RICHEST SQUARE MILE IN THE USA

Today was Jim's birthday so he got to choose the excursions for the day. The area around here is a very famous gold and silver mining area. There is a sign in town that states that more gold and silver came from this area of Central City than anywhere in the USA. So, they went to the Hidee Mine to find some of that gold today.

Since they arrived too late for the 11:00 tour, the miners let Jim try his hand at panning for gold at no charge before the next tour because it was his birthday. It's not as easy as it looks but he did get a few flakes to take home. Gold was discovered in this area here in the 1850's and they are still mining here today.  At the Hidee mine tour they went into a tunnel 135 feet underground and were given picks and chisels to carve out gold specimens from the main ore vein. It was dirty work but Warren and Jim really had a good time.  They came away with two little bags of ore.  This kind of mining is very hard work, not like the nuggets you would expect, but it was still a lot of fun.

After lunch they went on a jeep tour on the Apex Road up to an altitude of 10,000 feet and could see St. Mary's Glacier in the distance.  The road was really rocky and bumpy, just the way Jim likes it.  All in all, a great birthday. Time for the cake and ice cream now.

RAMBLING AND GAMBLING

I really like it here in Central City.  It was so cool this morning that Jim had to put on the heat before we could get out of bed.  I think I could stay here forever. Did I mention the millions of chipmunks running all over the place? Paradise!

This whole area was once a huge gold and silver mining district. Rich deposits were found in the 1800's and many saloons and gambling establishments were soon built here. While there are still several historic mines to visit here, the area now known for it's many casinos. There are seven casinos in Central City and twelve a mile away in the town of Blackhawk.

Today Kathe and Jim took Warren and Kathy down the mountain to check out the tiny town of Central City. There's a narrow brick Main Street with a few stores, a post office and many casinos. The first casino they went into still had old style slot machines that actually took and paid out coins. Haven't seen that in a long time.

Later they drove to Nevadaville, a ghost town above Central City where an old mine is still standing, you can see many piles of mine tailings on the hillsides here and all over the town. The highlight of the afternoon was at a casino in Blackhawk where Kathy T. won $804.00 on a poker machine. Champagne for everyone!

FINALLY COOL

Tonight I'm a little late in posting because I've been sitting by the campfire.  Yes, you heard right, a campfire. We are in Central City, Colorado at almost 9000 ft. in altitude and it's cool and damp enough to allow campfires.

We left the heat of Glenwood Springs this morning and drove about 100 miles on the I-70.The first part of the drive was through Glenwood Canyon along the Colorado River and the scenery was breathtaking. We drove up and over many high passes and through several tunnels and a rainstorm to reach Center City.  It's an old mining town just west of Denver.  Our campground is a green and beautiful spot on top of a mountain. We look down on the little town of Center City, and it reminds me of pictures of Switzerland.

After so many days of air conditioning and
temperatures in the 90's and 100's it's a wonderful 50 degrees tonight. We had a campfire and roasted marshmallows. Cuddle up weather at long last!

QUIET HOLIDAY

This has been the best Fourth of July of my life! Fireworks are banned here due to the extreme fire conditions. I'm very happy, no thunder shirts required and absolutely no calming pills needed. Just a nice quiet evening in camp. There is a laser light show in town with virtual fireworks, but no one wants to go anywhere tonight. It's just too nice here.

And no one wanted to go anywhere during the day either. It's so nice that we stayed home all day and just relaxed. We walked down to the river several times to watch the river rafters, kayaks, and paddle boards glide by. Tonight after supper we saw some deer drinking on the other side of the river.

There is a fire burning twenty miles away from us tonight, so as great as this place is I'm glad we are moving northeast tomorrow. Hopefully there will be less smoke and lower temperatures in the Denver area.

FROM RED TO GREEN

We left the red rocks of Colorado National Monument today and headed to the beautiful green canyons of Glenwood Springs. This morning before we left our campground the humans took a bike ride along the Colorado River pictured here. It was a really nice bike path and everyone enjoyed the cool morning ride. Kathe took a little tumble off her bike (standing still) and skinned her elbow, but they rode back and started the journey east at 11:30.

It was only about a 2 hour drive, but it's much cooler here and there are lots of green trees in the canyons. Our new RV Resort is also along the Colorado River, it's a little hike down hill to the water but not too much for me. There are signs saying to watch out for bears, but I'm more worried about all the big doggies roaming around off-leash. Their humans always say, "He's friendly", right before he tries to bite me!

There was a Farmer's Market in town tonight, so of course Kathe had to go.  She bought peaches for a cobbler and two quiches for dinner.  I had a little piece of the broccoli one.  What's the big deal? It tasted like scrambled eggs to me.

Tomorrow is July 4th and they said that there will be no fireworks here. It's against the law. Keep your paws crossed that it's true.

SLOW POKES

I woke Kathe up this morning at the usual time, but everyone went right back to sleep. I don't think Kathe even moved until 9:00. Jim got up and went for a bike ride along the river all by himself. No one else wanted to do anything. They all sat around talking about what they "might" do today until it was 12:30 and they decided it was too late and too hot to do anything today.

Finally, someone mentioned lunch, and they left me alone in the coach. From the looks of the bags, they went shopping instead of sight seeing. Cabellas, Walmart, Hobby Lobby, and Office Depot, but nothing for me.

Here are a couple of pictures from yesterday. Jim and Kathe on top of the world, or on top of the
Mesa. Also, in town they saw this sculpture, Rusty's Dream, a monument to a dog that lived in Fruita.
 

A MOUSE AND ANOTHER MONUMENT

Most exciting morning ever! So, Kathe's taking me out this morning and I smell something really interesting behind a rock. It's a little mouse, so I bite it and turn around to show Kathe what I found for her. It was hanging out of my mouth a little but she screamed and that scared me so much I dropped it. Darn little thing ran away. But, it was sure was fun while it lasted.

After breakfast, while I was recovering,  the rest of the group took a bike ride to the Starbucks and planned their day. First up was a trip to the Colorado National Monument. We are camped about a mile from the entrance. They drove the 23 mile Rim Rock Drive and stopped several times to enjoy the views overlooking the canyons and rock sculptures.

After that it was a search for the famous peaches in the town of Palisade, Colorado.  They found several fruit stands and brought home some bags of peaches, peach jam and peach salsa.

Still wish she would have let me keep that little mouse.