A Life That Moves
Some couples look like they were assembled by modern life. Kai Candler and Becca Wills feel more like they were shaped by it the old-fashioned way – through movement, work, risk, and a willingness to start over when needed.
Their story does not begin in Westcliffe. It winds through Moab, Kansas City, Colorado Springs, ranch country, coffee shops, horses, fly fishing, music, and the kind of improvising that tends to follow people more interested in living than posing.
Kai has long carried music as a steady companion. He studied music theory growing up and learned piano, clarinet, and saxophone, often singing simply for the enjoyment of it. Music became an early thread in his life – a way of listening closely, recognizing patterns, and adapting when things changed.
Becca’s path began with horses. She started riding at age 7 and spent years working at barns, mucking stalls, and doing whatever needed doing just to stay close to the animals she loved. Horses were never simply a hobby. They were a source of peace and direction.
Years later, after a difficult breakup and feeling drained by restaurant management work, she made a bold decision. She sold what she did not need, packed her small car, and drove to Moab, Utah, prepared to live in a tent if necessary. Her plan was simple: spend a summer riding horses. Instead, she found a new life.
Finding Their Way West
At Sorrel River Ranch outside Moab, Becca worked as a wrangler, guiding guests on horseback through canyon country. Kai was there as well, working in hospitality. She remembers meeting him, noticing his confidence, and wondering what to make of him. Before long, they were sharing meals, conversations, and the beginning of something lasting. Later, the pair spent time in Kansas City, where Becca owned a coffee shop in Grandview called The Hard Bean Cafe. The shop became known for its welcoming atmosphere and loyal community of regulars.
Life eventually brought them back west again, this time to Colorado Springs and The Broadmoor’s Emerald Valley Ranch. There, Becca guided horseback rides through mountain terrain while Kai taught fly fishing to guests seeking a hands-on experience of the outdoors. A friend from those Broadmoor days, Dawnielle Weeks, had roots in Westcliffe and often pointed toward the Wet Mountain Valley. Eventually, Kai and Becca made the trip themselves. “We were like, this is the most beautiful place we’ve ever seen, and that’s kind of how we found out about it,” Kai said.
Building a Life in the Valley
Today, Kai and Becca are raising three children in the Wet Mountain Valley and building a life shaped by both tradition and adaptation. Kai has worked seasonal winters at Monarch and on the 5,000-acre cattle operation at Music Meadows, where the work includes fence repair, grazing support, land maintenance, and whatever else the season requires.
Becca is building something of her own as well. Her venture, Sunshine Mountain Ranch, includes horseback lessons, flowers, compost, and plans for youth horse camps. This spring, she filled a lesson program with 25 kids and is helping launch scholarship-supported riding opportunities for underserved, veteran, and first responder families. “I just wanted to build something where kids and families could experience horses and the land in a real way,” Becca said Kai’s work reaches across the landscape – fly fishing instruction, ranch labor, fencing, irrigation, seasonal mountain jobs, and whatever the day requires. Becca works with horses, gardens, and children, creating opportunities for others to experience the land firsthand. Together they are building something that resembles a modern homestead – one rooted in labor, animals, land, and community.
Today’s Wild Wet Mountain Valley
Like many building a life here, Kai balances physical work with a willingness to try new ideas when needed. Rural living often requires flexibility and persistence more than certainty. The details change. The underlying pattern remains: care for the land. Show up when the work needs doing. Adapt when conditions shift. Keep moving forward.
Out here, the West is not something preserved behind glass. It lives in saddles, fence lines, gardens, children, music, and the steady effort required to make a life in rural country. For Kai and Becca, the idea of the West is not history.
It is daily life.
– K.C. Stark, Tribune’s Man on the Street
