Franktown, Colorado, Plus a Ground Blizzard In Wyoming

Julie and I finally found our way to Franktown, Colorado, to visit her brother John and his family, who moved there a few months back.  We always enjoy spending time with them, not only because they share a common life philosophy with us but because they're genuinely nice, down-to-earth people.

They're new home is gorgeous, as expected.  They seem to move to a brand new house about once every ten years, the way my parents used to update to a new Chrysler every three years.  The biggest addition relative to their previous home is a huge swimming pool and patio area including high-end built-in grilling outdoor kitchen.  

We lounged by the pool in the morning, taking in the views that stretch out for miles in the exurbs of Denver, catching up with John and his two sons, Brad and Brett.

Perhaps we'll always first envision two red-haired boy when we hear their names, but the boys have grown up to be strapping young men, whose daily schedules are anchored by their jobs and working out at the gym, though they always enjoy riding dirt bikes when the weather allows.  They're manly men even when sitting in their sister's dainty tea parlor at a table sized for young girls dressed like princesses.

This being Saturday, John's wife Toren and daughter Bree were busy at their new venture, Miss M's Tea Parlour in nearby Castle Rock.  After a delicious lunch with the men at Adriana's Mexican Restaurant, we headed over to see the tea room, which has been established for 22 years.  Bree attended a tea party there herself as a young girl.

Though it maintained a good reputation for customer satisfaction, it had become rundown over the years.  Toren and Bree have overseen major refurbishing and upgrades, with John handling construction projects for them.  The tea party venue now looks terrific.

Toren and Bree have also upgraded the menu by personally preparing freshly-baked cookies and scones and custom cakes from a well-regarded local baker.  We couldn't help noticing that despite cooking treats, Toren has shed a considerable number of pounds since we last saw her.

The girls who come for tea parties love it, and by word-of-mouth, Miss M's can expect to be booked solid on weekends.  They are considering complimentary market segments including bridal showers to bring in more business on weekdays and evenings.  They also have some additional space that was relegated to storage which they hope to capitalize on.

Joined by Brad's girlfriend Teagan, we walked across the corner from the tea room to the historic Castle Cafe for dinner.  Having worked all day, the girls were famished, whereas our large lunch had Julie and I splitting a meal.  All of the dishes ordered --- and between our table, I'd say we took a wide sampling of the menu --- were delicious.

Castle Rock has a very charming traditional downtown, and when we came outside, we found the streets festively illuminated by holiday lights.

Weighing our options to spend the night or get the first couple of hours of the drive behind us, we said farewell at their house and drove north through Saturday night traffic, stopping at a hotel in Loveland.  After breakfast the next morning, we hit the road.  All was fine through Colorado, but then came Wyoming, where I was stationed for four years while in the Air Force.

The joke was always that Cheyenne only had two seasons, winter and Frontier Days, with Frontier Days being the big rodeo that runs the last full week in July.  I would add that the wind often blew vigorously, and as could be predicted in early December, we found winter weather complete with powerful winds.  The strong gusts didn't quit as we continued north.

About an hour later, we encountered that most dreaded of all road conditions in Wyoming, a land blizzard over icy highways.  In the worst land blizzards, winds blow accumulated snow across the road so that all you see on the horizon is white.  At some points, we could literally not see a foot in front of us and only by the grace of God did we not plow into another car, careen off the side of the road into a ditch or get rear-ended.

In Buffalo, Wyoming, we were forced to stop due to road closures for winter road conditions compounded by a landslide.  After grabbing chicken sandwiches at McDonald's and agonizing over what to do, we snagged a modern, handsome room at the Hampton Inn and resigned to settle in for the evening.

 

The conditions on the road to Sheridan cleared enough by early afternoon to re-open for traffic, but we were already comfortably ensconced in our room and decided to not attempt what remained a five-plus hour drive through winter conditions and darkness to Big Sky.

Something we will associate with this stop is the busload of teen-aged hockey players who were in the lounge eating Pizza Hut delivery as we ate our Subway Sandwich dinner and then again the next morning at the included breakfast buffet.

The rest of the drive was pleasantly uneventful, and despite the bad road conditions through Wyoming, we're happy we routed through Colorado to see family.