{weekender} labor day weekend in pitkin

another long weekend, another excuse to head up to the mountains... pitkin was a little quieter and a little cooler than we're used to, but just as magical as always!

we got there at lunchtime on friday and went for a two-hour walk around town and up to the nearby campground. throwing stones into the water, we caught a glimpse of a little baby beaver running along the river bank into his dam {so stinkin' cute!}. when we got hungry/thirsty/tired, we headed back to the log cabin and got cleaned up for supper {i think i only say "supper" when i'm in pitkin...}.

after dinner we went outside to look at the stars. i wish everyone could see what the night sky is supposed to look like - it was so clear and the stars were so many and so unbelievably bright and twinkly. they seemed close enough to touch. shooting stars whizzed across the sky every five minutes or so. as we looked over toward cumberland pass there were mysterious flashes of white light that we couldn't identify - they were too random to be man-made, and the sky was too clear for lightning. A is convinced that it was the northern lights; i'm not so sure, but i don't really know what else it could have been...aliens?

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the next day we slept in. when we finally got up and running, we made the thirty minute trip into gunnison for some garage-saling and shopping on main street. that afternoon we met A's dad at western state college to go to a football game {the mountaineers didn't win, but the view was spectacular and the tickets were cheap!}.

when we were good and sunburned, we headed back to pitkin, stopping on the way to pick up some groceries for the cook-out dinner we were planning. after hot dogs, grilled corn, and banana pudding, we went up the street to our friends' house and stayed up late playing cards and boardgames.

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on sunday morning, A's dad treated us to breakfast at the pitkin pancake breakfast. afterward, the menfolk chopped wood while i napped. then A and i went for a walk to the edge of town, explored some sort of junkyard, and wandered up to the pitkin cemetery {lovely during the day, but not a place i would particularly like to visit at night}.

that evening we had another delicious dinner {and more delicious banana pudding} and then campfire-lit s'mores and star-watching with our friends down the street. just another magical weekend in pitkin...