RAINBOW COTTAGES We owned the motel for about 8 years. I would say we had a few adventures during this time. I believe I said my friend Milt (Mike from now on) moved to Steamboat after we arrived, but sometime before that we tried an experiment renting ski equipment from the motel. Seems like a good idea doesn't it? During this time we had an older couple, Polly and Bill, who had a room reserved during ski season. I think they drove from Texas, or at least they had a car when they showed up at our place!. I'm pretty sure they were hesitating about the stay as Polly stayed in the car and Bill was sent to look at the room. This was after our remodel of the rooms so the beds and carpet were new. Our place was old but we kept it very clean and we had new linens. After Bill's examination, the couple decided to stay. We invited them into our home and after some discussion, Bill and Polly decided to take advantage of our ski equipment rental. The equipment was in the only place c
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MORE STEAMBOAT SPRINGS I have many recollections of events but I still forget many and placing the time is difficult after so many years. A couple of things I neglected involve my personal habits and my relationship with family. When growing up I never drank alcohol or smoked tobacco (or chewed). I learned these habits as I grew older. Smoking came when I joined the Air Force. When in boot camp, if on a break, we were told to light 'em if you have 'em. Otherwise you were cleanup detail. I chose to light up, so started a habit I have since learned to hate. Drinking came as part of a social desire and today we both still enjoy a cocktail at 5! I love red wine and am particularly fond of Chianti and other Italian red wines, so if a gift is in order I am easy(hint, hint). In December of 1969 we were in Steamboat Springs for Ellen's brother Mike's wedding. We were staying at the cottages when Ellen's mom woke us up with bad news. It seems Ellen's brother Tom was in
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS II My son Tony has a slightly different recollection of the furnace detail he had but it's my blog so I will stick with my memory. He was less than ten years old so maybe his memory and mine are correct for different episodes! Anyway, the auger to the furnace in the house quit so we were forced to convert the boiler to gas in that location. This was a dark and small basement with a lot of coal dust to deal with over the years.. The heating system was no more efficient no matter what heated the water! We joined the Chamber of Commerce and signed up for their booking system for the ski year of 1976/1977. We were taking reservations soon for the coming year. All looked good at that time but wait! I had been traveling to Steamboat Springs since 1976 and if you ever wanted it to snow just ask me to travel there. By November we anxiously waited for the inevitable snow to arrive. By late November when the skiing usually began there was still no snow!. We lost all of
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS COLORADO This is the longest segment of my 87 years. The family moved to Steamboat January 1, 1976. We stayed off and on until January of 2001. Renee actually went first as she didn't want to ride with her maniacally father and Chris stayed behind to finish high school as he was a senior. To make the transition I decided to purchase a brand new 1975 VW Rabbit. More on that later! We arrived on January 1 when the temperature was a balmy -5 degrees zero. We had brought plants from California which promptly froze. I'm not sure how long I stayed as I had agreed to work until March with Intech, so I flew off again. At that time Frontier was flying a Convair STL into the airport. I flew in most weekends. Now for the good part. I quit a job paying almost 6 figures a year and bought an OLD motel that grossed $25,000 per year. The motel was built in the 1920s and the house that was with it dated from before 1906. The motel had 8 units with kitchens and all the furnitu