Welcome Letter

Hi!

This is a welcome letter, so welcome! I’m going to try to think of all the things you should know while staying in this lovely rental home in Keystone, Colorado. Well, here goes…

Check-In Time

First of all, check-in time is 4:00 PM, or any time after, on the first day of your stay.

Directions Directly to the Keystone, Colorado Rental Home:

  • Take I-70 to the Silverthorne exit (#205). When you get to the bottom of the exit ramp turn towards Dillon and Keystone, Colorado (left from Denver or right from the West) onto Hwy. 6. Go passed all the stores. Drive approximately 6.1 miles from I-70 to Keystone Road (it’s the first traffic light after passing the Keystone Resort sign).
  • Turn right onto Keystone Road and make an immediate curve to the left. You will cross the Snake River bridge and go to Soda Ridge Road.
  • Take a right on Soda Ridge Road, go several blocks and turn left onto Appaloosa Ct. and then left again into the first driveway.

Arrival

Now that you have arrived at your Keystone, Colorado rental home follow the walk to the right of the garage up to the front door. For your convenience there is a lockbox on the wall by the garage door. You should have the current code. To open the lockbox just press down the buttons for the correct numbers. The extra keys will be in the kitchen in the fruit basket. These are the keys you will be using during your stay. Please return the lockbox keys back in the lockbox immediately upon arriving, as this will save you the embarrassment of locking yourself out accidentally. If you lock yourself out, the management company will charge us to let you in, and we pass that charge on to you. If you plan to arrive after dark, a flashlight may be helpful.

Upon entering, turn on the lights and turn up the heat. The electric baseboard heaters have a thermostat in every room. Turn on the heat in only the rooms you will be using. The baseboard heating units can get hot so please keep all items away from these units. There is an instruction sheet in the Info Book that will help you with this and other questions. Below you will find some helpful hints and instructions from the owners, the Turner family. Also note that this home is in a quiet residential neighborhood. Please be polite and do not disturb the neighbors with loud noise, an over abundance of vehicles blocking the cul-de-sac, by being too rambunctious or by littering the yard or deck with unsightly clutter while you are in residence. Any smoking is to be done on the deck please and all cigarette butts are to be placed in a disposable container and thrown away after they are completely extinguished. The bikes in the garage belong to the Turner family and are not for guests, so please rent bikes from a nearby shop to use during your stay. The bikes at the house are not safe for mountain biking and will be ruined if taken off road.

Ski Boots, Snow Boots and Shoes

If you all could do one thing for us during your stay, it would be greatly appreciated. Ski boots, snow boots and shoes are very hard on the houses and carpet. If your group could enter the house through the garage (when wearing ski boots) and take the ski boots off before entering the house that would be very much appreciated. In general, when entering the house, we would like you to remove your boots and shoes upon entry. We have tiled the house “strategically” so that entry areas and hallways are tile instead of carpet. In addition, there are inexpensive runner rugs in the downstairs hall to be used as a place for boots and shoes.

Keystone Colorado Free Shuttle Bus

The Keystone shuttle bus is no longer “free”, homeowners must now contract for this service which we have done. You may call for the Ease Bus to come pick you up at the house or from any other location within Keystone, Colorado by dialing 970-496-4200. Allow 15 minutes for the shuttle to appear. This shuttle is available from 6:00 AM to midnight on weekdays and the last run is extended to 2:00 AM on most weekends. If asked on the return trip or at any other time please identify yourself as residing at 12 Appaloosa Ct. .

Hot Tub [IMPORTANT. PLEASE READ]

When using the hot tub please do not allow the water to fall below the intake line as this will damage the pump and heater. Allowing the water to fall below the intake line will also cause the water to get dirty and stay dirty because the water cannot cycle through the filter. Always put the cover on the tub when not in use.

This hot tub is designed to hold 5 average people, any more and the water level will rise and overflow the tub. Then once the tub is vacated the water will no longer be displaced and the water level will drop below a safe level (i.e., the intake line on the far side of the tub). If the hot tub’s water level drops below the intake line please top off the tub immediately with more water to bring the level of the water up to the intake line. Never leave the hose attached to the outside faucet, always detach the hose and put it away. Leaving the hose attached to the faucet in winter will cause the water pipe to freeze and break. Leaving the hose outside in the winter will cause it to freeze and the next guest will be unable to use the hose. Misuse and damaged to the hot tub will cause the loss of your damage deposit. If you do not understand these instructions, please call Mr. Turner at work (303-273-2923) or on his cell (303-881-1227). Cathy Carver at the work number can handle your questions if Mr. Turner is not available.

Upstairs Wood-burning Fireplace

There is a wood-burning fireplace in the upstairs living room. Please open the flue before starting a fire.

Wood Stove

The wood stove in the downstairs area is operational, but we ask that you not use it. First of all, if you are not an experienced “wood stove” user, it can be a bit tricky to start. When it is very cold, wood stoves tend not to draw the air up the chimney unless you know exactly what you are doing. Finally, after the fire goes out, the air flows down the chimney bringing some of the black soot and its smell into the house. The next guest may be alarmed at the smell believing there is a fire somewhere.

Trash

You will find the trash cans in the garage. Please place the trash cans out at the bottom of the driveway on Friday morning. If you put out the trash cans the night before, wild animals may pay you a visit during the night creating a huge mess for you to clean up in the morning. Should the trash not be put out at the designated time Mr. Young will stop by to remove the trash cans from the garage and put them out for collection. Also please return the cans to the garage when they have been emptied. Thank you!

Videos

We have our personal VCR tapes and DVDs of various movies in the house. We try to keep the children videos (G to PG-13) in the family room and the “grown up” videos (R) in the cabinet under the TV in the master bedroom. You may want to review the videos in both places to determine whether they are appropriate for your group. If you take a grown up video downstairs, please return it to the upstairs cabinet after use.

Honor Pantry

Hotels have an honor bar; we have an honor pantry. The idea is that we have some food items in the house to supplement what you purchase at the local grocery store. Each item should have a price sticker on the item or the bulk box in which it sits. The combination to the lock is 0-0-0. There is a can in the pantry for your money. All moneys paid for items in the pantry go toward the purchase of more items. If you like the concept, feel free to leave a little extra for the convenience and tell us what you would like to see stocked.

Contact Information

The phone number at 12 Appaloosa Ct. is 970-262-7517. After your arrival, if you have questions or other concerns, please call the property manager, Russ Young, at 800-324-6422 or 970-468-8070. If no one is available to answer your call, please leave a message on his 24-hour answering and paging service and/or call Bev at her Denver number at 303-296-7272 or she may be at her Frisco home and the phone number there is 970-668-3800. If something is really wrong at the house you may call the owner, Doug, on his cell phone at 303-881-1227 or his home at 303-674-0555. For your convenience we try to keep a prepaid phone card by the phone to be used for emergency long distance calls only. Please do not take the card.

Long distance phone calls can be made with your cell phone, a prepaid phone card, collect to the number you are calling, by billing the call to your home number or with your phone credit card. Local calls are free. Any phone charges that are accrued during your stay, including if you chose to use Directory Assistance, will be taken out of your damage deposit. (Beware! Directory Assistance will charge a $1.25 service charge per phone number! Please use the phone book provided.)

Have Fun and Enjoy Keystone, Colorado!

The Turners and I would like to join in wishing you an enjoyable stay in Colorado’s playground, Summit County. Please make yourselves comfortable and consider this your home for the length of your visit here in Keystone but remember this house is someone else’s property. It is a private home and not owned by the resort. Treat the house and its contents with respect, don’t smoke inside or move the furniture about or redecorate and please do not remove the dishes, silverware or glassware from the residence.

Check-Out Time

Check-out time is 10:00 AM on the last morning of your stay. Please turn down the heat to 55 in all the rooms, run the dishwasher and take out the trash to the trash can in the garage. Leave the keys on the kitchen counter. The front door has a standard lock on the doorknob that can be locked as you leave. The garage door should be shut and the bolt thrown from the outside. The housekeepers will arrive soon after your check-out time to clean the house and get it ready for the next guests. Once they have reported back to the owner as to the condition of home, the cost of damage done, if any, will be deducted from your damage deposit. Your deposit or the balance of it will be returned to you after the phone bill has been received and the bill has been checked for any extra charges.

Parting Shots

Thank you for choosing 12 Appaloosa Ct. for your visit to Summit County, I hope your stay will be a pleasant one. There is a guest book in the dining room. Please take a moment to let the owner, Douglas Turner, and myself know your impressions of the house, both good and bad, so we can continue to improve it. Also, if you find a good restaurant or have a great experience, we’d love to hear about it. Your experiences could be of great help to a later guest. Enjoy your stay and I hope I can be your hostess sometime again in the future.

Sincerely,
Bev Babich

PS:

Here is a fun stop you may like to make on your way up to Keystone Colorado (or on the way down too!). When you get to Silver Plume, a wonderful little old mining town just passed Georgetown on I-70, you may wish to exit (#226) so you can visit an old fashion general store called Sopp and Truscott (open Thursday - Sunday). When you exit take a right at the bottom of the ramp, turn right again after you cross the bridge and go almost to the end of the street. The store is on the right (I guess you could say this is the right place!). The new owners of this fine old store are Gail and Patrick Buckley and they bake the best homemade bread you’ve ever eaten. I love the jalapeno cheddar, Johnny bread, the sun-dried tomato basil and the Italian-style olive with herbs, but they’re all good. Try the cinnamon fruit bread (fantastic!) for breakfast or just pick one that sounds good to you, you can’t go wrong! If you can’t decide which bread you want you’ll find free samples of the breads being offered that day along with butter, homemade jam, a toaster and coffee! Make sure you stop back on your way home from Keystone to pick up bread and some of the other yummy treats they make to take back with you. Your friends and family will love you if you bring them a loaf or two as well. If by chance the bread store is closed, don’t despair; look in the big metal box marked “bread” on the front doorstep. When the store closes, they put any bread they have left into the box. The loaves will be marked as to what kind of bread they are and how much they cost. You put the money in the coffee can that’s in the box!

Silver Plume also has a very interesting antique shop owned by a lovely couple by the name of Will and Sarah Franklin, an art gallery, several other shops and a museum that are all worth a peek if you have the time. For tea or lunch try the little teashop inside the Franklin’s antique shop, one block down from the bread store. It has a charming little patio that is open when the weather is nice. This tea shop is only open on the weekends for the winter but this summer they plan to be open during the weekdays as well. You can also take a thrilling ride on a train pulled by an old steam locomotive which can be found on the far side of the interstate.

Have Fun!