<– 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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