The story of how one woman overcame the dynamics of a youth filled with drugs, alcoholic parents, and an abusive husband to build a new life as a hippie in the mountains of Colorado during the late 1960's and early 1970's. From raising a family that grew from two children to five in three years, to living in a converted 1900's era post office at 5,280 feet in the Rocky Mountains the family shared pioneer type experiences with the rest of the small town of Ward. Heat was provided by a wood stove, the water pipes often froze, outhouses were essential, and the her home had the only shower in the entire town. Through all this Susan manages to survive, thrive and discover a sense of belonging. This book sheds light on the pioneer spirit that enriched the small hippie community in Ward; as well as the free sex and attitudes that engendered the hippie generation. With lucid writing Susan marshals the characters and events of her past to overcome the obstacles of time, illuminating and recording the history of a community obscured in the shadows of the Rocky Mountains.