Leadville Living

Posted on September 18, 2016 by Amelia M.

My friend Jordyn’s family has a house in Leadville, Colorado and I was lucky enough to hide away at the “Burrow” for a weekend. The week leading up to Labor day weekend this year was pretty hectic, which made our get away especially needed.

I loved exploring the town. Leadville itself is pretty itty bitty, but charming. It reminded me of Stars Hollow. We could walk from the house to town, no problem. And the Burrow itself is also pretty charming too. It used to be a stagecoach stop and is deceivingly large.

An example of the Leadville houses.

One of Leadville’s finest establishments is the Rock Hut. There were so many amazing things to see. Everything ranging from $1.00 minerals to $2,000 alien-like formations. They also had petrified wood, which I neglected to get a picture of.

My YA fiction collection gained these agate bookends.

But I was tempted by these pet rocks too.

Jordyn’s dad drove us around on their ATV and we visited the Leadville Hatchery. We ate food and enjoyed the scenery until we were rained out. I may have eaten my weight in onion dip.

We also spent a sunnier afternoon at Turquoise Lake.

Me + Turquoise Lake

LADIES OF THE LAKE

And before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye and head home.

We took the scenic route home.

Thanks Burrow! You were good to us. Not pictured: Jordyn’s dog Fergie, who anxiously stared out this window anytime people left.

Couldn’t ask for better roadtrip companions.

Currently: sad to see the Utah State Fair and Dine O’Round leaving Salt Lake soon!

Spring City

Posted on July 4, 2016 by Amelia M.

I spent my Memorial Day weekend [Is it bad to wait until July to post about Memorial Day?] visiting the itty bitty but oh so charming Spring City [If you want to know more about this little artist haven check out House That Lars Built’s guide here]. They were having their annual home tour. I always love looking around people’s homes, plus these homes are pretty much all historic landmarks and many of them belong to artists, so I was very happy.

This was one of my favorite houses. I loved the way they put everything together. The next photo of the wallpaper is also from this house [one of the bathrooms].

This wins the “Favorite wallpaper” award. I know pineapples are trendy right now, but I’m 100% on board with this trend.

It helped that we were also there on a beautiful day. It rained for a bout 5 minutes, but other than that it was sunny and gorgeous.

This house was especially interesting because the caretakers gave you a little tour as well. Although it was also very, very small. It’s hard to imagine living there full time.

Not technically a home, but still a great stop on the tour. This church looked even better on the inside, but alas no pictures were allowed.

We also met some of the sheep of Spring City.

We also supported the city by buying lunch from the youth group [for their upcoming camp trips] and selecting some cookies and tiny pies from the bake sale. It was fun getting to know the small town side of things.

Also, please note, if you had any doubt about the picturesque quality of things, actual white picket fences may have been involved in this tour.

Oh and did I mention the poppies? What more could you ask for?

Currently: Wishing you a happy Independence day! [Update: And a happy 100 blog posts to me! ]

Walking among the Hoodoos

Posted on August 30, 2015 by Amelia M.

I recently checked another item off my Utah bucket list: Bryce Canyon National Park.

Earlier that week I injured my ankle, so my first stop was the visitor’s center to buy a walking stick.

Emily was a wonderful hiking companion. She even helped me limp down the hills! We were hot and dusty so this walking stick picture is the closest we came to a hiking selfie, haha

However, we didn’t let that keep us from seeing all the sites. Mostly we got to know the hoodoos. Also known as tent rocks, fairy chimneys, or earth pyramids. Whatever you call them they were lovely to look at.

The park even has a little shuttle that takes you to a couple different outlook points. We saw Inspiration Point, Sunrise Point, Sunset Point, and Bryce Point.

We ended the day with a short hike to a waterfall. The hardest part of the hike was finding the entrance! It was hidden outside of the regular park entrance on the side of the road.