Chili season

It's fall at the ranch, and things are starting to wind down.  The lunch rush consists of one or two tables, and the most exciting part of the day is placing a Sysco order.

Working in the restaurant now means maintaining a fire in our wood burning stove to keep the lodge warm all day.  Not that I'm complaining that my job is hard or anything.

The Aspen trees are also starting to change colors.  I noticed that on my way into town yesterday.  They're yellow now and will slowly fade into shades of orange and deep red--my favorite.  Hopefully it will bring in another rush of tourists right before we close up for the season.

Fall also means hunting season.  Most of the cars driving up our windy dirt road now are men in their Safety Orange hats and camoflauge jackets. 

I woke up this morning at 3:30 in hopes of heading out on an elk hunt, which ended up falling through.  Andy has been camped out in the backwoods for the past three days, waiting it out through rain and heat and stinky bear signs (yes, apparently bears are stinky. Who knew?).  He came back this afternoon empty handed, ate a pizza, and headed back out.  I'm hoping we'll be eating elk for dinner in the next couple of days.

One bonus of business slowing down: I can hike every day after work.   This is a photo from our hike this afternoon, which got rained out towards the end.  Luckily, there was a fire roaring in the lodge when we got home and a glass of Malbec waiting for me.  Nothing warms you up like a good red wine!

Cooking tonight for the hunters.  Hopefully it will be elk chili?