Central City, Colorado

As I mentioned last time, we didn't realize how far away the Denver campground would be from the actual things we wanted to see so we only stayed one night there and then moved over to the KOA's Denver West location. Unfortunately, we soon discovered it was just as far away from Denver as the first campground AND it was 9,000 feet up in the mountains!

Once we made it up there, I wasn't in any hurry to go anywhere else for a few days, at least not in the RV!

Let's just say, travelling through the mountains in an RV has not been my favorite experience on this trip. I know the scenery is gorgeous and once you get where you want to go, it's worth it but, seriously, would it kill the drivers in Colorado to yield and merge properly?!? And why can't there be more tunnels? Forget this driving up and down 5%, 7% and even 8% grade roads! Tunnel through the mountains are a good thing. Just sayin'.

Tom and the kids in the Rocky Mountains.

Luckily for us, there were a lot a unique things to see and do in the Central City/Idaho Springs area. We passed on the Coors Brewery tour in Golden even though several people told us it was an interesting thing to do. Too bad we didn't want to gamble because there are 35 casino's in the area!

On the first day, we checked out Lookout Mountain and hiked around the Lookout Mountain Nature Center. Lots of ponderosa pines to see and a plethora of info about bears, snakes, mountain lions and wildfires. Not necessarily a reassuring experience when you are surrounded by the forest.

Kait & Andrew (aka "Ms. I'm So Hot" and "Mr. My Feet Hurt")
resting on a hike at the Lookout Mountain Nature Center.

Just up the road was Buffalo Bill Cody's grave and museum. The kids didn't have any idea who Buffalo Bill was but now they know more than most. Disclaimer: I make no guarantees and do not have any delusions that they will retain any of this information by the time we get back to Ohio. So if you ask them if what they know about Buffalo Bill and they say, "Who?" all I can say is I have the pictures to prove they were there.

Buffalo Bill's grave.

There was a book that had all of the dates and locations that Buffalo Bill's Wild West show toured around the country. I can confirm that the show did visit little old Newark, Ohio back in the day:

Buffalo Bill visited Newark several times.

Kaitlyn tried to rope the calf but got Andrew instead.

We spent the second day in town exploring the Argo Gold Mine and Mill. The explained how the gold was pulled out of the mountain and the different ways it was extracted from the rock. Tom took lots of pictures of the inside of the mill if you want to see the old machinery, I'm sure he'll be glad to show you. LOL

At the end of the tour, we learned how to pan for gold. Andrew was convinced he was going to strike it rich from the little bag of dirt they gave each of us. Most of us found a few specks of gold except Andrew who was so disappointed that there wasn't a huge nugget in the bag and he just didn't have the patience to separate the dirt from the gold. Shocking, I know.

The Argo Gold Mine and Mill

We walked back into this mine. Creepy.

Learning how to pan for gold.

Central City was a beautiful place to spend a few days. In town, the weather was sunny and warm. Up at the campground, it was sunny and cold but it was still beautiful. Here are just a few more pics of the scenery.

The view from the campground.