STAY: A guest cabin on a ranch in Colorado

When I was young some of my favorite books were the Marguerite Henry series of horse books - Misty of Chincoteague, Sea Star, Stormy and Misty's Twilight. I became a bit horse obsessed and always thought it would be so cool to own one - even though I'm sure the work is way more than I ever imagined it to be. Mr. UR even bought me riding lessons for my 30th birthday - which, by the way, was one of his best gift ideas ever. So while planning a trip to Colorado about 10 years ago - even before my oldest moved there - I came upon a cabin on a horse ranch outside of Durango and immediately decided I had to go there. But, of course, as life happens I didn't go on that particular trip. I did, however, bookmark the cabin and when I found that we would be heading to southwestern Colorado this past summer I decided I had to stay there. Please let it be available!

The H&D Ranch is located in Hesperus, Colorado.( H&D stands for horses and black and tan coonhounds) They rent out their one bedroom with loft and hot tub guest cabin on VRBO. After finding the bookmark, I checked the rental cabin schedule and contacted the renter for a particular weekend. After a bit of phone tag, I sent the deposit as soon as we had confirmation that it was available. 

We drove from Telluride to Hesperus using directions from the owner. It is in a very isolated area - but I knew right away that it was worth the drive. Unfortunately, the owner was out of town when we were there but the ranch foreman helped out with anything we needed. We stayed for 3 nights touring Colorado by day and sitting on the back deck watching the horses and sunset in the evening. When darkness fell, it was time to stargaze and one night, watch a far away lightning storm from the hot tub.

We also were visited by the resident hound dogs - the owner leaves treats in your cabin that you can feed them when they come by - which was a treat for us also.

One morning Mr. UR and I drove around the ranch and visited with the horses - which made me happy. Most of them didn't pay much attention to us. And one evening my son's girlfriend fed them a few carrots - which made the horses happy.

This cabin was a dream stay for me. It fulfilled my expectations - and even though we didn't ride any of the horses it was fantastic to sit out on the back deck at sunset in the peace and quiet with just the sounds from the ranch around us. Utter delight.

How about you? Have you ever stayed somewhere at the top of your wish list? Did it meet your expectations?


This post is a link-up with: Travel Photo Thursday at Budget Travelers Sandbox, Weekend Travel Inspiration at Albom Adventures, Photo Friday at Pierced Wonderings and Weekend Wanderlust Travel Blog Party!