaiting the migration of the elk down from the mountains and the other animals to show up. On the property we have seen the evidence of wapiti (elk), mulies (mule deer), fox, bear, coyotes, and possibly mountain lion, although it's hard to tell the difference between the scat of mountain lions and coyotes. We have seen the tracks, but they looked pretty old.

The Lord has been so faithful to us. We did attend services at the Community Church of Leadville and have already made some great friends. The boys have spent a couple of days over at their houses which was such a help while our movers were here delivering all of our stuff! Folks have been extremely friendly, we look forward to forging those new relationships.

So far so good, our first week has been filled with joy and with tears, all in all good. We miss our old friends and family, and look forward to the new. Our first week of this journey is over, now onto the second!

All of the pics below are taken from our back deck.

Sunset over Massive and Elbert:


Mount Elbert (Tallest Peak in the Rocky Mountains):


Mount Massive (Second tallest peak in the Rocky Mountains):