When John and I discovered the 37 acres that became Longtree, it was still as wild and as untamed as it was nearly a century and a half ago, when the entire surrounding territory belonged to former Colorado governor John Evans.

As we stood among the immense Ponderosas, some approaching 100 feet in height, I suggested we call it 'Longtree.' The name stuck.

Colorado is a breathtaking place. Americans have embraced that thought since Katharine Lee Bates wrote 'America the Beautiful' in 1893. She'd been inspired by an adventure that took her to the very top of Pikes Peak.

It's not difficult to understand the magic she felt in the Rocky Mountains. We feel it, too. In these western woods grow pine tree giants. The sky is like no other, filled with the glorious clouds that become faces and castles and animals of every kind.

The meadows and the forest floor fill with springtime wildflowers. The breezes seem to be voices from another time.

And in the night, a brilliant starlight canopy lures each dreamer with its mystic spell.

      --Robin Romero