We left Laramie, Wyoming and entered Colorado at 10:45 Mountain Standard Time.. It was a pretty apprehensive drive because we were going up in elevation and the roads were curvy. But, we arrived safely at the Cripple Creek Hospitality House and RV Park. Gorgeous views of the mountains all around us.
The town was saved by the opening of casinos in the early 60s. The gold mines had shut down except for a big one in Victor, CO. It is still going today and is quite profitable. We played in at least five different casinos and we hardly touched the surface.
We had a fantastic tour of the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine. If you have read my previous blogs, you read about the salt mine in Kansas that was 650 ft down. This mine is 1000 feet down. And where the salt mine had huge rooms, this one was a narrow passageway. Steve was a fantastic tour guide and knew what he was talking bout because he is a second generation miner and loves his job.
John, the pups, and I did some driving around back roads and saw some pretty interesting views. John kept saying he wanted to buy property that was for sale, but I told him the commute was too far!
There is a train ride in Cripple Creek where the engineer gives you a comprehensive history of gold prospecting in the area. As we went along the track, he pointed out where there were prospecting holes and where there had been mines in the past. He also described the fires in 1896 that destroyed the town and resulted in the buildings in the business district having to be made of brick instead of wood. One place he stopped was called Echo Valley. We COULD hear the echoes of the train whistles across the valley.
He referred to the descendants of the donkeys that had worked in the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine. They are allowed to roam the town and the town folks take care of them.
On Sunday, we had a surprise! Robin Blanchard and her daughter, Ashley Lucas-Lee showed up at the Hospitality House. Robin was on the way home from Hawaii and Ashley flew to Denver to meet her and drive to Cripple Creek. She had bet John she would show up so he had to pay up.
We needed to cram a lot in the short time they were going to be there, so it was casino, eat, casino, eat, casino, gold mine tour, shop, casino, eat, train ride, one hour of rest, casino, eat, and last but not least, feed the donkeys.
The only drawback to our visit to Cripple Creek was the thin air at 9494 ft altitude. They sell cans of Oxygen Boost- some have flavors. We did buy some and I think it helped John. My prescription inhaler was my best bet. I think we were acclimating about the time we had to leave.
