<– Day 52 – Tue. Jun. 2nd: Navigating the Book Cliffs | TRIP OVERVIEW –>

We spent Wednesday with my kids to celebrate my upcoming 50th birthday June 5th.

June 3rd Dinner at Del Mar al Lago in Salt Lake City.

Like all good things, this amazing Texas tour had to come to an end. So, thursday morning we left Salt Lake at 2:30am. In a funny coincidence, while driving through Boise at 7am, my cousin passed us on I-84 on his way to work. Ann was driving at the time, while I was napping, when he sped quickly by us. He recognized us as he passed, so he sent me a text, telling us ‘good morning’ and apologizing that he was ‘late for work’. Then off he went.

Small world.

We arrived in Pasco six hours later, ending our54-day trip after 10,113 miles of driving. Thanks to everyone who made it a fun, interesting, education, and entertaining time!

Friday is my 50th birthday. I’ve got posts scheduled for the next couple days, so I’ll be able to take some time off and get a massage :-). That’s a good way to start the second half of my century.

<– Day 52 – Tue. Jun. 2nd: Navigating the Book Cliffs | TRIP OVERVIEW –>

<– Day 51 – Mon. Jun. 1st: Black Canyon of the Gunnison | TRIP OVERVIEW | Day 53-54 – June 3rd-4th: The Journey Home –>

Intrepid photographer at work.

There’s an area of eastern Utah just north of I-70 called the Book Cliffs that has remained pretty remote. On Tuesday, I decided to go from I-70, north along dirt roads through the Book Cliffs, in hopes of reaching State Highway 40, which crosses Utah from Salt Lake City to Vernal. The biggest problem I had was that my 50-page Utah map marked non-paved roads with dashes and the dashes, as they intersected at odd angles, made the map’s roads tough to read. In addition, the roads weren’t marked well on the map. So, I expected it might be a challenge.

Overall route.

Closeup of our route across the remote planes and up the book cliffs.

On Tuesday we left later than planned, due to my sleeping in. We traveled west on I-70 from Grand Junction until we reached the exit for Mack, Colorado. From there, we followed State Highway 6 hoping to find a road called the Book Cliffs Ridge Road, which we never found because Colorado didn’t mark the road that way. Instead, they used some number that didn’t appear on any of the maps we had. Still, by process of elimination, we figured out which road was the Book Cliffs Ridge road.

Entering the cliffs.

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<– Day 49-50 – May 30th-31st: Last Dollar & Madonna | TRIP OVERVIEW | Day 52 – Tue. Jun. 2nd: Navigating the Book Cliffs –>

A photo of the diligent photographer at rim’s edge fixing the camera (for me) at Warner Point.

Our destination today was Grand Junction, Colorado.

Today we drove from Gunnison, Colorado, to Grand Junction, Colorado.

Driving out of Gunnison this morning we spotted two jeeps right away, a CJ-3A in poor condition and a CJ-3B in drivable condition.

After the photos, we drove for Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, a place I’ve been wanting to go for ever since I lived in Utah (more than a decade ago).

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<– Day 48 – Fri. May 29th: Pikes Peak International Raceway | TRIP OVERVIEW | Day 51 – Mon. Jun. 1st: Black Canyon of the Gunnison –>

Saturday May 30th we spent in Colorado Springs. On Sunday, May 31st, we began our trek westward. My goal for the day was to get a better sense of the family mines so that I can write the imagery correctly for my upcoming book.

Today we drove from Colorado Springs to Gunnison.

Our first quest of the day was for fudge. Not just any fudge mind you, but salted carmel fudge. My wife has been pining for some well-made salted carmel fudge ever since we bought some from the Alamo in San Antonio. I thought it was time to find some for her, so the first stop of the day was at Goldminers Nuts and Candy in Manitou Springs. Their fudge turned out to be pretty good, but the salted carmel wasn’t quite as good as the Alamo’s. Still, we’ve been enjoying it :-).

After the fudge stop, we began our climb into the mountains. Colorado Springs is around 6500 feet, while the small mining town of Victor is around 10,000ft. So, up, up, up we drove. The one problem we encountered on the climb was that the closer we got to Victor the more threatening the rain clouds became.

As we approached Victor from the north, we came upon the entrance to the American Eagles Overlook and Historic Mine. The entrance isn’t obvious, but if you look for the entrance in the photo below you’ll be at the right place.

This rock marks the entrance to the American Eagle Mine overlook.

Follow this road to the very end. There, you will find a guard and a small shack. Give them your name and you can drive up to the overlook.

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<– Day 47 – Thu. May 28th: Back to the Springs | TRIP OVERVIEW | Day 49-50 – May 30th-31st: Last Dollar & Madonna –>

I’m checking out a McLaren and an Indy race car.

On Friday Guy Kathe invited us to visit Pikes Peak International Raceway (PPIR) and meet president of the raceway Bob Boileau.

PPIR began life as a horse racing track. In 1996, the facilities were transformed from hosting horses to hosting automobiles. The track subsequently closed in 2005, but reopened in 2008 when Guy and some partners purchased it. Eventually they brought aboard Bob as president.

Bob’s to the left. His collection of cars in is the background. He owned a Willys wagon until recently.

We arrived at the track at 1pm. We found Bob busily racing around on his golf cart. Almost the instance we jumped aboard his cart for a ride around the facilities it started to rain. The average rainfall in Colorado Springs in May is 2″. This year it has rain 10″!

Despite some intermittent drops, we got a quick tour. Bob pointed out some racing semi-trucks and explained that a new semi-truck racing circuit had formed in the US as a result of the success similar truck racing was enjoying in Europe. For some reason, more Europeans are showing up for truck races than for Formula One or other races. So, Bob and other track owners in the US hope to attract a similar following.

I asked Bob how he got started in racing. Bob’s told me his father was a racer who was involved in bringing Honda dealerships to the United States. Along the way he became the first to build and race a Honda car. That 1974 Honda is now in this Honda Museum. Bob began racing in 1982 and has enjoyed a successful career. You can see his eyes light up when he talks about cars. He loves them. Bob’s sons have followed in his path, becoming good racers themselves.

Overview of PPIR track that I found on the internet. the stands are on the left. I believe the photos is a few years old.

About this time during our visit the rain became pouring rain, so Bob wisked us to his office to show us an overview of the property. They have areas north and south of the track that they may use for off road racing or other group events. Then he showed us the race car that will likely win the Pikes Peak Climb this year. In 2014, it won all the practice runs. However, on the day of the race they discovered the frame was cracked, so they couldn’t race.

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<– Day 46 – Wed. May 27th: Georgetown Loop Train | TRIP OVERVIEW | Day 48 – Fri. May 29th: Pikes Peak International Raceway –>

We decided to take the scenic route back to Colorado Springs from Dilon/Frisco, Colorado. Nothing too interesting happened, but here’s a recap anyway.

Today we drove from Dillon, Colorado, to Colorado Springs.

I should interject at this point that the Frisco area had some great food. There were many highly rated (in Yelp) places to eat. The first evening we tried Pho soup at Pho Bay. Ann’s seafood soup had more seafood than we’d ever seen in a seafood pho. Mine was equally large and tasty.

The next day we ate at Prost, a German-oriented beer and brat pub. They don’t serve a wide variety of food, but what they do (german sausages), they do really well. Since Ann can’t do beef, we tried four different sausages: a bison, an elk, a chicken, and a wild boar sausage. All were great! Their cucumber and potato salads were also delicious. There seem to be multiple Prost locations around the West, with one opening soon in Boise, Idaho.

Back on to Thursday’s adventure. After my burrito breakfast, we headed south out of Frisco, rising to 11,542 feet at Hoosier Pass, named for some enterprising placer miners from Indiana.

As we snapped our selfie, it suddenly began to snow. So, we jumped into the jeep and headed north toward Alma, the highest incorporated city in the United States (at 10,578 ft). There we spotted this CJ-3B, which might be the highest 3B in the US.

From there we drove through some beautiful high mountain valleys.

Eventually we reached Hartsel, where we found this CJ-5.

The remainder of the trip took us around Pikes Peak until we landed in Colorado Springs. We will be here a few days and then drive to Utah (route to be determined).

<– Day 46 – Wed. May 27th: Georgetown Loop Train | TRIP OVERVIEW | Day 48 – Fri. May 29th: Pikes Peak International Raceway –>

<– Day 45 – Tue. May 26th: South Park | TRIP OVERVIEW | Day 47 – Thu. May 28th: Back to the Springs –>

Today my only objective was to ride the Georgetown Loop train and explore the Lebanon Mine in Colorado.

Today I completed a short drive to Georgetown, where I boarded a train for the Lebanon Mine.

It wasn’t altogether clear to me at first, but after I boarded the train I learned that the Georgetown Loop train didn’t run in a loop. Instead, it runs between Silver Plume, the western terminus of the ride, and the Devil’s Gate Station, the eastern terminus. Essentially, it runs up the canyon and then back down. Technically, there is a loop, as the train does cross under its own track, but to me that distinction wasn’t clear in the name.

Silver Plume station

The ‘crowd’ waiting to board.

I boarded the train at Silver Plume and we headed south for a couple miles. At that point we disembarked for a guided tour of the Lebanon Tunnel. Our guide was a friendly young lady who was more interested in being funny than providing interesting information. But, I was after more technical information than the average visitor. Near the end of the tour, I ended up answering some participant questions and explaining that smelting lead was an important financial component of the silver-lead mining and smelting process.

After our half hour tour, we boarded the train for a trip down to the Devil’s Gate station, before heading back up the mountain to the Silver Plume Station. I was surprised we never reached Georgetown. If you’ve never ridden the train, or want to share the experience with your kids, you’ll probably enjoy this ride and the mine tour. However, I would have preferred to skip the train and get a more thorough mine experience.

On thursday we have nothing planned, except to drive to Colorado Springs, where we will stay a few days.

<– Day 45 – Tue. May 26th: South Park | TRIP OVERVIEW | Day 47 – Thu. May 28th: Back to the Springs –>

<– Day 41-43 – May 22nd-24th: Omaha-Bound  | TRIP OVERVIEW | Day 45 – Tue. May 26th: South Park –>

Ann in trouble, again.

After spending the weekend celebrating Ann’s son’s high school graduation, we left Omaha on Monday bound for Colorado. However, we decided to make one stop on the way at a place called Pioneer Village in Minden, Nebraska.

Today we drove from Omaha, Nebraska, to Golden, Colorado, with a stop at the Pioneer Village in Minden, Nebraska.

If you have ever driven through the middle of Nebraska on I-80 you’ve probably seen worn signs in dire need of paint advertising the Pioneer Village. The signage is unimpressive and left us with the impression that they might be relics of a place that no longer exists. However, after seeing a couple signs, we looked up the place and discovered that, indeed, it still exists. Even better, the reviews were generally positive.

We arrived to find a dated brick building. In the front windows paper letters ‘welcomed’ us. There weren’t many vehicles parked nearby, so we parked right in front of the entrance door. There wasn’t much to give us confidence. However, once we paid the entry fee and walked into the first large space, we could tell it would be a cool experience. There were cars and planes everywhere.

When we exited the first building, we walked into a large outdoor area with buildings set up around a circle. The represented the ‘old village’ part of Pioneer Village.

Some of the old buildings moved to the village.

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