Our day was fabulous! It started out in the low 40s and ended in the high 70s with not a cloud in sight. After breakfast in the hotel, we met at Si and Susan’s house and headed out to visit the cabin they are in the process of building on a 40 acre parcel away from everything. That would be everything with a capital E. They have had a few big jobs contracted out, but by ‘they are building’ I mean Si and Susan are doing essentially All the work. They are currently installing a beautiful pine ceiling in the great-room.

The drive to the cabin took about an hour and a half, with half that time on unpaved county and Bureau of Land Management roads. It took us through dry rolling hills smothered in low, mossy green sage and stubby cedar trees. There’s no chance of making it without a four wheel drive vehicle with a high wheelbase or a four-wheeler. Even in ranch country it is remote with not a single power line or building in sight. We saw six large coyotes, prairie dogs, rabbits, red tail hawks, countless chipmunks, a few hunters, and one determined weasel. At one turn on the dirt road we saw the log remains of a stagecoach stop.

We toured the cabin (read: looks more like an awesome house!) which is situated at the very top of a bluff with a 360 degree view of the countryside. After enjoying a picnic lunch on the wraparound porch, Susan took Cyd and me on a short drive to see three dugout dwellings. Oh my, was it hard to imagine living in these humble structures with sod roofs and three sides dug out of the side of a small hill. Can you spell rattle snake, bear, and mountain lion?!? Seems there used to be enough brave souls living out there to merit a post office and a school.

We drove back to town in the late afternoon. Susan had prepared a delicious casserole ahead of time, so she popped it in the oven the minute we walked in the door. That and a favorite desert of mine ended the wonderful day on a high note.