Your Stay
Packing For Your Trip
FOOD: You will need to consider packing food and beverages for snacking and for any meals in which you do not eat out. Shopping at a nearby grocery store on your way to the house or shortly after arrival is also a good option; there’s a Shop N Save on the west side of Terra Alta. See the sections for Kitchen & Dining Areas and Restaurants.
CLOTHING: The outside temperature can vary greatly throughout the year, both from day-to-day and within a single day-to-night. Even in July, the nights can get cool due to the high elevation and the secluded area in which the house sits. Additionally, the surrounding mountains make rainfall quite unpredictable, especially in the spring and summer. So it is always wise to pack warmer clothes and a raincoat for your trip. In the winter, the weather is simply cold and snowy!
BEDDING: If more than 8 beds or 4 bedrooms are going to be used at any one time during your stay, you may want to consider bringing extra pillows with sleeping bags and/or air mattresses. There is extra bedding and two air mattresses in the house for about 10 people to be using at once. See Bedrooms & Bathrooms section.
TOWELS: If you bring your own bath towels, it will save you from doing a lengthy load of laundry before you leave at the end of your stay. Otherwise, there are plenty of bath towels available in the house. See the Bedrooms & Bathrooms section.
WATER GEAR: You will need bathing suits and beach towels if you plan on going to the lakeside beach, using the indoor pool, relaxing in the hot tub, or going boating/kayaking. Water shoes are also very useful for in and around the lake. The house has provides a limited supply of these items, including some life jackets and kids’ toys. See the Lake Activities and Resort Activities sections.
DIRECTIONS: It is helpful to have the directions from the Maps & Directions section readily available on your phone or by printing before you leave home. The directions offered on that page give the best route to stay on the smoothest, safest roads, especially if you are unfamiliar with the route. A GPS can take you in one of many different ways to get to the lake house, but any perceived time saved by taking one of those other routes is often lost due to the nature/conditions of those roads or the extra turns required along the way.
As You Arrive
SECURITY GATE: When you get to the security gate at the entrance to the resort, inform the guard that you are “guests of the Deklewa family at 110 Pine Drive.” You will be given a placard to display in your vehicle while on the resort. If you leave the resort during your stay, you will simply need to show your placard when you arrive back at the security gate.
PARKING: There is plenty of parking immediately along the side of the house on the stone driveway. The lights for the driveway will turn on when you pull in at night. The entrance to the house is on the left side when facing it from the driveway, accessed by taking the steps up to the deck and unlatching the wood gate. A few lights will turn on automatically at night between the driveway and the front door.
ENTRY LOCK: The lock on the door is a numeric keypad, and it will light up at night as soon as you press any button on the keypad. A code to unlock the door will be provided to you by the Deklewa family. The door will lock each time it closes unless the switch on the inside of the door is turned vertically. Please be sure the switch is set to the lock setting (horizontally) any time you are leaving the house for an extended duration.
LIGHTING: The two small table lamps near the entry door are automatically activated when you first enter the house at night, and the switches on walls operate the rest of the lights in the great room. Alternately, you can say, "Alexa, turn on Great Room lights" upon your entry to activate all of the lights in the main room.
HOT WATER: The hot water tank must be turned on before hot water is available in the house. The tank and its switch are located in the utility room downstairs. Proceed down the steps via the door across from the kitchen and turn left at the landing into the downstairs bedroom. The entry to the utility room is to the left, and the switch is on the wall directly across from the entrance, which is marked “H2O Heater.” It generally does not take long for the water to get heated.
TEMPERATURE: The main and lower levels of the house generally remain at a comfortable temperature when empty in the summer, but opening windows and turning on the overhead fan upon arrival will aid in that. The loft can reach higher temperatures in the middle of the summer, and the fan and A/C unit may be needed to get that level to a reasonable temperature. During the winter months, the gas fireplaces on each level provide the fastest way of getting the house to a warmer temperature. Turning on both helps the entire house warm up quickly. For more on the fireplaces and general temperature, see the “During Your Stay” section.
During Your Visit
HOUSE TEMPERATURE — SUMMER: The overhead fans in the great room and loft can assist greatly in keeping the house at a comfortable temperature during the summer months, but keeping some windows open (especially overnight) is usually sufficient in controlling the temperature. At the peak of summer, the air conditioning unit in the window by the kitchen table can help lower the heat and humidity in the house during the day, and it works best when the overhead fan in the Great Room is pushing air up.
HOUSE TEMPERATURE — WINTER: Each room of the house has its own thermostat, connected to a floorboard register. Each of those thermostats is set at 50 degrees when the house is not occupied, so each thermostat will need to be turned up in rooms that will be used during a stay in the colder months. The gas fireplaces on each level can help get the house heated up more quickly, as well. Please be sure that those gas fireplaces are turned off overnight or when no one is going to be in the house for any period of time.
WALKING ROUTES: There is a right of ingress & egress on the entire resort, allowing people to freely walk across other properties at any time to reach their destinations. So as long as you are courteous of the land and the personal possessions on it, feel free to take a straight line to where ever you so desire by walking through others’ yards along the way. No one will mind, and they may even be happy to see you passing by.
RESORT SPEED LIMIT: The speed limit on the resort roads is monitored by Alpine Lake security with a radar gun, primarily for the safety of those walking and biking. The speed limit in the resort is 25 mph, but that limit is reduced to 15 mph by the lodge, boat house, and beach area, which are the areas most-closely monitored.
SHORT EXCURSIONS: Any time your full family/group are departing the house temporarily to spend time doing activities on the resort or to leave the resort entirely, please ensure all of the house’s doors are shut and locked, including turning the lock setting to horizontal on the main entry door. Also close all windows that are directly accessible from the deck or ground level.
When You Depart
FINAL CHECKLIST: Prior to departing at the end of your stay, we kindly ask that you leave the house in better condition than which you found it. So as a courtesy to the next visitors, please complete all of the following tasks on the day you plan to leave:
-
Wash and dry the sheets for any beds that were used and remake each of those beds with the clean sheets. The washer and dryer are in the utility room off the basement bedroom.
-
Wash and dry any bath towels that were used. Please do not wash the dark red towels in the same load as other materials.
-
Clean all dirty dishes and return the cleaned dishes to their proper cabinets and drawers.
-
Empty all garbage cans and put all used garbage bags in the wood box by the street. Place an empty garbage bag in the plastic bin in the kitchen.
-
Sweep any floor areas that got dirty or had repeated use during your stay. In addition to the robot vacuum, there is a manual vacuum cleaner in the coat closet near the entry door.
-
Turn off and unplug the air conditioning unit in the great room, set all of the thermostats back to 50 degrees, and ensure that the gas fireplaces have been turned off.
-
Turn off the hot water tank in the utility room in the basement by setting the switch on the adjacent wall to the down position.
-
Turn off the power supply to the hot tub if it was used during your stay.
-
Make sure the propane grill is turned off and the cover is placed back over the grill.
-
Lower the umbrella on the table on the deck.
-
Lock the sliding doors and place the security sticks back in their tracks.
-
Turn off all of the lights and fans, and return all dimmer controls to their correct wall panels.
-
Be sure the electric lock on the main door is set to lock behind you and verify that the door does lock after it closes.