A Crazy Day!

  Cripple Creek, Colorado, United States
Monday, May 19, 2008

Today I spent the day traveling around Colorado while Christine was in training for her summer job. She is working for the Colorado Forest Service, and we are down in Canon City for a few days. First I decided to go to Cripple Creek. The road to Cripple Creek was a challenge; I had no idea what I was getting in to. It started out as a remote, paved, 2-way road, and about half way through became this:

A Crazy Drive

A one lane gravel road through the mountains with no guard rail or shoulder! Thank goodness no other cars were on the road because I have no idea how we would have passed each other. This road went on for about an hour, and I was certainly glad to see pavement again!

Cripple Creek was a mining town that has been reborn into a casino town. There are many such towns in the area. Here is a panoramic view of Cripple Creek:

Panoramic view of Cripple Creek

The downtown was lined with casinos and tour busses of old people. After walking around for a while I decided to drive back to Canon City. Because of the crazy ride there I decided to take an alternate route back. It was about twice as many miles, but didn't even take as long because the road was paved. On the way back to Canon City I stopped by Royal Gorge which is a huge tourist trap. The gorge has a bridge across it that visitors can walk over.

The day ended by watching a movie and relaxing.