The first really big vacation Mike and I took together with Scott and Eric was when we traveled to Colorado. We went with my sister Amy and her family, husband Don, and children Jennifer and Kelly. We camped in the Johnson village KOA not far from Buena Vista. Mike and I borrowed Mom and Dad's Scotty travel trailer and van to pull it with.
Saturday - July 15, 1989
We left Prairie Grove early on the morning of July 15 and met Amy and family at Lake Lou Emma in Van Buren so that we could travel together. We traveled on I-40 through Oklahoma and into Texas. We stopped at a rest stop outside of Shawnee, Oklahoma for a picnic lunch and to let the kids move around a little bit. This was a really hot day in Oklahoma and Texas and the van ran on "hot" for most of the day. We had to keep checking it to be sure it wasn't overheating. After lunch we stayed on I-40 until we got to Amarillo where we rented rooms at a Traveler's Inn for the night. It had a swimming pool so the kids got to swim before going to bed.
Sunday - July 16, 1989
After breakfast we headed northwest out of Amarillo onto highway 87. Scenery in Oklahoma and the panhandle of Texas is extremely flat with very few trees. Not really much to look at other than sage brush, mesquite trees, and cattle. After about 3 hours we crossed into New Mexico. After passing through Clayton, New Mexico, we began to see pronhgorn antelope, spotting about 60 as we cut across the corner of the state. In New Mexico we saw mesas and plateaus that were very interesting to look at. Then outside of Des Moines, NM we saw Capulin Volcano with lots of volcanic rocks along the side of the highway. Seeing the Rocky Mountain in the distance was very exciting.
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Capulin Volcano in New Mexico
At Raton, NM we turned north onto I-25. We went over Raton Pass at the New Mexico - Colorado state line. This was a very steep pass to pull our trailers over, but after that the roads weren't as steep. At this point we traveled through the plains of Colorado until turning west at Puebo on high way 50. We drove through Canon City and the Royal Gorge Canyon. This was a hot, very slow drive. We did see two bighorn seep ewes on the railroad tracks along this stretch. We turned north on highway 285 at Poncha Springs and arrived at Buena Vista Family Campground around 6:00 pm, tired and hungry. We set up camp, cooked a quick supper, and enjoyed the beautiful view before turning in for the night. This campground is at an elevation of about 8000 feet with views of Mt. Princeton and Mt. Antero to the west.
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| Amy and Don's camper |
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| View from the campground. |
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| The camper we borrowed from Mom and Dad. |
Monday - July 17, 1989
Late this morning we all loaded into the van and went up on Mt. Antero to the ghost town of St. Elmo. This 'ghost town' still has most of the old building from the mining days, but no commercialization. There was only a small general store open. We ate a picnic lunch here before moving on.
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| Don, Mike, Kelly, Scott and Eric |
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| St. Elmo |
After leaving St. Elmo, we drove further up on Mt. Antero to Hancock an old mining community that only had part of one building left. This is a really pretty site with wildlife and wild flowers and is at an elevation of about 11,500 ft. We hiked along an old railroad bed toward the Alpine Tunnel about 1/4 mile. After this we went into Buena Vista to buy supplies and then back to the campground.
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| Old shack and mountain view from Hancock. |
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| Old Mine Structure on the road to Hancock |
Tuesday - July, 18, 1989
Today we went east to the old mining town of Cripple Creek. On the way we saw many pronghorn and stopped at Wilkerson Pass to see the views back to the west. While in Cripple Creek we rode the Cripple Creek Narrow Gauge Railroad into the mining area.
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| Cripple Creek |
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| Mine outside of Cripple Creek |
After walking around town some we headed back toward camp. On the way we stopped at the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine and took a tour that went 1000 feet below ground into the mine. The eight of us and our tour guide took an elevator down into the mine.
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| Mollie Kathleen Mine Structure |
This day was interesting learning about gold mining in Colorado during the gold rush days.
Wednesday - July, 19, 1989
Today we drove past Cottonwood Lake up to Mineral Basin. This is a beautiful area in between many mountains. It is full of Indian Paintbrush wildflowers and has a stream running through it. The kids all tried 'gold mining' in the stream. Nothing came of it but they had fun trying. The stream was extremely cold. So cold that it hurt the feet to step into it. We used a small grill hibachi and made hot dogs for lunch. After lunch we hiked up into the meadows and found pyrite, magnetite, hematite, and other minerals to collect.
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| Scott, Kelly, Eric, Jennifer in stream |
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| Views of mountains and meadows at Mineral Basin |
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| Mineral Basin |
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| Indian Paintbrush |
On the way back down the mountain we stopped at Cottonwood Lake and grilled hamburgers on the hibachi. We looked for mountain goats on the mountain side by the lake, but none were out this evening.
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| Mt. Princeton as seen from the campsite |
As we did many evenings, the kids roasted marshmallows at the campsite and then we sat around enjoying the views. A very peaceful and enjoyable activity.
Thursday - July 20, 1989
We spent this morning on a guided rafting trip through the Brown's Canyon region of the Arkansas River. Eric and Kelly were technically too young to do the rafting trip, but our guide (who's name was Ernie) decided that they would be fine. This trip took us through seven different sets of rapids. We really had a lot of fun on this trip. Ernie made it extra fun for the kids by going backwards or spinning at times going through the rapids. We spent the rest of the day resting and doing laundry and just relaxing around the camp site.
Friday - July 21, 1989
Today we went to Colorado Springs. Once again, on the road by Hartsell, heading up to Wilkerson Pass, we saw several pronghorn.
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| Pronghorn near Hartsell |
The first thing we did once we got to the city was to go to the Air Force Academy. We had a picnic lunch and then went to the visitors center. After that we toured the chapel. It is a very pretty structure.
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| Chapel at the Air Force Academy |
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| Inside the chapel. |
On the way out of town we drove through the Garden of the Gods. Some very interesting rock structures are seen here. Then we stopped in Manitou Springs athe the Cliff Dwelling Museum. This is a place where they have rebuilt cliff dwellings. It was very interesting. The best part was the dancers. A young male Indians did a hoop dance and another did an eagle dance. At one point in the dancing, all the children in the audience were encouraged to dance with them.
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| Eagle Dance |
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| Kids dancing |
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| Kids dancing |
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| Mike and Don in front of buildings |
We stopped at a barbecue place in Woodland Park for supper. It was a long, but very enjoyable day.
Saturday - July 22, 1989
Had an easy day today. Slept in, then packed a picnic lunch and went for a drive up Cottonwood Pass. There is an overlook at this point where you can see mountains to the east and west . Very pretty views. It was cool and raining, so we didn't spend much time there.
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| Eric and Scott |
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Mary, Mike, Eric, Scott on left;
Amy, Don, Kelly, Jennifer on the right |
We went into town and went to a couple of museums since the weather was so nasty out. We ate supper at El Duran, a Mexican restaurant in Buena Vista. A nice day after two very busy days.
Sunday - July 23, 1989
Our last day in Colorado. Can't believe the time went by so fast. We started the day by going to the Mt. Princeton Stables for a trail ride. We did about a 1 1/2 hour ride up the base of Mt. Antero. At the highest point of this ride we had breathtaking views of the Chalk Cliffs of Mt. Princeton.
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| Amy and Jennifer waiting to start ride. |
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| Jennifer, Scott, Eric, Kelly |
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| Chalk Cliffs |
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| On the trail |
After the trail ride we picnicked in a park at the foot of Mt Princeton across from Chalk Creek Falls. After lunch we drove to Ruby Mountain to rock hunt and were able to find a small amount of mica and a large number of 'Apache Tears' made of obsidian. It began to rain, so we returned to camp where the kids watched a movie and I cleaned and got things ready to head home.
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| Bridal Veil Falls |
Monday - July 24, 1989 and Tuesday - July 25, 1989
We headed home early on Monday. We went home through Kansas. Once we got through Colorado Springs, everything became flat. We stopped to spend the night in Hayes, Kansas at a Motel 6.
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| Eric on way home |
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| Scott on way home |
On Tuesday, we got to Bentonville and returned the van and trailer to Mom and Dad. They were leaving on a trip of their own the next day. This was the first of many long trips for our family. We enjoyed Colorado so much that we would return several other times.
