Cabin Getaway in Crested Butte

Hi! Hello! Whew! Got through my first week of work at NASA Langley and I’m finally starting to catch my breath after Finals+my first J.Crew Event+the multi-day move out to the East Coast. I know too since the Spring 10×10 Challenge that lifestyle posts have been few and far between. And oh yeah! What happened to The Little Things?! Life happened. Hahaha. But I’m hoping to bring those back, as well as to be a little more balanced on the life-to-style ratio of the blog. So with that, let’s talk about a fun cabin getaway in Crested Butte that Allen and I took back in mid-March. I mentioned it briefly here and gave a few teaser pictures here, but I’d like to finally do a full recap of our trip for you today.

This trip actually was a belated Valentine’s Day celebration. On the first ever Valentine’s Day we celebrated, we went camping in Davy Crockett National Forest (in Texas). It was (and still is) one of the most magical (think perfect weather, perfect spot) camping experiences we’ve every had. It’s probably only second to that one time we camped in Alaska…but I mean, how can you really compete with Alaska?! Anyhow, we wanted to do something that was reminiscent of our first Valentine’s Day and something that we could experience rather than get. Mind you, this was the beginning of February and Colorado is cold. And no where near the typical enjoyable camping season. So our best option was to find a cabin or yurt to stay with the feel of a camping trip but comfort/warmth of a home. And after finding the dreamiest setup within our price range almost immediately, I knew it was meant to be! Unfortunately, the first availability was in the middle of March. No big deal! We just postponed our celebration by a month. And what a fun trip we had! Neither of us had really explored the Crested Butte area either, so it was a good opportunity to see what the region was like. Ok! So let’s get right into our weekend cabin getaway adventures! Eek! I’m so excited to share and re-experience these sweet moments with you!

Road Trip To Gunnison

First things first! Donut stop, duh! Haha. To be honest, I’m actually not that big of a donut fan, but Allen goes bonkers for them! And I like making him happy (especially since he’s usually always the one driving on our long road trips). We picked these up form our local grocery store, where we also stopped to get food supplies for the weekend. Our little cabin had a full kitchen to fix lots of yummy homemade meals in. And without work or school or t.v., it was the perfect excuse to slow down and cook for fun again. We stocked up on lots of goodies for the road too–our favorite being jalapeno potato chips and sour octopus gummies.

We actually have a pretty perfect setup for road trips and camping trips when it comes to running errands the morning of. It usually involves stopping at King Soopers for donuts and weekend food supplies, followed by fueling up at the King Soopers gas station and getting coffee right across the parking lot at Starbucks. It’s kind of like a one-stop shopping corner for us before we leave town.

I love taking long road trips with Allen. It’s probably one of my most favorite things we do together. Just him and me and the wide open road. We usually end up talking about politics or society or new scientific findings. Really anything and everything under the Sun. It’s such a special one-on-one time that I come to miss during the busy work week, and especially now that I’m nearly 2,000 miles away.

I just had to snap the picture of the airplane contours below because “X marks the spot!” Haha. Too good!

Our driving route took us through the Gunnison area. (Our cabin was right on the edge of the Gunnison National Forest.) And from our last trip to the area, we loved the giant pizza slices we got at Mikey’s Pizza. So we decided to grab lunch there. And as any good Aggie knows, once you’ve done something twice, it’s become a tradition!

That tongue though! Lol. Their pizza slices are seriously soooo huge and sooo good!

One of the best parts about a road trip is the journey. Yes, the destination is definitely important too, but we’ve always made sure to enjoy as many sights and sounds and scenes as we can along the way. So we spent a little time in Gunnison at the little park across the street and got some of our car jiggles out as well!

How cool was this giant snowman someone built?!

Allen looking like a pro climber up there…and me finally living out my dream of riding a dinosaur. Ha!

There were also so many beautiful wood carvings around the playground that we admired on our walk.

Hey there, cute little bear!

After romping around the playground for a bit, we got back into the car and hit the road, full steam ahead for Crested Butte!

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Day 1 – Arrival & Exploring The Trails

The cabins we stayed at are called The Pioneer Guest Cabins and are actually a collection of 8 guest cabins nestled in the hills of the Cement and Elk Mountains right on the edge of the Gunnison National Forest. It’s the perfect little spot to truly get away (no cell service!) and back into nature, while also only being 8 miles away from downtown Crested Butte if you wanted to explore the town or go skiing one day!

The cabins are run by a friendly couple that was always very accommodating and their adorable mountain husky dogs that keep watch over the place. Inside the main office (seen below), there were plenty of books and games to borrow and even snow shoes to rent for hiking through the forest during peak snow season.

Home, sweet home! After looking at the 8 different cabins available for rent, I decided on the Homestead property because of its dreamy ski-inspired interior. It was also the perfect little size for just the two of us this weekend. (They have larger ones if you’re bringing a bigger group!) And the price range is definitely affordable if you are splitting it with multiple people!

The main bedroom was located in the large central room, along with the living area and the kitchen. The restroom was situated through the wooden door in the picture directly below.

I mean…those old wooden skis on the wall in the living room and the stove that served as the central heating of the cabin. Swoon! So, so cozy!

And the kitchen was plenty big to fix nice big homemade meals in!

There was also a snowshoe-inspired guest bedroom right off the main room through the kitchen (seen in picture above).

And the whole cabin was sprinkled with historical relics and memorabilia that added charm to this cozy cabin destination. There were no shortage of little trinkets to look at!

Finally! Some rules I can get behind! 😛

The colors in the cabin were so bright and cheerful too! But in a homey, cozy kind of way. I loved this fun rug in the main room and so made Allen stand with his feet still so I could take a picture! Hehe.

As you can see, our cabin looks pretty isolated and tucked neatly into the forest. And while the other 8 cabins are clearly visible from our street, we felt perfectly alone and nestled into the trees enough to have our own privacy.

Once we unpacked the car and unloaded all of our belongings and food into the cabin, we went on a little adventure walk around the property and into the forest. Allen was so excited to try out his new muck boots he had just gotten the week before. And I think they definitely came in handy for all the deep snow!

One of our favorite things about hiking (as you may know) is noticing all the little details and interesting life forms that exist in nature around us. Like the neon orange fuzz on the Aspen tree eye below. So pretty! Or the dew condensing on the freshly cut log (a few pictures down). It’s the little things, ya know?…

Oh! And I almost forgot! This was my first time seeing Old Man’s Beard. And yes! It is legitimately called Old Man’s Beard (or at least as a slang term for it 😛 ) Allen told me. That guy knows everything about the outdoors! I have yet to stump him with a question.

True to form, Allen just had to fashion the Old Man’s Beard into some sort of facial hair. Oh my word! These are hilarious! And very Allen, if you know him. Ha!

After walking a few miles into the forest, we decided to turn around and head back to make an early dinner. I was really excited to make a homemade chicken noodle soup for dinner using fresh carrots, celery, onions, and egg noodles (frozen for ease). It was nothing like my Grandma makes, but definitely a recipe I’ll keep for now!

The recipe was super simple! We just cut up a bunch of veggies (whatever you like!, but we picked carrots, celery, and onions), added cooked chicken pieces, and frozen noodles to a mixture of chicken broth (could use vegetable broth), a dash of salt, pepper and Italian seasoning and cook on medium heat for a 1-2 hours (or until warm and the veggies are tender). That’s it! So simple and soooo delicious! The recipe made more than enough for the two of us, so we ended up eating it for dinner the next day too!

That evening we took things easy and cuddled up with a movie together. Being an avid hockey fan (and player), you can imagine my disbelief (dismay!) at the fact that Allen had never seen the movie Miracle. Right?! So I picked up a DVD of the film just for our trip and we watched it together. He loved it! And I had forgotten just how powerful of a movie it was! Thinking now that I need to re-watch Remember the Titans again soon too. We also snacked on these chocolate-coated cookie dunkers I got Allen for dessert. Yum!

After the movie, we called it an early night and went to sleep. Not super exciting, but exactly what we needed after a few particularly busy and hard months of working.

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Day 2 – Down Time in the Cabin & Downtown Crested Butte

The next morning we woke up and Allen made us bacon for breakfast while I read The Magnolia Story. (The book is amazing by the way! And so inspirational! I read it all in ~1.5 days on this trip lol.) If you’re a fan of Fixer Upper, you should definitely give it a read!

After breakfast, Allen went out on a hike by himself and I stayed inside the cabin, warming up my toes by the fire and reading my book all morning with some hot tea. The perfect relaxation time we both needed!

Later that afternoon we decided to venture out to the downtown Crested Butte area since neither of us had ever been. If this weekend hadn’t been all about resting and relaxing, we definitely would’ve hit the slopes at the resort there. So we just opted for walking around town and taking in all the pretty winter scenery.

Allen standing by the trail head sign. And yes! That is some deep snow!

And we found the ski runs in Crested Butte too. Looks so fun!

After driving around for a bit, we decided to park and explore the downtown area on foot. It’s such a beautiful ski town!

What a view, right?! Love adventuring in these older ski towns. So pretty and colorful!

For a quick bite to eat we decided to stop at Bonez, a little TexMex restaurant along the main drag.

The interior was so fascinating to look at! From a wall full of books to a ceiling full of glass bottles, there was definitely not a shortage of things to keep us interested.

Oh, and did I mention that the back-lit liqueur wall changed colors?! Yeah…pretty cool!

Since it was happy hour, we decided to take advantage of the happy hour prices and got an order of chips and queso (miss this soooo much from Texas!) and an order of chicken empanadas! Both were ah-mazing! And the perfect amount to fill us both up.

After lunch/dinner (linner?), we continued walking around town and taking in all the new scenes. We even stumbled upon (quite literally) this hidden pastry shop in the bottom of a bar. Weird right?! We picked out a frosted brownie to enjoy for dessert in the cabin later that evening.

And how interesting is this house covered in all different license plates?! Kinda cool, no?

As the evening began turning into night, we decided to head back to our quiet little cabin.

Each night the cute husky puppies would come around to each door, and with a little bark get a good night pat on the head from you. It was adorable!

That night Allen played with his Legos while I finished reading my book. It was again a perfectly relaxing evening and just what we had been looking for. No outside distractions. Just peace, quite, and rejuvenation.

Allen was so excited to finish construction of his Millennium Falcon that night that he even started flying it around the cabin. Haha!

Afterwards, Allen and I heated up some soup for a late night dinner and munched on our brownie for dessert. We then cuddled up to another movie–this time Moana (we are obsessed!). If you haven’t seen it (or gotten the song stuck in your head yet), you definitely need to watch it! It’s so good!

It was our last night in the cabin, so we made sure to take in all the cozy vibes we could get before heading to bed for the evening.

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Day 3 – Packing Up & Heading Back to Boulder

The next morning we woke up to snow! How magical! And while we loved having blue skies the two days before, I was a little sad we weren’t staying longer during the snow flurries. It was gorgeous!

Here’s a shot of the inside of the main office where you could borrow books and games, and even rent snow shoes for the day. I was really bummed we didn’t get the chance to go snow shoeing, but know that we’ll just have to come back next year to do it!

After turning in our keys to the cabin (sad!), we hit the road back to Boulder in the flurry snow storm. We meant to stop somewhere along the way for breakfast but decided to wait until we got to Golden for Bob’s Atomic Burgers at lunchtime.

We’ve loved Bob’s Atomic Burgers even before officially moving to Colorado (my best friend took me there on a visit a few years ago). So if you’re ever in the Golden area and looking for the perfect greasy burger and milkshake, Bob’s is your place for sure!

All in all we had such a fabulous, relaxing cabin getaway in Crested Butte and could not recommend it more for anyone in the area or thinking about visiting the area. It’s definitely a place we plan on visiting again in the future (and possibly even in the summertime when we could build a big campfire and roast s’mores under the stars!).

What about you? Have you ever gone on a cabin getaway? What was your favorite part?

You might like…Camping in North Crestone and Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.