June’s Big Adventure: 10 Days in Colorado

Each
year we take a big summer trip.  In 2022 we went to Yellowstone and in
2023 we went to South Dakota. This year, we decided to head for the
mountains, so our big 2024 trip destination…..Colorado!! Here’s what
we did on our epic 10 day adventure:

Day 1:
Day 1 was just about getting there. Six hours of driving, with part of it through a VERY scary severe rain/hail storm! 

For our first destination in Montrose, Colorado, I booked us a tiny home! I was very excited for this stay. It even had it’s own deck beside the flowing creek. Perfection!

Here we are in the absolute worst part of the tiny home — the loft bed. Look how little room we had (from feet to ceiling). Certainly not enough to even sit up in.  I’d always thought loft beds in tiny homes looked “cute and cozy”. 

Nope!  I HATED this part.  It
was like a stuffy little coffin, and climbing down the stairs was really pretty scary.  Plus, the fact that there
was no ledge at the end of the loft… that freaked me out the most!  I
(irrationally) pictured us loosing our footing and falling all the way
down to the first floor.  Awww!   (Anxious nighttime Betsy had a field day with this scenario!)  Thankfully, we survived both nights with all limbs in tact, and went on to have great adventures. 🙂

up to the tiny, adorable mountain town of Ouray (pronounced Ooooh-ray).

Our first stop in Ouray was to hike Box Canyon Falls.  This was such a unique experience!  The short hike is mostly along metal walkways screwed into the canyon walls (fun and unique in itself).

But it was the hike’s finale that blew us away!  The canyon ends with the tremendous roar of a waterfall plummeting through a narrow quartzite gorge with amazing power and force.

Pictures don’t do this justice. The roar of the waterfall was deafening — we had to yell to each other to be hear over it.  And yet, it was also absolutely exhilarating to experience.  It’s amazing that something so soft and pliable as water can be so powerful and destructive!

After the waterfall, I walked down these stairs to ground level to get a different perspective.  At the bottom, the roar of the waterfall was still deafening.  Such power!

For our first activity of the trip, we certainly set the bar high! What a magical place!  On our hike out of the canyon, we took the long way back to the entrance point and enjoyed this little forest setting along the way.  🙂

After the waterfall, we explored the cute little town of Ouray, partly to see the sights and partly in search of a cup of coffee. Here are some shots of downtown Ouray:

 

 

At one point, I popped inside a 100 year old hotel to have a peak around.  Check out this grand old entry

and these ladies visiting this posh hotel back in its heyday:

So cool!  We finally did find some coffee, and while the adorable little shops of Ouray certainly didn’t disappoint, the coffee surely did. Yuck!  But that’s okay. The morning was salvaged when Jac found a Chinese version of chef duck!!!  He already has the traditional chef duck — now he has a new one to add to his collection.  Jac was just a little bit happy about this find! 🙂

 

After Ouray, we enjoyed another beautiful drive, this time back to Montrose

where we were treated to a long parade of jacked up trucks sporting a bunch of super conservative flags.  And every truck had a Trump 2024 flag. Argh!!! (He’s gonna win. God save us all!)

Once safely back at our little tiny home, we enjoyed a delicious Jac lunch on the private, stream-side deck of our tiny home:

Then we were off again.  After just a short drive from our tiny home we reached the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, a GIGANTIC canyon that is home to some of the steepest cliffs in North America. It’s very hard to capture the depth in photos (hard to even wrap your head around it when looking right at it), but here’s my best shot. This is of a section called “the painted wall”:

And here’s two old people trying to do a selfie at that spot:

After the canyon we had one more stop: the unexpectedly amazing Museum of the Mountain West.  This place was so cool!  Walking amongst the old west buildings, all FULL of interesting artifacts — it seemed like we had either transported back in time or were walking around the set of am elaborate Wild West movie set.  Everything was 100% authentic, even down to the buildings themselves. They weren’t re-creations to house the artifacts; they are original structures that the moved intact to the museum
lot. What an experience!!  If we had more time before closing, we would have explored for longer. Here are a ton of shots of the museum.

Phew! That was a full first day!  We earned ourselves a delicious dinner and a night of playing games on the deck (Mexican train).  What a great start to our trip!

Day 3:
On Sunday, we left Montrose (stopping for this photo op, because Jac really liked a band called Montrose back in the day):

We spent the first half of the day on a BEAUTIFUL high altitude drive on dirt roads:

through aspen groves:

and meadows of wildflowers, with towering mountains behind them:

until we finally reached the tiny mountain/ski town of Crested Butte:

What an adorable little town.  Too bad it’s kind of ‘spoiled’ by how richy-rich it is.  Jac didn’t even want to get out of the car to walk around the downtown area.  And when I did, the whole scene was kind of a drag.  The buildings were charming and historically interesting, but the hordes of the beautiful people…I could have done without.  Here’s a few shots of the downtown area:

Feeling overwhelmed with the crowds, we headed for the back country for a little lunch. We drove up behind the ski resort and kept going until we found a nice little spot for lunch.  Check out this view!

Here’s Jac taking it all in while eating his wrap. 🙂

 

 

Day 4:
For our first day in Colorado Springs, we just kind of tootled around to in-town places. (1) We explored the red sandstone formations in the Garden of the Gods:

(2) We checked out some cool transformers made out of hundreds of old car parts. (They were located in front of an auto-body shop).

 

(3) We visited the Michael Garman Museum to check out the dozens of intricately detailed miniature scenes, all centered around life in the city. Wow…this was cool — extremely hot due to all the overhead lighting, but still very fun.

To see it all, you really had to peak in all the windows and down all the alleyways. He even used mirrors and lights to make different spots (ie: an alleyway or a room) flip back and forth between two entirely different scenes.  Such a creative man!

(4) After the museum, we were hungry and it was time for our next adventure: lunch in an airplane!  

 

I had heard about this restaurant years ago and knew we’d eventually have to go!  You eat inside a fully intact Boeing KC-97 tanker that was built in the 1950s and used for two decades to refuel military aircraft throughout the world.  Turns out, the food was kinda meh, but the setting was one of a kind!

We even got to play around in the cockpit while waiting for our food. So many buttons and dials and levers….sheesh!  Here’s Jac, bringing us in for a safe landing:

Unfortunately, Jac was having such a fun time that he got out of control and was causing a ruckus, so the flight attendant had to threaten him with a knife!!!!  

(Either that, or Jac contrived the whole scene, which the waitress couldn’t pull off without a smile.)

(5) After lunch, we drove to the Air Force Academy but that was a bust, so… 

We spent the remainder of the day (6) relaxing in our cottage’s outdoor space:

Day 5:
After a delicious Jac-made breakfast (including a diet coke that I put in a wine glass for some weird reason)…

we traveled to Florrisant Fossil Beds National Monument to see the small collection of petrified wood. Having been to Petrified Forest National Park recently (March 2023), this was truthfully a little underwhelming.  However, the petrified tree trunks are pretty huge here, so that was cool I guess.

Next we visited the charming little mining town of Cripple Creek. In its early years, the Cripple Creek area had over 500 mines churning out more than 22 million ounces of gold in nust two decades!  The downtown area dates to this heyday, and is extremely well preserved. In fact, the entire downtown is designated as a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service:

Now nearly all the buildings have been converted into casinos, and Cripple Creek is a the main gambling destination for southern Colorado– but not the glitzy Vegas type, more like the old, tired Laughlin type. That’s probably why these old buildings are in such good shape, but still…the whole town kinda gives off a depressing vibe.

 
So instead of gambling our savings away, we headed out of town for a short mountain hike to see an old mining relic,

and then kept driving south to see a few more mining relics,

and then hiked out to see Rita the Rock Troll, a 21 foot tall sculpture of a benevolent creature made entirely of recycled wood.  According to the sculptor, the kindly troll noticed all of the holes in
the ground and worried about humans or small creatures falling into
them. She can be seen patching up the Earth as a symbolic
representation of the damage humans have caused to their natural
environment.

And then we headed back to Colorado Springs (checking out this cute little small town en route):

and even more remnants of the area’s mining past:

Back at the cottage, we had a night in, playing games, eating a yummy dinner, and watching a good, suspenseful movie (The Invisible Man).

Day 6:
Our big challenge for the day was to drive up to the top of Pike’s Peak — the highest summit of the southern Rocky Mountains. The ride up to the top is a 19-mile scenic ride that begins at 9,390 feet and finishes at the 14,115-foot summit, winding visitors through over 150 turns and MANY sheer drop offs!  But we were ready and excited for the challenge. 

We were off to a promising start, arriving early enough to drive our own car rather than have to take a group shuttle:

 

We braved steep drop offs and hairpin turns in our quest to conquer Pikes Peak, and saw beautiful mountain vistas

and stunning blue lakes on our way to the top:

 

We did finally make it to the gas station before running out. Phew!  I went inside to get a drink, and then got impatient wondering what the heck was taking Jac so long to finish up and come in (to pay). When I finally looked outside, I saw that Jac was busy helping a old lady clean her windows (and chatting it up while doing so.)  He’s just such a sweet guy. 🙂

Next we drove around the cute nearby town of Manitou Springs, then stopped at a little park in the downtown area to eat our packed lunch:

With the car and our bodies refueled, we were ready for the next challenge — it was time to learn to fish. We found a nice spot to get our new gear ready and then practice casting, and, uh, turns out I’m not much of a natural at it, ha ha.  Here’s Jac untangling my line for probably the fifth time. 😂

 But I’m not going to give up.  I want to be a fisher (fisherwoman, fishing chick, whatever your called.)

For our last little outing of the day, we stopped by the Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Museum so that I could see all the motorcycles.  Jac was bored out of his mind, but whatever…this trip is all about me.

Day 7:
It was time to move on from Colorado Springs.  Our destination for the next two nights was Alamosa, but as usual we had some stops planned along the way. First stop: Bishop’s Castle, an elaborate and intricate one-man project named after its constructor, Jim Bishop. 

This was a very quirky but cool stop!  It’s both unbelievable but also very clear that this huge structure has been built by one man!  It’s massive and interesting and intricate…and also looks like a code inspector’s worst nightmare. Here are some shots:

I
climbed some of the stairways and catwalks, but it was pretty dizzying
and a big nerve-wracking (stepping on loose rebar walkways, turning
tight corners and practically running into a wall or a person…) 

Apparently the local government has been giving him grief about the safety of the spot because all over the castle, Bishop has posted long rants about gun rights, personal liberty infringements…  I guess a man who devotes his life to a huge dream like this is also a man with huge opinions!

Once we had our fill of the castle, we headed back out on the road and enjoyed a beautiful drive around the Sangre de Cristo Mountains:

Our next stop was even quirkier than the last — a fun little tourist trap in the middle of nowhere called “UFO Watchtower.”

The site was really just a little patch of land, with some alien statues, a ton of memorabilia left by previous visitors,

 

a small museum about different UFO sightings all over America,

 

The founder of the site admitted that she started it as a tourist trap when she couldn’t make a go of her cattle ranching business and that she isn’t really even sure that aliens exist. They do promote it as a special place to see aliens because it’s the center of two powerful vortexes.  The man in the museum (the founder’s son) even told us a story about seeing a UFO himself right from the front doors of the museum. 

True or not, it’s a fun, goofy, different little spot and we had a great time there.

I even suggested Jac wear his alien shirt that day because I knew we were stopping here. Here’s a picture of Jac with his buddy:

Just a short distance from the UFO Watchtower was our next stop of the day — the Great Sand Dunes National Park.

And…that’s pretty much it.  A bit underwhelming to be honest. True, it’s pretty novel to have sand dunes in the middle of Colorado, but there isn’t much to do or see there. You can climb the sand dunes, but we’ve both tried that and so we know it’s not a very fun activity. It’s actually really hard.  Lots of people were doing it, so maybe we were just being lazy, but the little biting flies everywhere were enough to get us back in the car and heading about less than an hour after arriving. 😐

On a positive note, it was nice to see the sand dunes with the mountains in the background and green grass in the foreground (when viewed from a distance)

 

and there were some pretty wildflowers in the area:

But overall, not a favorite National Park to be sure.  Glad we saw it, and once is enough.

Just a short drive from Great Sand Dunes was our Alamosa airbnb — home for the next two nights.  This was a far cry from our cute little cottage in Colorado Springs.  For nearly the same amount of money…this was a glorified garden shed.  Here are some pictures, but don’t be fooled. The vibe inside was MUCH less cozy/cute than musty/dumpy.

I don’t know, maybe I’m just a princess.  I try not to be, but it’s hard to take the Orange County out of the girl I guess.

Day 8:
We were both super excited about our newfound hobby of fishing, so we decided to spend our eighth day of the trip focused on improving my sad performance from before.  We got a good tip on good fishing at Millionaire Reservoir in nearby Southfork and headed out for a day at the lake.

And…I did actually get better at casting once I was casting into actual water rather than just a dirt road.  It was fun…and we are now more convinced than ever that this is our new new thing. Here I am in action, looking like a pro already 😂:

Check out Fisherman Jac, packing fishin’ heat.  What a stud!

Day 9:
Our second night sleeping in the garden shed was better than the first, but I was still happy to be packing up and movin’ on!
 

Our first planned adventure for the day was to do a little rail biking in the mountains, but on the way there we drove through Monte Vista–home to Colorado’s Amish community–and even stopped at an Amish bakery.  I was of course there to see some bonafide Amish folk, but we ended up buying some of their baked goods and…these guys know what they are doin’!  Everything we bought was so good!

(I didn’t feel right taking a picture inside, so this is the only shot I got to remember the visit:)

Then, it was back up to South Fork to go on a “rail bike” ride.  Rail bikes are a custom made four wheel bikes that roll along decommissioned railroad tracks

 

and are a fun and unique way to see the beautiful scenery:

The ride was about 45 minutes out, a little break, and then 45 minutes back.  I was breezy and easy, and really very nice!  Definitely recommend this one!

After the rail bikes, we loaded back in the car to drive the rest of the way to our next destination (and last of the trip) — Durango.  We did manage to stop en route for a little more casting practice, this time in the famous Rio Grande!

We also made a quick pit stop to see Treasure Falls in Wolf Creek Pass:

and Chimney Rock National Monument:

Named after the above rock that resembles a chimney, the site has a bunch of sites that date back 1000 years to the ancestral puebloan people.  

It was fairly interesting, nothing worth going out of your way for, but it made a nice pitstop right on our way to our stay for the next two nights: Durango!

We arrived in town kinda late, so went straight to our ADORABLE little casita located on a farm outside of Durango.  This place was a HUGE steal — $80 for an entire little house (the cheapest of all our stays on the trip, and probably also the best!)  Here are some pictures:

Jac got right to work on dinner in the nice big kitchen

 

and even made us this absolutely delicious appetizer:

I am so lucky!  Seriously!

Day 10:
Our last big adventure of the trip was to take a scenic train ride from cute little Durango all the way up to the tiny mining town of Silverton on the historic, narrow gauge steam train D&SNG (Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge). This train and railway have been in continuous operation on this route since 1882–originally to transport loads of gold and silver, but now focused on transporting visitors to gawk at the stunning scenic views!

They really play up the historic part (even dressing up in these cute engineer costumes).  And that’s okay, because it made it all the more fun!

We sat in one of the open cars, and that ended up being the perfect way to see it all!

The weather was glorious, the seats were comfy-ish, and
most of all, the open car allowed for expansive views of the
breathtaking scenery!  I truly must have taken 100 pictures as the train
winded (wound?) its way up the mountain to Silverton — a nearly 4 hour journey!  Here are some of the best shots I got:

Our destination was the boomtown of Silverton, high up in the San Juan Mountain chain (same mountain chain as Ouray, which was our first stop on this trip!) 

Silverton is a cute little town that served as the hub for all the gold and silver mining operations in the area. It was founded in 1874, and by 1883, it had over 2,000 people and 400 buildings (including 2 banks, 5 laundries, 29 saloons, hotels, and a notorious red-light district.) Now that’s a boomtown!

The town kept going fairly steadily until the early 1990s, when mining operations ceased due to decreased demand. Rich deposits of gold and silver do still remain, however, so there are apparently regular rumors of potentially revival in mining activity in the future. For now, the true “gold” of Silverton lies in its picturesque mountainsides, which attract thousands of visitors each year….like us! 

Okay, enough history. Here are some pictures I took of our time there:

 

Eventually, it was time to head back.  We were getting kind of tired, so we tried to switch to the bus return option (which would shave a few hours off the trip) but it would cost an additional $75 per person.  No thanks!  So we settled in and tried to enjoy ourselves for four more hours of train riding.  It really was stunningly beautiful both ways, just a little bit long.

 

What a day!  I would absolutely recommend this train ride to anyone, just as long as they are prepared for a 12 hour day!  Needless to say, we were very glad to get back to our cute little casita for a night of yummy food, movie watching, and a big comfy bed!