To Go South, You Have To Go North

I slept in a little this morning and got checked out around 9:30am, but not before attempting the free breakfast at the hotel. Make-your-own waffles or cold cereal. However disappointing, I went for the Rice Krispies and a glass of juice. Enough to hold me until lunch.

The hotel is right on I-25 heading south out of Denver, so it should be easy to get right on the freeway and boogie. That is, for most people. We're talking about me here, so I can admit I somehow missed the entrance ramp and ended up five miles off the freeway out in the middle of nowhere. To back up a bit, the entire freeway intersection was under construction and they had detours going everywhere. That's my excuse and I'm sticking with it. Thanks to the GPS, I finally made it back to the freeway and headed for Colorado Springs.

Arriving in Colorado Springs, you notice the Air Force Academy as well as Pikes Peak in the distance with a good dusting of snow on top. I also saw a sign for the Focus on the Family Visitors Center. I declined the visit and moved on. I don't like those people.

I took the appropriate exit to head west towards Cripple Creek, Colorado where I will ride the small narrow gauge steam train there. They also have casinos. Always dangerous. What you have to know about Southern Colorado is that to go south, you have to go north first. The explanation is that to get from one town to the next, in a lot of cases you have go around various mountains, and to get to Cripple Creek I headed back north for about twenty miles then turned south for thirty miles. Pikes Peak was in the way, and I had to go around it. Twisting and turning, back and forth, up and down along mountain highway. Treacherous, yet beautiful as the aspens are turning bright yellow, which provides great contrast to the dark green trees mixed in with them. Lots of elk and other wildlife spotted along the way just waiting to jump in front of my car. Along the way I noticed the outside temperature gauge on the car quickly dropping. It was 72 when I left Denver, but now it's in the mid 50's. I stopped to get some pictures and quickly adorned a jacket as I was in a short sleeve t-shirt.

I finally arrived in Cripple Creek, and it's a nice town. A lot of history here with gold mining, saloons and brothels, and lots of bad guys. A classic early western scenario from the late 1800's. I found the Cripple Creek Narrow Gauge Railroad as I entered town and was walking towards the ticket booth to buy my ticket when a nice lady stopped me and said "are you riding the train?" I said yes and she handed me a free pass. She explained that her group had come across four free passes but only three of them rode, so she had the extra ticket, and she was pleased to give it to me. I was pleased to accept it and not have to pay the $13 fare.

The train consisted of a very small tea-kettle coal fired locomotive and two open-air wooden coach cars with benches. It's a lot different than what I'm used to with Union Pacific's massive locomotives. It has a cute steam whistle, and with two blasts, we're off, albeit very slowly. We went two miles down the track through the hills and gold mines, then backed up and came back. Four miles total, and it took 45 minutes. The engineer stops along the way and points out various things of interest and local history, and it's a lot of fun. There were a number of families with kids onboard and they laughed and screamed whenever the whistle was blown. Great memories for the kids. With temperatures in the 50's and a stiff breeze blowing, it got a bit chilly, and in fact we spotted some snow on the ground along the tracks in areas where sunshine doesn't reach this time of year. Pretty neat.

Off the train at 1:30pm and it's time for lunch! I asked the engineer where a good place to eat was and he said one of the local casinos had a good buffet. I headed that way expecting something like I'd find in Vegas. Not even close. It cost $12.95 and it was one table. Cold items on one side, hot on the other. They had hand-carved prime rib, but they cut it so thin it was more like deli style roast beef. It had no seasoning, they had no au jus to go with it, and the whole thing basically sucked. Ever been to Golden Corral? It was twice as bad as that.

As the indigestion was setting in, I headed for the slot machines. $50 goes in and nothing comes out, as usual. Geez, these machines are tight! I headed down the street to another casino to see if it would get any better. Again, I helped cover the payroll for the day and promptly left. When will I ever learn.

Down the street I came across a local police and jail museum. Being in law enforcement, I had to stop. I paid my $1 and walked around. When I was walking in and around the cells I started to get a headache and my heart was racing. Was it the indigestion again? Turns out the place is haunted and they had documentation on one of the tables where guests of the museum claim to have seen things, heard things, as well as be touched and suddenly get headaches and a racing heart. I didn't see or hear anything, but everything else was happening to me and I quickly exited. Kinda spooky and neat at the same time. As soon as I got outside, the symptoms went away.

It was time to leave Cripple Creek and head for Canon City where I will be staying the night. I did what the GPS told me to and once again ended up in the middle of nowhere. In fact, it kept trying to send me down one lane dirt roads! Luckily I found a couple of sheriff's deputies nearby and they explained that I needed to go back to Cripple Creek, head north, then head south. Of course. That's the way it works here. So up and down, left and right I go around the mountains and I finally reach Canon City as nightfall arrives. I asked the older gentleman at the front desk where the best place in town was to eat. He said Village Inn or K-Bobs. Really? That's it?

Village Inn it is. Anything's better than that buffet.

Information: http://www.cripplecreekrailroad.com