Scouting

Saturday, Clark and I headed out about 11:30 AM on our way to scout out our route for our hike.   
Our first stop was at Brush Hollow reservoir.  We dug out the fishing poles and fished off the bank for about an hour.  No luck so we moved on. 


Made our way over to Phantom Canyon drive.   Our plan is to start about 5/miles in, where the dirt road begins.  We kept track of our distance on the way so we could start looking for camping spots at about mile 11 and beyond.  As we drove we found a place to pull over and eat our lunch.  We hung out and goofed around the creek.  Pebbles loved it and she even got into the creek to cool off.  Clark chose to use the log cross the creek.   We tried to get Pebbles to follow up but she wasn't up for it.

We found a great spot, but we will have to get a full 15/miles in on day one to get to it.

We are going to be sleeping in hammocks instead of a tent.   This will be a first for me.   Today I set up my hammock so I could see what is the max distance I can have between trees.

The spot we found is off the road a bit, and there are some great trees that we can tie up to.   We stacked some rocks for a fire pit and we spotted some good wood close around for us to use for our fire.

We continued up the canyon and ended up in Victor, CO.  We stopped in town and parked in front of a beer joint.   Went in and had a cold beer and sat and talked about our plans and things we will need to pack with us.

Then we headed over to Cripple Creek to hit one of the casinos.  Clark had never gambled on a slot machine so we thought we should give it a try.   I think he dropped $20 in and he ended up walking away with $52, pretty decent for a first timer.

We got back to the house just after 6 PM and grabbed Candy and went and had some dinner.   Now that we have driven the route I am even more excited about a trip.

Let's Clean House

I guess today was a day for cleaning up around the house.   We have a big stack of stuff that we were going to put in a garage sale, but instead decided to just donate it to the ARC and take the tax wright off.  So tomorrow they are going to come and pick it up and haul it off.  I had to move it all out to the driveway and  have it covered with a tarp so it should be fine over the night. I spent most of the day cleaning around the house.  I started with the garage and swept it out and then mopped up the sticky spots.  I think I filled one of the trash cans with crap that needed to be thrown out.  On top of that I think I swept up a couple pounds of dirt.

I then turned my attention to the back patio.  I pulled all the chairs, tables, etc. out into the yard and swept up the leaves and acorns.  Once I had all the big stuff off, I used the leaf blower and blew off all the little stuff.   Then I grabbed the hose and washed of the patio and then replaced all the furniture I had moved.   Looks damn good, to bad it will only last a day or two.

Took the RAV4 over to the shop and parked it.  With all the crap we had stored in the garage we haven't been able to park it inside.  So I parked it over at the shop.  We have been using the RAV when we have to go to Denver.  The boys use it more than me, but better to put the miles on the RAV instead of our daily drivers.  It just turned 100K and still runs great and looks great.  We have taken really good care of it and I bet we can get another 100K out of it.

Yesterday  we mad a trip up to Cripple Creek.  A excluded a few photos as  thought they would be best on their own.  We still have active gold mines in the area and we passed one on the way up.   Things have definitely changed over the years on how they go about getting the gold out.

After I finished all my work around the house I finished off my center pieces for the upcoming party. They look pretty awesome!  I just need to spray them with a matte finish and they should be ready to go.   I think they look pretty cool and I hope that everyone who attends will find them just as cool as well.

I think the KISS one came out the best.  You can't see it in the picture but the band members wrap around the holder.

A Day Out

Today we drove Stagecoach Rd. to Gold Camp Rd. up to Cripple Creek.  It was the perfect day to get out and see brilliant gold Aspen trees as they turn.

Both of these roads are dirt with wash boards in areas.   Couple of sections will really rattle your teeth. Gold Camp has narrow sections and narrow blind curves making passing oncoming traffic challenging.  Considerable traffic kicking up dust, as soon as we got home I rinsed off the truck as it was covered.

Along the way we stopped at Saint Peters Dome trail.  It’s an out and back trail with a distance of 1.6 miles, a 620 feet elevation gain and is rated easy.   You get an awesome view of downtown Colorado Springs and beyond in addition to the surrounding peaks.

Further on down we stopped off along a small stream to take some pictures.  We stacked a few rocks and enjoyed the sound of the rushing water.  We came across several nice campsites and boy I really got the bug.   I just don’t know that it will happen anytime soon.   I have a lot going on with work and some travel coming up in the next week.

We found our way into Cripple Creek and parked.  Walked the street past several of the casinos and found a burger shop.   We were both hungry as it was now a little after 4PM.  With our stops it took us about 5 hours to get there.   We did stop into one casino and we put a $20.00 into a slot machine.  Cashed it out five minutes later for $25.60. 

The Aspen trees were in full color, from brilliant gold and fiery orange and reds.  This was the perfect time to be out if you wanted to see this spectacular display of color before the leaves fall.

I have been working hard to get my miles in.  Doing pretty good this month, as of today I am up to 73 miles and still have a couple days left.  I have a bunch of vacation time that I need to take or I am going to lose it.   So yesterday I took advantage of that and scheduled a day off.   I would say more of a morning off.  

We headed out of the house just a little after 7AM and headed to the trail head.  We did a 5 mile hike up over the mountain and back.  The first part of this hike is a 960 ft incline in the first 1 mile, it’s a real breath taker.  Once you get to the top, you follow the ridge so you have some decent views of the city.   Mable went with us and she walked the entire way.   For most of the hike she was off leash, there was about a mile of road that she needed it.  This was great hike and a decent work out me. 

Happy Anniversary

Well not sure where to start as I have so much to catch up on. I guess let’s start with our wedding anniversary. On August 1st 2010 we celebrated our 23rd wedding anniversary and had a blast!

Our fun began on Saturday July 31st. We loaded up in the truck and headed up Old Stage to GCR and to the St. Peters Dome area. We had done this same hike the year before and thought we should do it again. I had cheese & crackers in the backpack and we even had a bottle of Champaign but decided to leave it behind as we didn’t want to stumble down the side or slip on the rope. This isn’t a long hike but does have some challenging areas.

On our way up the trail in the distance we could hear sound of fire trucks and police. As we climbed we could tell the sirens were getting closer. Once we had reach the top of the dome is when the Flight for Life helicopter came into view and flew around the mountain and soon after followed by another. Hearing the sirens and then seeing the helicopters you know that cant’ be good!

It was a great morning to be out, a little overcast and cool. Once at the top we found a flat rock, had a seat and a little snack while we enjoyed the views and talked about what we had accomplished over these 23 years. We have worked hard and been very blessed and together we have accomplished quite a bit. I know I couldn’t have done it alone. Love you baby and looking forward to many more.

I guess we had been at the top for about 30 minutes when here came the Flight for Life helicopters flying back around the mountain and headed to the Springs. We then heard voices of others coming up the trail. From above we could see that it was a group of two. We started our decent back down and headed to the truck.

We headed down GCR on our way to Cripple Creek. About 4 miles into the drive we found what the helicopters and sirens were all about? Someone had rolled their truck. From what it looked like they came around a corner to fast and fished tailed, then drove into the mountain, up and over they went. (Take it easy folks!)

We got into Cripple Creek just at noon and headed to our Hotel. Oh MAN! We had made reservations at the Carr Manor and wasn’t quite sure what to expect. It is an old High School built in 1897 that has been converted into a B&B. This place was awesome! It has 13 rooms and each one of them is decorated very uniquely and has its own name. We splurged and reserved the Governor Ralph Carr Suite. From what I read, one time Colorado Gov. Ralph Carr went to this school, hence where the name came from.

Our room was so spacious and the furnishings were all very cool. Yes, the fact that it had a hot tub in the room was pretty sweet. We unloaded our bag and then they took us for a tour of the rest of the hotel. We were able to see every room but one. They have done a very nice job with this place and if you are looking to spend an evening in Cripple Creek this is where I would stay. Candy and I are already talking about going back up and spending the night in the room name the principles office. You can visit the Carr Manor website here: http://www.carrmanor.com/

After the tour we ran out for a light lunch and then headed back to the hotel. We had massages scheduled for 2:30 and 3:30. I don’t know why I don’t get massages more often. This is my second time and afterwards both Candy and I were just so relaxed. We kicked back and then headed out for dinner and then we followed that up with seeing a melodrama of “Gunslinger, The Legend of Billy the Kid”. We had a blast booing and hissing the bad guy while cheering on the good guy. Not sure if you have ever been to a melodrama but the more the crowd gets into it the more fun you will have.

We strolled down the street of Cripple Creek and then made our way into one of the casinos. We sat a three card poker table and each made about 100 bucks. We pocketed our money and made a run for it back to the hotel.

We were down in the kitchen by 8am where they had, fruit, cinnamon rolls, egg and sausage quiche ready for all the guests. The breakfast was great and you had a chance to speak to other guests as everyone sat around a big table, different but fun.

Once we checked out we drove over to Victor, CO. to see what little finds might be had. We stopped into two antique shops. The first one we got an old miners lunch box made of tin. We also found an old carbide lamp still in the box. In the other shop we picked up an old DuPont Blasting box. All nice little finds that will go with our already growing antique mining collection.

From their, we made our way home. All in all this was one of the best weekends I have had in a while and you couldn’t have asked for any better company to spend it with. We need not wait a full year before we do another little weekend trip like this one.