Questions about Castle Rock? (Denver: house, neighborhood, to buy)

[JourneyCC]

We bought a home here and now I have some "local" questions:

1. Soccer Association for kids, where? who?

2. How necessary is a 4x4 vehicle in winter?

3. Is South Street Elementary School really good?

4. City girl bought 3 acres ...........anything I need to know, as I'm from a year around warm climate?

5. Other than dryness and baking issues, anything else I need to know to acclimate?

Most grateful for all perils of wisdom

Journey

[Swampy101]

4x4 isn't really necessary unless you live on a back dirt road that isn't well maintained. Some good all season tires on a FWD car is good. You'll just have to get used to driving in the snow/ice, give yourself plenty of room and yeah, the thought of it, PAY ATTENTION!

Growing season is short here, you're at 6000 feet, I'm at 7000 feet. I planted seeds 4 weeks ago, but knowing that the weather was going to be warmer than usual. Some people will start seeds in their house and plant outside later.

Denver is at about 5000 feet and the general rule is Mother's Day for planting. Here at my place, it's Memorial day (this weekend!).

Deer can be a problem with gardens. There's a nursery off Wilcox by the Jeep/Chrysler dealer that sells "Liquid Fence". It stinks BAD, but it works pretty good, so if you have anything that's not "deer resistant" you might want to get some of that.

We didn't do much gardening the first full year here to see what happens. The deer were manageable, thankfully, I live out of town and a few shots over their heads with one of my rifles when they got close to the garden area was enough training for them to stay away from that area. At the end of the first year, our field was full of weeds. So we needed to cut the field and spray with industrial stuff, but we're kinda against that kinda stuff so we had the local FD come over and do some training. Now, it's been 7 months and no more weeds out there, just great natural green grass. You probably don't have that option there however.

Voles and gophers can be bad in some areas, so you'll want to research how to get rid of them. I've been a competitive shooter for over 30 years so I just put my skills to good use. Again, you won't have that option there.

This summer, since you have some decent acreage, go around your entire house with a magnifying glass and look for any entry points for mice and plug them up as soon as possible. I use a fine wire mesh stuffed into any hole and then fill with "Great Stuff" available at Home Depot. Get latex gloves for handling that stuff though. Won't really hurt you, but it will stick for a looooong time. It will take you a while to find all the little holes. Even under your front porch if you have wood steps, there might be holes under it. Besides all that, it will help with heating later in the winter.

Yep, baking issues. I know at 7000 feet here, I've only been able to bake cookies that are hard and flat as paper and have almost given up, ok, just taking a break from experimenting...

Hope this helps, my kids are gone already so don't know about the soccer/school stuff.

[masalamomma]

If you haven't noticed yet, I am sure you will now, the Colorado car of choice for a family that has the best performance in snow, yet still good on gas is.....Suburu Outback. If you are going to buy something, there must be a reason everyone else has one and their brother. I personally have a Honda Odyssey and never had trouble in snow, but then I tend to nest when the weather is really bad.

[formercalifornian]

4x4? Not at all if you're in a regular neighborhood. Just keep at least a week's worth of food in your house during the winter, and hold tight until the plows get to you. On the other hand, if you've bought your acreage out in the boondocks, you'll get good use out of one.

South Elementary? Average. There are better schools in the district. Charter schools are widely available throughout Douglas County if you want/need something different.

Soccer Association? No idea. My kids are gymnasts.

Baking? An extra tablespoon of flour and a higher baking temperature will solve most issues. I ran across a high-altitude baking cookbook at Borders the other day, and it seemed to have a good selection of recipes. If you're a serious baker, it might be worth the purchase.

[GoPioneers]

I believe Real (pronounced RE - al, like Real Madrid) is the closest soccer club - maybe Pride comes up that far from the Springs.