NANCI BUSH LOVES to help people, whether in her career teaching American history in Georgetown, Texas; guiding tours to Washington, D.C., for more than a decade; or now, as innkeeper of Ridgewalk Treehouse. She and her husband, Bill, designed and built the cozy lodging perched high in the forest, where she ensures guests have a relaxing, high-altitude stay with majestic views of wildlife and Eagle Nest Lake in the distance.
We had been here to ski with our daughters. When we were looking to leave Texas, we remembered being here. It’s wonderful—that feeling of a small town, and that you know most of the people you run into. If you’re going to the market, make sure you have time to visit with everyone.
We thought winter would be the busiest, but our busy season is the summer: June, July, and August. Of course, the summer weather cannot be beat. For a lot of people who come, they just want to get away, so they love just sitting down on the back deck.
Our mountain wedding venue offers a serene and secluded setting. It creates an intimate atmosphere to celebrate with family and friends. That’s where we built the altar. And oh, the hummingbirds! We have the brides put their bouquets on the deck railing, and the hummingbirds come to their flowers.
You need a servant’s heart to be an innkeeper. You try to do whatever you can to make that person happy.
We’ve got mountain biking and golf. If you’re here in the winter, it’s different, you’ve got skiing and snowmobiling. But I love the shoulder seasons, too, when the golf course gets going in May, and fall, when everyone is like little bees getting ready for winter.