Intro
Monday was the official start of our vacation. I was scheduled to fly out of Bradley International Airport at 11:30 AM, with a short layover in Milwaukee and finally arriving in Denver at 3:00 PM. Todd was to be waiting for me and after we grabbed a bite to eat, we would drive up Mount Evans and then on to Leadville where we would spend the night.
Here is the path Todd took to get to Denver.
Here is how we got to Leadville.
The dogs were staying at our vet’s office. Dr. Haviar at the Animal Hospital of Rocky Hill has a kennel and the dogs don’t mind staying at the Haviar Hilton. There is a man named Bob that takes care of the animals in the kennel and he really cares about all of them. When they arrive he is always there with a big smile, ready to take them in the back.
Details of the Day
The day started early. Lacey woke me around 3:00 AM because she wasn’t feeling well. She tossed and turned until 5:30 when I gave up and got out of bed. I gave her a half of a Pepcid tablet to settle her stomach and hoped she would do okay at the vet’s while I was gone.
Todd’s mom Betty arrived at 8:30 AM to help me take the dogs to the vet and transport me to the airport. I suggested she come a little later, but Betty worried we would be late. I was grateful for her help with the dogs since without it I would have had to take all three dogs in the Z3. Betty’s car has cloth seats so she put towels over every surface to try to protect it. The first thing the dogs did when they got to the car was jump in, ruffle up the towels and get dirty paw prints on the front seat. Luckily she has great patience with them. The vet is only about a mile and a half from the house and Lacey and Snoopy barked the entire way.
We know the people that work at the vet's and they all know the dogs. They hear us coming as soon as we pull into the parking lot and are smiling behind the desk when we finally walk in the door. As usual Lacey was clinging to me. She jumped and tried to climb my leg until I picked her up. She was shaking, with large scared eyes. Bob took her to the back first. After she was gone I picked up Snoopy. Bentley didn’t want to miss out on the fun Lacey was having, so he eagerly went next. That left only Snoopy, wrapped in my arms shaking. Finally Bob came for him.
Of course we made it to Bradley Airport in plenty of time. The flight to Milwaukee was uneventful. I sat by a nice woman from Fairfield county and we chatted most of the way. When we landed in Milwaukee I found out that my next plane had been downgraded to a smaller one and that one third of the passengers were being bumped to the next flight leaving in two and a half hours. After a nerve racking twenty minutes of waiting I found out I was still on the flight. Since I couldn’t leave the gate area my lunch consisted of some trail mix I bought from the small store across from my gate.
I called Todd before we took off to let him know we were running about a half hour behind schedule. He was happy to hear that because he wanted to make a stop at Mount Sunflower, the highest point in Kansas. I said I didn't care as long as he could make it to the airport in time to pick me up. He assured me he could. I should have known that it was too risky, but I agreed and settled in for the flight.
On my arrival in Denver I called Todd to see where I should meet him. To my surprise he was still an hour out. His stop at Mount Sunflower had taken longer than he thought. Because of my meager lunch in Milwaukee I was starving and grumpy. I snapped at him saying something about his lack of time management skills and then took solace in McDonald’s French fries and a large yogurt parfait from the food court.
We had decided to buy a postcard at each of our stops and send them to Todd’s mom. The airport had a small post office stocked with a nice selection of cards and stamps (which I had forgotten to bring). I chose a card I thought Betty would like, filled it out and mailed it. Then I headed for the unloading area where I was to meet Todd.
Todd pulled up and seemed frazzled because of his tardiness. I jumped in the car and pulled out the directions to a restaurant I had chosen for our lunch, which was now going to be an early dinner. Mexican food is my favorite ethnic cuisine, so I was excited to find a local Mexican restaurant boasting a gluten free menu.
When we got to the restaurant we were seated immediately and I made sure to inform them of my dietary restrictions. A man who potentially didn't speak English brought some chips and salsa. I asked him if the chips were gluten free and he shook his head yes before walking away. After I bit into a chip one of the servers came running over shaking her head saying, “No! Those chips aren’t gluten free!” She took them away as I spit out the bite I had almost swallowed. She brought a different basket of chips and told us that the yellow ones were not gluten free, but the white ones were. We both ate a filling meal as we discussed the plans for the rest of the day.
It was getting late, so we decided to forgo our drive on the highest paved road in America up Mt. Evans. When we got on Interstate 70 we started to climb. Denver may be the Mile High City (5,280 feet), but Leadville has an elevation is 10,142 feet. It is the highest incorporated community in the United States. Luckily the car seemed to be doing okay, which put my mind at ease.
As we drove I noticed that the taller mountains were capped with snow, even during the middle of summer. Some of the slopes without trees were covered with grasses that made a beautiful texture on the side of the mountain. The picture at right does not do it justice.
We stopped in Georgetown to check out the visitor’s center. Todd had been there before and he wanted me to see it. A car pulled in the parking lot behind us and a man, a woman and a dog hopped out. Then the car pulled away. They headed for the mountain trail across the highway. Since both people had backpacks we figured they were going hiking. When we were leaving we passed them standing on the side of the road hitch hiking. It must be hard to catch a ride with their four legged friend.
Inside the visitor’s center there were brochures showcasing Georgetown as a beautifully restored Victorian town. We bought Todd's mom a postcard and wrote that we were going to drive by some of the old houses. We drove around but only found run down houses that weren't Victorian in style. After studying the Historic Georgetown web site I found we were looking in the wrong direction. It didn’t look like the road south of the visitor’s center went anywhere so we focused on the area north of the center. Before returning to the area I will print out directions on how to get to the historic part of town.
Old Mining Towns
We stopped again on Highway 91 near the Continental Divide. This stretch of road is part of the Top of the Rockies Scenic Byway. There was a beautiful valley surrounded by mountains and a colorful sunset. Along the side of the road stood a stone marker carved with these words, "In this valley the towns of Robinson, Kokomo and Recen existed. Kokomo was the site of the highest Masonic Lodge in the U.S.A. Corinthian Lodge No. 42 A.F. & A.M. 1882 - 1966".
The land where these towns once stood was bought by the Climax Molybdenum Company in 1965 and was used for disposal of mine and mill tailings. There are some conservation efforts going on now to return the land back to its original beauty.
Here is the video from the mining town marker.
A book called Ghost Towns of the Colorado Rockies by Robert L. Brown (no relation as far as I know) has an entire chapter devoted to Kokomo. Robert tells multiple stories of how the town may have been founded. One claims that a group of migrants was trying to get to Leadville during a terrible snow storm in the late 1870s when one of the people in the party died. While preparing his grave they discovered silver a few feet below the surface. The town was named after Kokomo, Indiana where the first party was from. Located in the valley, Kokomo and Recen were twin towns and eventually grew together into one. Robinson was not far away.
Leadville
We arrived in Leadville around 8:00 PM. Todd made a reservation at the Columbine Inn and Suites right off of CO-91 on US-24. The front of the hotel was cute with a picket fence and hanging baskets full of flowers. The view of the surrounding mountains was breath taking. We went inside and the kid at the front desk was friendly. Our room was clean and well kept. After unloading the car we walked around town to stretch our legs. The weather channel indicated it was 55 degrees out. Earlier in the day it had been 90 degrees in Denver. This was the beginning of a 24 day streak in that area with temperatures of at least 90 that would finally break on August 11th.
My first impression of the town wasn’t very good. Many of the buildings were rundown and there weren’t very many businesses. We walked by an old laundry mat with a sign inviting hikers in for a shower. Not far away was a motor inn with rooms so small that a guest with a motorized wheel chair had to leave it outside of the room.
There was a small grocery store a block from our hotel. We decided to go back and get some money so we could buy some fresh fruit for the next day. When we walked in the store I was surprised to smell rotting food. Without any other choices, we headed for the produce section where we able to find some produce that was still edible. Todd also chose a single serving container of ice cream complete with its own spoon.
They did not have a natural foods section, but because of the large Mexican population there was an extensive selection of dried peppers and spices used in Mexican cooking. The man in front of us in the check out lane had the largest package of corn tortillas that I have ever seen.
The woman working at the register asked us if we had a store discount card. When we said we weren’t from the area and asked if there was a store card we could use, she said no. Other stores in the chain provide that service, but the manager at this store insisted each customer use their own. We didn’t have time to fill out an application for a card that we will probably never use again, so we paid full price for our merchandise and left the store.
Reflections
Overall, the first day of vacation went well. The dogs were safe and sound at the vet's and I got to Denver okay. The mountains are beautiful and I was happy to see Todd again. Our hotel room was comfortable and I was ready for the hike in the morning.
I learned I need to be more assertive at restaurants to ensure I don't accidentally ingest any gluten. Also, with my flight running late we should have focused on getting out of Denver quickly so we could have drove up Mt. Evans. This could have been accomplished by Todd not going to Mt. Sunflower and me being more flexible on a restaurant choice, which perhaps would have meant spending less time at a restaurant.
