In thinking about the Favorite Place challenge, I thought immediately about this humble little place in the Rockies. The roots that bind me to this little old miner’s cabin near Boulder, CO run very deep. My father’s family has been in the Boulder area since the 1890’s. My dad was born in Boulder, in 1933, when the hospital building was just a house. My grandparents bought this tiny cabin somewhere in the 1950’s. It’s only about 1200 square feet but it has so much character and historical charm. It’s made out of the original log and chinking dating back to the 1920’s. The cabin does have electricity, rigged by my grandfather, but is not winterized. When we were little kids we still had to use the outhouse. I remember having to run in the pitch black of night outside to use the outhouse. To a small kid, the blackness of the night made the distance to the loo feel like it was a mile from the cabin. In reality it’s about 20 yards. The porch screen door has that familiar slam I’ve heard for the forty plus years I’ve been going to this wonderful place.
Growing up, we visited our grandparents at the cabin frequently. The back bedroom was the kids room and the beds in there were jammed together so it was like one big mattress. With the cool mountain nights, we had lots of blankets piled all around us making it so cozy, it felt like camp. The primary feature of the cabin is a giant river rock hearth which roars with a huge fire and heats the place so warmly. When we were little we used to play pick-up-sticks in front of the fireplace and roast marshmallows. We still have those same pick-up-sticks and still play in front of the fire.
I learned to tie my shoes here on a water tank which. As kids we would go to the creek and bring back big buckets of water from which my grandmother would then boil the water on the stove. This was very often our drinking water. My father’s relatives, would come up and we would all go on long hikes into the Indian Peaks Wilderness where we would fish and mushroom hunt. Pam, Todd, my nephew, and I all spent a recent Halloween up there in the pitch black night watching scary movies. My favorite memory, however, is when my best buddy in life, Todd, and I got married there. Sixty-ish of our best friends joined us under the pine trees for a very simple ceremony. It was the perfect spot!
The flyspeck of a village where my family cabin is, is part true ghost town, part eclectic community. There is only one stop sign in the town and 2 dirt roads. The mushroom hunting is pretty great, last summer we saw a moose every weekend we were there, and the darkness of the night and stars on display is mind-boggling.
This is the place that makes me the happiest. There isn’t any internet or TV in the cabin, only a DVD player. I love waking with the sun, going to bed when it’s dark, watching the hummingbirds at the feeder, going for hikes, hearing the roar of the creek, having the neighbor dog, Saber, come over to great us when we roll up to the property, coffee on the big back deck, and just being in the moment with nature all around. No matter where my Life Bus rolls, this is where I always want to come back to.
Here’s to your happy place!!
Thanks to Word Press for another great challenge!
Wow, what a wonderful story and a wonderful place!
Thank you so much for reading about the little cabbage in the woods (my German grandmother would always call it a cabbage instead of a cabin 🙂 I am so happy you enjoyed the story.
I just nominated you for the Sunshine Blogger award. Have a great day!
Nicole!! Thank you so much. What a true honor. We are blessed to have met such wonderful people out there in the blogosphere with our Life Bus 🙂 I am so happy our paths have crossed 🙂
Thanks so much for the nomination Nicole!!! We appreciate you riding along with us!!
I love this place too!!! Can’t wait for a visit (or two) this summer!! Saber kitty is one of the best parts 🙂
Yes bring on summer, and Halloween, and the cabin 🙂 Saber is the best! XOXO
I always longed for a family cabin in the Black Hills of SD. Yours looks idyllic.
I love the Black Hills area. It is idyllic for us and I’m glad you find it so as well. Here’s to spending time in simple places in the mountains 🙂 Have a great weekend.
So are you in the Black Hills? I didn’t know that. Where are you?
Sorry if I was confusing 🙂 We’re not in the Black Hills but I used to travel through there for work quite frequently and would always take the little back roads to enjoy my time there as much as possible. Our cabin is west of Boulder, I’m in Denver.
I lived in Cheyenne for 7 years and went to the U. of W in Laramie before that. Spent lots of time in Denver!
Laramie is a place I’d like to explore more! I love the Vedauwoo area is awesome. I really want to hike and camp more in the Medicine Bow wilderness. Happy Sunday to ya.
It’s something to remember: Sometimes the humblest of places are our favorites! Thanks for sharing the photos and the heartfelt narrative.
Oh thank you so much for reading about my family cabin. I am so happy my story spoke to you 🙂 It truly is humble place but it means everything to me and my husband. Thanks again. Hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Wow! I really loved your story. That makes me want to go there. Thanks!
Oh thanks so much for reading about our little cabin and loving the story! I’m so happy it moved you 🙂 Hope you’re enjoying your weekend!
Thanks and you are welcome. Yes, I hope you are too. Happy Blogging.
This is exactly the kind of place that calls to me. We have a similar abode in the mountains of Pennsylvania; although it is newer and has a few more creature comforts now, it is still part of a very simple life in a very unfancy part of the world. I can hear your and our screen doors slamming, smell the fires, and imagine the basic pastimes like pick-up sticks and in our case, puzzle-doing, cribbage-playing, and just plain sitting around that happen in these wonderful old places!
Yes exactly!! Amazing how the simple things bring us so much peace and joy!! We should definitely initiate puzzle-doing and cribbage at the cabin. 2 of my favorite things 🙂 And backgammon of course!! You are a soul sister Lex!
Thanks for sharing a part of your life with us 🙂 Loved reading it and the cabin looks blissful.
Sherry thank you for reading my cabin post!! I am so happy that you enjoyed the story. As I was writing it I realized how many memories I have from all of my time at the cabin. Some I had forgotten about until I started writing this post, so it was a great process for me personally 🙂 It is tiny and simple yet definitely blissful. Have a wonderful day and thanks again for your time, interest, and comment.
So beautiful!!
Thank you so much. It is truly a beautiful place!
You are very welcome!
How cosy and sentimental too. Great warming stories 😊 x
Thank you!! I am so happy that this story resonated with you. As I was writing it I realized how truly sentimental the cabin is to me and how many memories I have collected from time spent there. I can see vividly my childhood when I think of my summers there Thanks again and take care!
Loved reading about this beautiful cabin and the meaning that it has to you. Thanks for sharing your memories with us!
Thank you for taking the time to read the story and for your sweet comments! I truly appreciate it.
I think generational family homes are such great memory holders. We don’t have any that I know of, but the sentimental part of me wishes we did. My grandmother, along with her sister and mother lived with her grandmother in a rural area of the mountains of Arizona in the early or mid 40’s. There wasn’t electricity and they had to use an outhouse, but she always said that year was the best of her childhood. 🙂
Amy, I couldn’t agree with you more and be more thankful that our family has managed to hang on to this old miner’s cabin for all of these years. Definitely some of the best times of my life, including my wedding, have occurred there. Thanks so much for your insightful comments 🙂
Sorry for the delay in my response!! I’ve been pretty much off the grid the last week. Thanks again for reading about the little cabin!!