Fantastic mountain adventures with friends

I'm crazy overdue with a post, but I promise I didn't have a minute that wasn't occupied by all the activities we had going on when our friends Brett and Maria were here for their first visit. A whirlwind 5 days for sure.

The magic underground spring - everyone can partake 24/7

The Rock is better than ever - lifted and new tires

Cuties every one.

The photography must stop spot on Ohio Pass

Maharajas at Montanya of course

The first day went like this: Magic spring water stop, over Ohio Pass onto Schofield Pass with the trusty Rock (jeep), lunch in CB, back to house to catch our breath, then back to CB to visit Montanya rum, then a magnificent dinner at Soupcon. And we stayed on pace for the rest of the visit.

Those are jeeps way in the distance on top - headed there next

That crazy duo

Brett and Maria - owning it!

Of course we had to take them on Alpine Loop to Engineer Pass. Truly one of our favorites - absolutely breathtaking scenery. Lunch in Silverton at Handlebars Saloon and then back home we went.

A new addition to the front at Secret Stash

We left with a miniscule 2 slices - thumbs up

Camp 4 Coffee - another gotta go place

One of metal sculptor Sean Guerrero amazing pieces

Crested Butte exploring was at hand with lunch at Secret Stash followed by a bit of artisan ice cream at Third Bowl was on the schedule.

Clearly before Wynonna appeared

Americana for sure

Yessssssss

And it got lively

And in amazing timing - Wynonna Judd was scheduled to perform in Gunnison at a small outdoor venue called Ibar Ranch while Brett and Maria were here, so of course we had to go. I'm not even a country western fan but she is one powerhouse talent. Why, you ask, would a huge star like that show up at a 500max small town venue? Her husband is from a nearby town - Montrose. She and her band were terrific - we loved it.

Hiking in the West Elks on Mill Creek. We waited a few days so Brett and Maria could acclimate. It's very high here folks.

Very official - Mark's wearing his chili pepper chef outfit

Their last night included Mark's now famous paella. Yum! So we crammed in all of this and more: multiple star gazing nights - 3 of 4 of us saw shooting stars, Maria became best friends with our little ground squirrels, who demand bread on the deck and you can in fact feed them out of your hand, and Cow tipping was under discussion but logistics appeared too difficult. Brett and Maria come back soon-  loved having you here!