Paint Mines and DInner in an Airplane

Me: Ready to go?
Mark: Ready to go where?
Me: Paint Mines.
Mark: What's that?
Me:  It's an Interpretive Park and I've heard it's...
Mark: Interpretive park?  Like where hippies run around naked and dance and sh*t like that?
Me:  Maaaayyybeee...

Here's the thing.  Colorado has lots of places that are off the beaten path and this is one of them.  We've told Colorado natives about going here and all but one of them has never even heard of it, but they are missing out on visiting a really cool place.  

So if I were to say that this place is out in the middle of nowhere I wouldn't be lying.  It is about 35 miles east of Colorado Springs and about 40 miles west of Limon (which everyone knows is in the dead center of nowhere).  And to make matters worse, Siri seemed to think that we had no desire to drive on paved roads so she took us on every farm-to-market road she could find to get us there.  

What are the Paint Mines?(click on the highlighted words for more info if you want)  For those of you who don't want to click on the link here's basically what the website says:

The Paint Mines are named for their colorful

clays that were collected by American Indians

to make paint. Brightly colored bands, caused

by oxidized iron compounds, are found in

varying amounts throughout the may different

layers of clay. When the outcrops erode, a hard

capstone allows columns of clay to be

preserved beneath them, creating fantastic

spires called hoodoos. Selenite (gypsum)

contributes to the color, and white quartzitic

crystals dazzle the eye.

Well when you first get to the park you wonder what all the fuss is about.  It looks like flat plains and dead prairie grass and nothing much else. But once you hike down into the canyon things change dramatically. 

And even though we tried our very best, we didn't find any naked dancing hippies!!

On our way home we drove to Colorado Springs and checked out this place to eat that has been featured on several Food Network shows.  It's called "The Airplane Restaurant".  Now normally we don't go to places that are theme based but this one was wacky enough that we just had to try it.  

Basically what this place is, is a Boeing KC-97 tanker. The owner of the restaurant bought this plane at auction once is was decommissioned and built a restaurant around it.  The plane itself has been gutted and outfitted with booths but the remainder of the plane has been left intact.  We got there early so we were able to sit and eat in the plane.  The food...eh it was so-so but we really didn't expect much more than "airplane food" lol