Monday, December 12, 2016

Cripple Creek


Downtown Cripple Creek

Well wouldn't you know it...I saw an event listed in one of the circulars that comes in the mail about a Christmas Event in Cripple Creek this year.  Of course it didn't take me any time to determine that we needed to go there and join in the festivities.  Mark's take on this...and I quote..."Is it going to be cold?". NOT, "What is there to do there?" or "When does it start?"  Nope...just "Is it going to be cold?".  Sometimes I wonder about the guy!

The information that was in the circular was a little vague so I called the Cripple Creek Visitor's and Information Center and spoke with a really nice lady and asked her about the event.  She let me know she didn't know much about the event because she was just filling in for the day for someone who was out sick; but was quick to transfer me to another gal.  Seems that Cripple Creek was having some sort of epidemic because the second gal I got a hold of didn't know much either because she was filling in for someone who was out sick as well.  So I was transferred to another gal and fortunately she actually knew what I was talking about.  She gave me the hours, directions to the events and was very helpful with info on the celebration.   There were three things that sounded interesting to us: visiting the Mining Heritage museum, going on the 5:30 pm guided shuttle tour of the lighted Headframes (entrances to the mines) and going to Victor, another mining town about 7 miles away, to watch their lighted Christmas parade.

So on Saturday Mark and I headed south to Cripple Creek.  It's less than 100 miles to get there so we set off a little after lunchtime.  The drive was uneventful considering that the mountains have been been hit with lots of snow these past few weeks.  


We got to Cripple Creek around 2 pm and we wanted to find out where the shuttle was leaving from so that we could be there on time.  The nice gal on the phone earlier in the week had encouraged us to be at the shuttle at least 15 minutes early to ensure that we could get a seat since they didn't accept reservations. So we headed over to the Visitor's and Information Center, which is a converted train car, to ask for directions.  This train car was about 50 feet long, filled with brochures and such, but only had one man (with one phone) in attendance.  Now remember, I had called to talk to someone earlier in the week and I was transferred to three different ladies. There was hardly enough room in the train car for more than one attendant at a time so I guess they were just transferring my call to anyone in town who was on the party line.  But I digress.  We asked the man about where go to get to the shuttle and guess what?  HE didn't know anything about anything either!!!!  Oh my lands.  So he told us to go to the Mining Heritage Museum and that "they should know something".  So off we went in search of someone, ANYONE who knew what was going on.  Fortunately the lady at the museum was a lot more helpful.  She found a local flyer that listed the day's events and told us where to meet the shuttle, and again told us to be there at least 15 minutes early.  Okay, okay.  We get it.  Be there 15 minutes early.

In the meantime we went through the museum.  Cripple Creek was established in the 1870's after gold was discovered there.  The museum had lots of memorabilia and photos from the height of the gold rush. Unfortunately the town is now the home to a bunch of casinos.  But fortunately they are housed in the original buildings built in the late 1800's so the town still has the look of a turn-of-the-century mining town.
Main Street through Cripple Creek

We toured a building that was the original town store and it had the top floor restored with furnishings from the late 1800's.  The museum grounds also had an actual miner's cabin, an assayer's building, and a one room cabin that was owned by a lady who "entertained" the miners.  

Miner's cabin

Inside of Miner's cabin



Santa was visiting Cripple Creek


In the museum

One of Cripple Creek's switchboards


Bronze honoring the donkeys that worked in the mines

Mark looking at the rock samples


After we finished with the museum we went to look for the shuttle stop.  And just as luck would have it, a shuttle showed up right as we got there.  So I got out of the truck and walked over to talk to the shuttle driver.  When I asked him if being at the shuttle 15 minutes early would ensure that we got a seat on the tour he looked at me like I had two heads.  I kid you not.  He said he had no idea what I was talking about.  But he suggested that we check in at the Aspen Mine Center and they should have all of the information about the shuttle that we needed.  Fortunately Cripple Creek is NOT that big so we easily found the Aspen Mine Center but guess what?  It was closed.  Mmmm hmmm.  That's right.  CLOSED.

Well we knew that we needed to eat before we got on the shuttle so we found a nice little restaurant to eat at and then we made our way back to the shuttle stop a full 30 minutes ahead of time.  And we waited, and we waited, and we waited.  And nobody else was showing up.  And it was 15 minutes before the shuttle was supposed to leave. And no shuttle arrived. And nobody else had shown up. And it was 5:30.  And no shuttle arrived. By this time we figured we were either on Candid Camera or there was no shuttle leaving.  About the time that the two of us figured that out, a lady walked by and asked us if we were okay.  (Mark's gray hair must make us look like we get confused a lot) We explained that we were there for the Lighted Headframe shuttle tour and she just looked at us and said, "Oh that was last night".  WHAT?  WHAT????  Are you kidding me?  All of the activities were on FRIDAY not SATURDAY?  Somehow during all of the phone calls and the person-to-person queries someone failed to mention that the festivities were going to be held on Friday.  Did I mention that the circular was vague and I needed information from someone to clarify what was going on?  Do you think that any ONE of the half-dozen people I spoke with would have told me that the festivities were on FRIDAY?!?! Nope.  Not one.  Geez. (Insert a HUGE eye roll here).  That meant there was no tour, no lighted Headframes, no parade, no nothing. NADA.

And you know, there's usually a moral to a story like this.  But this time there isn't.

Oh and by the way.  It was not cold.


Thanksgiving

Because everyone will be here for Christmas this year, everyone in the family was spending their Thanksgiving at their "other" places: Mom and Dad were going to Robert's, Delaney to Zack's, and Henley to Blaine's.  Mark and I didn't really have any plans for ourselves but things changed about the month before Thanksgiving. 

Mark's parents have been living on a ranch about 17 miles north of Brady, TX.  It was a great place for them to be for several years; Phil enjoyed having cows, growing and harvesting alfalfa, and life outside of the city.  Rosemary however wasn't as thrilled about living that far out of town but she made the best of it.  

Phil and Rosemary's house at the Ranch

As the years have passed, Phil's ability to take care of things around the ranch has declined and so in October they made the decision to find a new place to call home.  It didn't take them long to find a place to move to and they were able to quickly buy a home in Granbury, TX  and moved into their new place in late October.  Their home is located in a gated community and they both seem to really like living there with neighbors and in an actual neighborhood.  They have put the ranch on the market and hope to be selling it soon.  




This sign was on their ranch house


All that being said, Mark and I have been storing some things at the ranch while we are in Colorado.  The house that Phil and Rosemary bought doesn't have any place for us to store our belongings so we needed to make a trip to Texas to get it moved before they sold the ranch.  Since Thanksgiving was coming up and Mark had some time off of work, we decided to drive to Texas to see his parents and to get everything moved to another location while we were there. 

Needless to say it was a very long drive there and a really quick round-trip to Texas.  We left Parker early on Tuesday morning, arrived in Granbury late that evening and were up early again on Wednesday to drive to Brady to get our belongings.  On the way to the ranch, we stopped by to see Henley in Stephenville.  She was leaving later in the day to drive to Odessa so we were able to spend about 3 hours with her before she needed to get on the road. 
Mark and Henley
Henley's dogs Marlow and Peanut


We managed to get to the ranch, check on the property, deliver our things in Stephenville, and drive back to Granbury before it got dark.  Funny how you think that something will only take a you a few hours to do turns into something much longer...

Thursday we ate Thanksgiving at the Clubhouse that is in the community that Phil and Rosemary live in.  We had a beautiful buffet dinner at noon so Rosemary and I didn't do any cooking this year.  I personally don't mind cooking but Rosemary has said she's done with cooking large meals anymore- lol.  The rest of the day was spent watching football games and visiting.

Thanksgiving Day 2016
Us in Granbury, TX

Henley and Blaine in Snyder, TX

Delaney and Zack in Odessa, TX


Friday we made a quick trip to HEB to stock up on some food supplies that we can only get in Texas, helped Phil try to get his printer set up, watched the Longhorns play, watched more football and visited some more.  

Mark and Phil

Mark and Rosemary

Phil, Rosemary and Mark

Saturday we were up early to head back to Colorado.  After another long day in the truck we arrived back in Colorado late in the evening.  It was a very fast trip but we were glad that we were able to spend Thanksgiving with Mark's parents. 
Phil and Rosemary