The Timberline Lodge

Wow have I ever been lazy!  A week and a half ago I promised you pictures from part two of our vacation and I'm just now getting around to it.  Yikes!  Time for some 5 hour energy!  But I suppose good ol' fashioned coffee will have to do.  Personally, I blame Pinterest for my negligence of my blog, my crocheting, my online shop.  It's addictive, like crack.  It encourages and enables all of my deeply-buried hoarding tendencies without having to put up with all of the actual stuff that would otherwise clutter up the house!

But now on to Tour of Terror Part II, the Timberline Lodge!  When last I left off, we were still at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, CO.  From there, we headed north through Wyoming before cutting left through Utah, Idaho, then Oregon.  We spent one night in Baker City, Oregon.  Such a picturesque little town!  We stayed in the Geiser Grand Hotel, which is also supposedly haunted, but all we saw was chandeliers, 14 foot ceilings, and lots and lots of woodwork.  Beautiful!

And of course I just had to take a picture of the old brothel house in town!  Such a modest looking little house on the outside....

Then on to the Timberline Lodge.  Below is a picture of the Timberline in the summer, when it isn't obscured by towering slopes of snow blown against the building.

And below is the picture I took of the Lodge while we were there.

Then, of course, I had to take a picture of the Lodge from the outside at night.  All we need now are the mountainous snow drifts and a small child being pushed out of an upstairs bathroom window to slide down to safety.

 But of course, once you're inside on a cold snowy night, why on earth would you want to go outside in the cold when you could sit by a roaring fire drinking a hot buttered rum?  I know I didn't!  The central tower of the Lodge is supported by this giant hearth with fireplaces on three sides; on both the floor level and the first floor, leaving the second floor open from above for seating and viewing.  This second floor boasts large picture windows facing the mountains to the north and overlooks the main entrance and the valley below to the south.

 The staircases in both the West and East wings sport hand carved newel posts.  Each post is carved with different indigenous animals to the area; we saw carvings of owls, foxes, and beavers, to name a few.

And since we were there enjoying the snow, we thought we'd take our first ski lesson together; and I'm proud to say we both only fell down once!  Yay!  Well, I fell down twice, but I don't count the second time because another skier crashed into me when I wasn't looking. Honest!  That one wasn't my fault!

Then from there it was back to home in Southern California.  It was great fun while it lasted and not the least bit terrifying!