Vacation [pt 2] The Mine Tour

 So we found this neat tour of a real gold mine.

It's called the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine. If you're in the area, it's a really neat experience led by knowledgeable guides.

Our guide was a little spit of a woman who said she grew up in mining. Her grandfather was a miner and she became a miner. She was full of information and stories.

But first, some artsy shots from around the mine while we were waiting our turn to go down.

And here's the cage. We donned hard hats and they squeezed about 8 adults & 2 kids into that cage. We were literally crushed in together and not many of us were petite people. Somehow the cage door still shut and down we plunged 1,000 ft below ground.

Read this sign carefully. They're very strict about the rules.

This was not one of those Disney rides, where they trick you into thinking you went somewhere but you're still on the ride. We really did get in an old steel cage elevator kind of contraption and went underground. Way underground. Neither the cage nor the cave are for the claustrophobic.

I'll admit, when the cage went back up, I kinda wondered "what if we get stuck here?"

We learned all about gold, what it looks like, how they discover and follow the veins, tools, drifts, and a dozen other terms I don't remember.

We even got to ride in a mine car!

Our guide fired up some old jackhammers and played audio of blasts. You can't imagine the sounds!

It's incredible how those men worked. Backbreaking, dangerous work. Young teens worked in the mines, too. I imagine they all had short lives.

 At the end, we were able to choose from a crate of rocks with gold flecks in them. By the way, real gold looks like silver when it's mined!

Scroll down to see the donkeys and read a sad tale.

Vacation [pt 3] Donkeys & Llamas

 We heard a sad tale during the gold mine tour.

Back in the day, donkeys (mules or burros - I don't remember which) were used in the mines to haul supplies. But they didn't get to ride up & down in the cage-elevators. Once underground, they lived out their lives there, eventually going blind from never seeing sunlight. Their offspring would be born blind.

When technology replaced the donkeys, they were retired. But in gratitude for their service, they and their descendants ever after, were allowed to roam free in Cripple Creek and their eyesight has returned.

 I asked a local where they might be found and he said, "oh they usually hang out up around the post office!"

It was just a couple blocks away, so off we went in search of donkeys.

And sure enough, a small herd was grazing on an empty lot by the post office.

After taking some pictures, we drove off in search of lunch. On our way home, a couple of the cute beasties were cruising the street.

Another little fun discovery was coming upon a llama ranch on the way back to our cabin.

A llama ranch! I'd never seen or heard of one. Of course, we had to go back so I could snap some pictures.

Their expressive faces crack me up!

Sometimes, it's those little serendipities in life that are the best. I smiled every time we drove past the llama ranch :)

I recently saw a funny video on Facebook of Alpacas bounding & bouncing around. I always got llamas & alpacas mixed up, but now I understand the difference. In my next life (jk), I want to have an alpaca farm! I'll have alpacas, afghan hounds, and an art studio on some rolling ground with mountains in the distance. And enough money to pay ranch hands to do all the work. Coz as my husband likes to remind me, I don't even pull weeds in the flower bed.

But doesn't that sound like a bit of heaven?

There's one more post, scroll down or click on "older posts" to view.

Vacation [pt 4] The Colorado "Must Sees"

While in the Colorado Springs area, there are certain sites you must see! I won't post a lot since these are popular spots and photos abound on the net or you've been there yourself.

First on our list was the Manitou Cliff Dwellings. We missed this on a previous visit.

These are really beautiful in their clay colors and ingenious layout.

Next was Garden of the Gods, right down the highway.

We've been here before, thankfully! Because it was crawling with people. Couldn't even find a place to park, so we drove the loop.

We usually travel in the fall because we love that time of year. We forgot that during the summer, tourist spots are crowded with families on vacation. Won't make that mistake again!

As it turned out, we did find a small, empty parking lot with an entrance right there!

It looked like the back way into the park. Just a short hike up this path, and we'd be there. Haha all you tourist-people - we found easy parking and a short cut!

And so began our little walk. Have you ever been to a big city full of skyscrapers or Las Vegas, where the hotels are real close together and it looks like the one you're headed towards is just a block away, but it's actually 5 miles? That's what this turned out to be.

We climbed and climbed and still no closer to the main area. Gee, those rock formations are just right there, just around the next bend...right?

Turns out we were on the riding trail.

Yeah, never mind. We're good. We just followed these guys back down the hill, dodging the you-know-what.

Glad we had seen the Garden before! We weren't too disappointed. Got a lot of steps in that day, too!

So it was off to Pike's Peak - hoping to beat the rain.

I'm really glad that rain was coming because being eye level with the clouds made for some interesting pictures!

We didn't stop to write in the snow.

It's always a treat to see wildlife when you're sight-seeing.

We could only go so far and then had to park and take a shuttle. They are building a new visitor's center at the top and there wasn't room to park all the cars.

It's amazing that they got all that heavy equipment up there. We also wonder what it's like to work at that altitude?

The view is incredible. Such a gorgeous area.

That was our quick tour of Colorado Springs. The next day it was off to Nevada!