It all started last year reading the news online. I sent a quick email to my mom, who loves geo-caching. I thought she and my dad would enjoy geo-caching east of Denver. Little did I know she was thinking it would make a GREAT trip!?!
So, my brother and his wife, my youngest brother, my parents, and my little family all packed our cars and headed east for a 2 day trip!
We started Friday night at The Craig Ranch Bed and Breakfast in Limon, Colorado. This is a working ranch and B&B. My mom had let The Craig’s (yes, the owners) know about our little cow poke prior to our arrival. In our bedroom, Beth made a little bed on the floor for our son – she even provided a few books for us to read to him! :) The bed was super comfy, and feather pillows! We awoke to a FULL breakfast – not a namby pamby city folk breakfast. It was the kind that will stick to your bones!! Just what we needed! I have a wheat allergy, Beth went out of her way to make pancakes I could eat.
My son was very excited about tractors on the ranch. The Craig’s were more than willing to let him crawl around on a tractor – a perfect photo opp. Beth is also a spinner! (not the bicycle kind – the yarn kind!) She gave us all a lesson on spinning, she made the wool into beautiful yarn like butter. Then she challenged each of us to try. Boy, it was tough!
First stop of the day: Limon Heritage Museum. This little gem has trains to climb on, model trains to woo any 3 year old, a one room school house (perfect for the teacher in our family). On the particular day we went, there were a couple events going on – a quilt show in the senior center, and many folks from the city to make a ‘fair’. :) I don’t recall all the details of what we saw at this stop. The train museum was a highlight for us as my grandmother went to High School in Limon, and my great grandfather worked on the railroad at the same time. We thought it would be a treasure to find a picture of him in the train museum, but sadly we didn’t.
We stopped for lunch (and celebrated birthdays) at the park south of the Kit Carson Carousel on 15th and Webster. There are great shade trees and a marvelous park (also under the shade trees) – EVEN on one of the hottest days of the summer! (it was about 104F – and I was pregnant with our second child. Whew!). Make sure to pack a picnic lunch! It was a blast to open presents and hang out.
On to our featured stop! The Kit Carson Carousel!! This is a definite MUST on your eastern Colorado trip! At 25 cents to ride the carousel, the price couldn’t be beat! At one of 150 surviving wooden carousels, one must pay homage to this marvelous treat. It is one of the fastest carousels (at 12 mph!) and was originally carved for Elitch Gardens in 1905. It has a interesting history, but you must go to discover it!!!
The heat did take it out of us, so we grabbed a fun icy treat at the local McDonald’s on the way out of town. Then we headed home – mom and dad went a different route so they could geo-cache. We went back to the foothills so our lil’ cowpoke could sleep in his own bed.
Goodbye eastern Colorado! It was fun!! We’ll have to do it again!
Some tips and tricks:
* Plan more and nix along the way. We had a few more stops planned, but decided not to do them for various reasons. It was better for us to spend time as a family than to make every stop along the way.
* Plan ahead. Do you remember you mom telling you, “Measure twice, cut once.” Yeah that applies to traveling too! We picked up a marvelous guide to eastern Colorado. It details all the events going on, the attractions, museums, etc. Do be sure to pick it up! There were waaaaaaay more things than what we did on this trip!
* Slow down and enjoy. You don’t have to get everything done on one trip! Spend time with your family, take lots of pictures and laugh!!
* If you are going to eastern Colorado in the summer, be sure to pack your cell phone, and plenty of water! It was really hot. :)
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