A Day at Cripple Creek...

Yesterday was a BIG day for us. Memaw and Grandpa are here visiting from Texas. We drove up Phantom Canyon, a winding and narrow dirt road that used to be a rail line for the gold mine trains down to Florence, to spend some time in the city of Cripple Creek.

Cripple Creek used to be a big hub for gold mining in Colorado. Now it is widely known for being a casino town. There are donkeys that are descendants of the pit donkeys running wild all over the area, plenty of museums, shops, and other attractions.

The attraction we visited, after eating lunch, of course, was the Cripple Creek and Victor Narrow Gauge Railroad. It was Luke's first time on a train. What fun we had! Luke had a smile plastered from almost the first moment. He LOVED the whistle! Every single time it was pulled we enjoyed a round of smiles and giggles. He also immediately cued into the fact the engine was a coal-fired steam engine, meaning the engineer would occasionally shovel coal into the boiler, providing us with a great view of the fire. He thought that was great! It was tough to get the pictures, though, because he'd be watching inside the engine and we couldn't get the camera in his way.

We had a wonderful surprise at the end of ride. The engineer noticed the Luke thought the goings on in the engine, he saw the concentration and the smiles. He invited Luke up to the engine to pull the whistle and the bell. Luke was all for it, then he kind of got shy. He was all about the train, though. He watched it pull away, he waved and waved, he whipped around every time he'd hear the whistle. I think we've found a new favorite thing in life!

It was a cool day, but the mountain air felt wonderful. We saw parts of the old mines, shafts, and towns that you can't see from the road or towns. We learned more history of the area and various mines. We saw some beautiful country. I love the mountains.

We've got a busy week ahead of us. It's going to be great fun, and hopefully a LOT of pictures. I hope everyone had a wonderful, wonderful Memorial Day! We certainly did....