Gothic, September 2011

Gothic, Colorado.....RMBL

Rustic, but a beautiful setting!












We hit the Aspen world at the perfect time.
The colors were perfect, but even as we left the leaves had
started to blow off the trees. We were there 4 days and the
weather was perfect; a bit cold at night, 24F is cold.

Robyn and Janis, Carl, Martha and Gabby plus Robert and I
were all there. The Cowleys stayed in "Pumpkin," Robyn and
Janis spent days at Gothic, but slept at Robyn's place in
Mt. Crested Butte. Robert and I slept in the Van.

Gourmet meals were served each evening; we all took turns
cooking and the clean up. Lunches and breakfasts were "on
your own."

Robert and I spent a very lazy weekend. Aside from short
walks the only thing we did was a tour of the new Lab
building that both Robyn and Janis have had a hand in. Janis
did some grant writing and Robyn helped Ian, the Director of
the Rocky Mountain Biological Labs (RMBL), convince the
Board of Directors and NSF that a new Lab was necessary and
desirable. She is, of course, also the Project Manager for
the design and building of the new Lab. It is going to be a
fabulous addition to RMBL. This winter Robyn and her
Architect friends from Idaho will be planning a new dinning
hall-conference center to be built next year. Robyn is
gradually dragging the Lab, kicking and screaming, into the
20th century...no, not the 21st. One step at a time. First
they must relinquish the strangle hold on the 19th century
rustic infrastructure.

If the infra-structure can be upgraded Gothic could be
a destination for conferences and tourist-type activities.
This would double RMBL's ability to raise money from the
site itself.

The site is really beautiful and the amount of traffic this
weekend made it clear that a cafe and/or tourist
accommodations would certainly be used.