Travels with Valentino

Valentino Checking in to the Sonnenalp

Valentino Checking into the Ritz

Anyone that knows me or reads this blog, likely knows that I’m a cat person. I’m a writer and a single woman, so of course I have two cats, Leo and Clara. I love all animals actually. I’d like to adopt a dog someday, but that will come the day I move out of my one-bedroom apartment. Plus there’s so much to know about taking care of a dog—they’re a whole different animal from cats!

I became a doggie-mom in training of sorts this past spring when I did a road trip to Denver (a six to seven-hour drive from Telluride) with my friend Mary Dawn. In the eight years I’ve known MD, she’s always had two Bernese Mountain dogs, gorgeous animals that have since become my breed of choice. I wanted to see the Yves Saint Laurent show in Denver and MD was headed to check out some puppies at Wagontale Bernese, breeders just outside of Fort Collins. (Her noble Smokie Bear had passed away just a few months prior and she was ready to adopt a new baby.) So we thought it made sense to combine our interests and make a trip out of it. Valentino, her handsome Berner, was to escort us throughout our travels. (How appropriate that a dashing fella by the name of Valentino accompany us to the YSL doings.)

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18 Nov 2010, 7:41pm
Colorado Denver Hotels & Lodging Mountain Living Travel:
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Comments Off on Travel Lightly: Something to Remember During the Busy Holiday Season and Always

Travel Lightly: Something to Remember During the Busy Holiday Season and Always

CME:  My Ticket to Ride

CME: My Ticket to Ride

“Travel lightly,” said my dear friend Jane over the phone.

“Oh, I will,” I quickly replied. “I’m not packing much for New York.”

“I’m not talking about traveling lightly in that sense,” she insisted. “I mean be light, as in light of spirit.”

“Oh, of course,” I answered as I pondered the full meaning of her words. “Yes, I will––-I must. Yes, I have to remember to take that approach,” I emphasized as we ended our conversation.

I can’t tell you how much I’ve thought about those two simple words these past ten days. Travel lightly. Travel lightly. This has become my mantra of late. I know that everything begins with intention and how you ease into (or respond to) a situation dictates its outcome. But it’s nice to be reminded of this sort of thing.

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20 Oct 2008, 4:09pm
Colorado Mountain Living Telluride The Rockies:
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Comments Off on Fall in Telluride: Riding the Gondola

Fall in Telluride: Riding the Gondola

Me Sightseeing on the Gondola

Me Sightseeing on the Gondola

Boy, am I glad to be back!  I’ve survived my technical difficulties and will try to catch up with my blog postings this week.  (Give me a plume and a few sheets of parchment any day!)

If you think I appear somewhat like a Bond girl in the photo on the left, it’s because I’m riding the gondola that connects Telluride to Mountain Village.  Yeah, I thought I’d go for more of a slick Europhile look here since a lot of people conjure up hair-raising scenes from a 007 flick when they first ride our gondola.  Two systems builders, one from Salt Lake City, the other from Switzerland (not surprisingly!) collaborated to create this fine example of modern technology, a veritable air-born shuttle that spans three miles as it sails above the slopes at treetop height. A super green transportation choice that operates the better part of the year on wind-powered electricity, the gondola has greatly minimized the amount of air and noise pollution in Telluride while keeping vehicular traffic at a minimum.  It always promises an exciting ride as well as safe delivery to the next station.  Visions of heart-racing adventures become dashed when you learn that in the twelve years of its existence, only one evacuation was required and that was on the intercept gondola, the four-minute spit that goes between the core of Mountain Village to the parking area.  (Rescuers do, however, regularly train for such missions, just in case.) 

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    This blog is a personal blog written and edited by Maribeth Clemente. This blog sometimes accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation. The compensation received may influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog. That content, advertising space or post may not always be identified as paid or sponsored content. The owner of this blog is sometimes compensated to provide opinion on products, services, Web sites and various other topics. Even though the owner of this blog receives compensation for certain posts or advertisements, she always gives her honest opinions, findings, beliefs or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the blogger's own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question. This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.
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