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Gary Cook is the cook. And the host, the entertainment guide and the maintenance man as well as the maid at home.

Cook and his wife, Diana, own and operate the Taylor Street Bed and Breakfast, which is the only B&B in Craig.

"My wife works outside of the house, so I am the labor force," he said

Cook said he and his wife had been looking for a small motel outside of Denver for more than two years.

They came to Craig several times, looking at two different properties.

"Each time, we went back to Denver commenting on how friendly and helpful the people around Craig were," Cook said.

He said running a B&B is not hard work, but proprietors are busy all the time.

"This is my full-time job, and there is always something to do," he said.

Cook said he had lived in Colorado all his life but was unknowledgeable about this corner of the state and not sure whether he would fit in.

"I remember telling my wife when we moved here I wasn't sure I was going to like all this sagebrush around here," he said. "That was seven years ago, and I'd never move back to Denver."

He said they miss family and friends but not much else.

Cook has been pleased that, each year, business gets a little better.

He said that, during the last few year he has noticed more repeat customers.

"Aside from hunters we have a lot of people stopping here headed to Dinosaur National Monument, Salt Lake and headed west," he said.

He said other local hotels have been great about referring customers when they are full.

"It is great to have a business community that is helpful to each other," he said.

One of the first things Cook did was join the Chamber of Commerce, which "was the smartest thing we did," he said.

Cook was also recently app-ointed to the Moffat County Tour-ism Board and looks forward to working on promoting tourism within the county.

"Tourist are really important to our local economy, and I am will to help out," he said.