Dimitri succeeded in finding and renting a 3 bedroom/2 bath townhouse in West Vail for the entire season (without an agent or anything/body else). We rented it from November 21, 2008, to April 21, 2009. Click here to have a look at it (if the link still works--the townhouse was for sale and the rental site may not exist now). It was at 2637 Kinnikinnick Rd., Unit D4, Vail, CO 81657.
One of the things that make our travels (and our homelessness) work is that Dimitri is indefatigable in his searches for our housing. He is tenacious and relentless. In this search, he sent out over 400 inquiries in the Vail, Keystone, Breckenridge areas. He had to keep following up with landlords who were anything but professional. Incredibly, the townhouse we rented is one of the first that we had identified and liked.
A glossy magazine about the Vail Valley has a section called "Vail Valley Communities" by Slifer Smith & Frampton. It says: "Slightly west is West Vail only two miles from Vail Mountain; this neighborhood features affordable [emphasis added] lodging and abundant dining options. The free Town of Vail shuttle runs frequently throughout the year from West Vail to Vail Village".
As the financial meltdown accelerated and our capital disappearance also accelerated, we viewed the $4500 per month rent for our townhouse anything but affordable. It was, however, very comfortable and very well located, right at a TOV (Town of Vail) bus stop. It overlooked Gore Creek at the back of the house and beyond the creek, the I-70.
In the winter, when all the windows were closed, we weren't aware of the I-70 at all. In the spring, with the windows in the back open, we could. Since we never slept with the windows open, it didn't bother us. Either the hum of the humidifiers masked the sound or the classical music playing did the trick.
Our townhouse had a carport so our car didn't get snowed in. The development plowed and shoveled the snow from the parking area and from our stoop so we didn't have any issues getting out. The TOV plowed the streets very well and often so the streets never were blocked. The streets were sometimes icy and we were amazed that the studded snow tires on the Blomquists' Subaru Outback that they loaned us didn't grip better.
The front door was on the bottom floor of our three-story townhouse. On that floor were two guest bedrooms, one complete bathroom, and the washer/dryer area. We used one of the bedrooms for hanging our ski clothes, drying our ski boots, and re-charging our boot-heater batteries. The second guest bedroom was for guests. 
The glimpse of Gore Creek from the guest bedroom.
On the second level was the living room with a rare and wonderful wood-burning fireplace. Off of the living room area was a deck over the Gore Creek where we had all of the firewood conveniently stacked. Above the fireplace was a flat-screen TV, too high really to comfortably watch the TV. The Wi-Fi box was installed with the Comcast TV satellite box. So, we had Wi-Fi connectivity throughout the townhouse.
The living room of our Vail townhouse filled with our friends the Edwards and the Leslies who we met through the Vail 50+ Ski With Us program.
There was a dining room area on the second level and the table seated 6 comfortably.
At the dining table in our townhouse with the kitchen beyond at a dinner party with Sudi Sloan, Michael Palembas (Carl Blomquist's nephew who was our first guest), Dimitri, Mitch Hayne, and Mel Richmond.
Between the kitchen and the dining room was a big granite counter with bar stools. The kitchen was large and well-equipped, particularly when I added the $7.99 Cuisinart that we bought at the Goodwill store in Denver.
The kitchen was large enough to put a card table for my Dell Studio 1535 laptop. That was very convenient because Dimitri scanned all of my recipe books (one poor skiing season in Val d'Isere, France) and I can use the computer as my gigantic recipe book on one of the kitchen counters.
On the third level, was our bedroom, large walk-in closet, and our bathroom. The ceiling in the third level was vaulted so it was quite high in both the bathroom as well as in the bathroom. The bathroom had a very comfortable 2-person Jacuzzi bathtub which we used many days after skiing. Because the ceiling was so high, the bathroom was not claustrophobic, and soaking in the Jacuzzi was very pleasant.
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