High on a hill above Durango stands brand-new Mercy Hospital, serving the health needs of this burgeoning community.
Inside the bowels of this proud edifice, deep inside the bowels, is the Nutrition and Environmental Services Supervisor, Heidi Brewer. She is Kathleen's niece.
She gave us the cook's tour. We had lunch in a fabulous hospital cafeteria (really, it is very nice), dropped by the Merciful Mug, Heidi's answer to Starbucks, viewed the chapel filled with very nice stained glass, photographed the little beavers statue outside, dubbed "Bill and Monica" by some hospital wag, studied artifacts and the time line showing how the mountain hospital has grown, and let Heidi get back to work, which was good, because both a doctor and her mother said that she actually runs the place.
Mostly we wanted to know about Heidi's new husband and about their home construction project in the old part of Durango.Mary Lou and Dave drove us to the remodeling project, and we saw a 1920s building getting a complete overhaul.
The living area and kitchen downstairs is getting a trendy bamboo floor. The exterior was being clad in "galvaluminum" which makes it look like an industrial shed, but is considered very hip, the Teluride look. We are trying to catch up.
The carriage house in the back (their rental, where Heidi and Sam are nested during the remodel) already has the siding (click on red photo).The upstairs master is very dramatic, with wonderful windows, colors and a hot tub deck outside under the mountain view.
After the self-guided tour we had chocolate in Starbucks in downtown Durango.Lots of young professionals are moving to Durango and you can tell it in many ways. There are 26 teams in the city hockey league, mostly aging jocks, male and female.
One of them is Sam King from Denver and Chicago, an engineer with British Petroleum. Durango sits on top of one of the world's largest gas domes, fueling an amazing growth spurt in local population and home values.
Sam is Heidi's husband. We like him a lot, which is probably why we didn't get a picture of him, we were having too much fun. We had dinner with them downtown at Ken and Sue's restaurant. He came to dinner dressed as a pirate, with lacy sleeves and a tricorn hat. It is a costume for a weekend chamber of commerce event, but he just couldn't wait to try it out. Aaargh, matey. We're happy for Heidi.
