Colorado 2010: Devil's Head

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Dangerous things happen when my unquenchable curiosity meets the first night of vacation at my Grandparent's beautiful Rocky Mountain cabin. The first dangerous thing to transpire is that I think, which is definitely dangerous in its own rite. My grandpa has this big, beautiful, heavy and twisted-looking coffee table at the cabin that has been made from, well, big ol'hunks of logs and wood. Enter the danger of my unquenchable curiosity, for on this big hunk of a coffee table are piles and piles of magazines just packed with new articles to explore.

The kids were in bed. I sat in Grandma's avocado green chair wearing my cozy pink flannel pajamas. The magazines were waiting, perfectly piled "just so" like my grandma always leaves them. "Ah!" I thought. I reached for tried-and-true Country magazine, to which I relate, seeings it's about we country folk and all.

I flipped straight to the index and looked over Country's Jun-Jul 2010 issue's offerings. My eyes caught the word "Colorado" in the list of stories, so I turned right to that article to see what it was about.

My heart smiled as the article introduced readers to a man who lives and works for the U.S. Dept. of Forestry at Devil's Head fire lookout in Pike National Forest. "NOT TO FAR FROM THE CABIN!" I thought.

Let's see here..."We need to be able to hike 1.5 miles to the top of the mountain, so bring water. We can do that. Check. Make sure you come when it's not storming. We can do that. Check. Extra patience and time to get the kids 1.5 miles up the trail and extra, extra patience for Dawson, who is afraid of heights, to climb the final 143 stairs to the fire lookout tower." This sounded like it could be very fun and doable. Devil's Head seemed like an off-the-beaten-path adventure that we would remember.

"Travis let me read this to you. [I read him the article] What do you think? You wanna do it?"

"Sounds good," Travis said. "We need to figure out how to get there, and we can even go tomorrow."

"Yes, I think tomorrow would be great. I will just call the department of forestry tomorrow morning to see where it is and hours it is open."

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We woke and read the Country article to the kids so they would get pumped about what we were going to go see at Devil's Head fire lookout. They helped me pack the picnic basket, while Travis graciously washed the dishes from morning breakfast.

I called the Pike Forest Service, got the correct county's forest service contact, and she told me visitors were more than welcome and reminded me to bring water (check) and understand we will be hiking 1.5 miles each way (a hopeful check).

So we were off. A stop in Woodland Park for groceries and a cooler to store the cold groceries would prevent us from having to stop at Wal Mart after the day's journey. Loaded with our picnic, a trunk full of Wal Mart groceries, and happy smiling faces, and a full tank of gas, the swagger wagon (our Toyota Sienna minivan) was ready to go. Due north.

We took a smaller paved county road to a series of turns onto county dirt roads that eventually took us to the heart of the Pike National Forest, Rampart Range Road. Rampart Range is a rougher, washboard road, but wide enough and traveled-enough to be safe. It took us right to the foot of Devil's Head, where we parked and had a great picnic.

Climbing to the top of the "mountain" was lots of fun. The kids were real troopers and we just had a fantastic time of talking, playing, stopping to rest for water often, and admiring the beauty. Oh, and smelling the bear/deer poop. :) We made it within 1/4 mile to the top before the kids started complaining they were too tired to go on. We encouraged them, took some extra breaks, and they ultimately wanted to make it to the top with everybody, despite a little discomfort. Bathrooms (yes!) and a little cabin greeted us at the top of the mountain and at the foot of the steps that lead to the lookout tower.

143 steps. 143 STEEP steps. 143 STEEP steps that ascend to a fire tower 9 thousand some odd feet above the world, on the top of a mountain. Yah. Like Dawson was having any of that crazy business. He is TERRIFIED of heights...wait for it...just like me. So there he and I stood looking up at the scary, steep flights of stairs where, from the top looking down, people look like little ants. I pleaded with him. I bribed him. I used reason. I used threats. I got daddy. Travis came down and grabbed his arm and safely helped drag, er, well, by a few steps he was walking up on his own holding Travis's hand. Jillian who was NOT scared escorted me up the steps, but when the point came that she looked down and FREAKED OUT, I comforted and coached her the remaining steps to the top.

Mountains for miles is a magnificent sight. I could see Pike's Peak, and behind Pike's Peak, the San Gre de Cristo range to the south. To the west was the range that Breckenridge is in, and more ranges to the northwest. The shadowy purple layers of mountain peaks reminded me how big a God I serve, that he would make all of this and he knows ALL the mountains' details. How much more does he know and care about me?!

The Forest Fire lookout guy wasn't there the day we went, but we still walked around the lookout tower looking through the glass walls to see instruments, desks and snacks and personal items that the fire lookouts like to have.

Going down 143 steep steps was just as hard as going up, and when Jillian and I finally got down in one piece I said, "I never want to do that again." Dawson and I were so happy we experienced the top, despite our height reservations!

A few bumps and bruises on the way down were a fair price to pay, considering we were going straight down this time, instead of straight up. We made much better time getting back to our picnic and parking spot coming down.

We got to the car just in time to be inside it when an afternoon sprinkle passed by, but also just in time for the rest (and arguably more entertaining part) of our Devil's Head adventure...getting home.

Retro "Flair"

I feel like blogging about our...wait for it...OVEN!!

I bet you've never seen anything quite like this fine piece of kitchen art!

One thing we've learned about "Grandma and Grandpa Stade," the couple who lived in this farmhouse most of their lives before us, is they were very frugal, creative people who were great at "repurposing" things. They were wise enough to know, however, what to pay a little more for up front to ensure quality and longevity. This oven was one of those purchases for them. Grandma Stade loved to cook and cooked harvest meals, fed her farmer husband and the extended family frequently, so she needed a workhorse of an appliance to keep up with her demands.

The answer to Grandma Stade's cooking needs was a Frigidaire "Custom Imperial" Flair, made by General Motors. I'd say they made a good purchase, considering the fact that it has provided at least 50 years (if not more) of serious use! I don't know the exact age, but from looking around on the internet, the Custom Imperial Flair is considered a '60's model. However, I believe Jeff told me his Grandma purchased it in the '50's.

I did not know how to feel about this fine piece of equipment when we moved into the farmhouse, quite honestly. The fact that it looks like it's right out of a Leave it to Beaver episode and is the quaint, fashionable "burnt orange" that was oh-so-popular back in the day meant that I could consider it either way...play it up as cool and retro, or write it off as another renovation the farmhouse needed to be up-to-date. (Actually, a "Flair" was featured in a Bewitched episode back in the day as the "thing" to have)

And so my love/hate relationship, or should I say hate/love relationship, with the Custom Imperial Flair began.

I used the oven only at first and quickly discovered only the small oven worked, or so I thought, for 3 months anyway. Everyone at the farm came over and looked it over, because Stacy, Jeff and Cheryl (Grandma Stade's daughter) swore both ovens worked. I had discovered to my dismay, in the meantime, that the smaller oven was NOT big enough to cook a Papa Murphy's pizza in...or any other pizza for that matter. And I couldn't fit a casserole dish more than 8x8 or all but one of my pans in that one, small oven.

Cheryl called the one electrician in the are that was handy and knowledgeable enough to fix this oven. Sure that he was going to either fix the oven or tell me it was a lost cause, he called me over to explain the situation. He politely explained to me that the bulb did need to be replaced in one of the ovens, but sometimes the knobs on the top of the oven can get turned the wrong way. When those knobs get turned the wrong way, the oven appears NOT to be working. So there I was this whole time thinking it was broken, when all it needed was a turn of a couple knobs to cook a pizza. I'm sure I blushed when the electrician explained, because I felt completely foolish.

I celebrated that night by bringing home some Papa Murphy's pizzas and cooking them. The Frigidaire Custom Imperial Flair had me when it turned out a perfectly-cooked pizza crust! My despise for this unintentional focal point of my kitchen turned to love. Cooking a big meal is so nice now, because I have two separate ovens to use now. I can cook one dish at a certain temperature, and a second dish at another simultaneously!

The "sneaky" range worked from the get-go, and I like it. You wouldn't know this sleek piece of General Motor glory has 4 burners under the hood...but it does! When you want to cook on the range, you push a button and pull the range out. When done, you just push it back into hiding.

Ovens at eye level are great, too! I like being able to tell if I'm burning something without bending down. The oven doors open "up" instead of "down," which kind of remind me of how the Back to the Future's DeLorean "time machine" doors opened. The only technical drawback is that the doors are stopped short from opening fully because the range hood stops them. But the range hood doesn't work, so it's all okay.

I'm afraid I cannot do the farmhouse's Frigidaire Custom Imperial Flair anymore justice using mere words. If you're over sometime you've GOT to ask for a demonstration. You will surely be...speechless! ;)