FAMILY VACATION TO COLORADO

Living on a farm, one does not take many vacations, especially in the summer time.  So when we did get to go on a vacation, it was a special event.  Sometimes we got to leave the farm for a day or two, but one year we got to go on a much longer vacation.  I am not certain how long we were gone, but I am guessing about a week.  This was the trip to Colorado and Wyoming. To the best of my memory, I was about 10 years old.

I do not remember where we spent our first night.  It could have been in New Mexico, but it could have been in Canon City or Colorado Springs.  I know we went to the Royal Gorge close to Canon City.  This was an impressive place.  I don't believe I had ever seen a canyon that deep.  There was a wooden bridge that cars could drive over.  We did not drive across the bridge, but we did get out and and look down at the gorge from the bridge.  It was kind of a scary feeling especially since I did not and still don't like heights.  We also went to the state prison in Canon City.  Why we did this I do not have a clue.  It does seem a very odd place to visit.  They actually had tours to go through the prison. I can't remember if my dad went in with us or not.  He must have as I do recall my dad having trouble getting through the security gate.  He had crutches and those caused the alarm to go off.  The crutches were wooden, but they had metal screws.  We saw prisoners in their cells, saw some of the inmates making license plates (at least that is my memory )  They were making something.  I am pretty sure we saw either a gas chamber or electric chair. We might have seen both.  If nothing else, we learned from our visit that this was a place we did not want to end up.

Another thing we did on this vacation was to go to Seven Falls.  This park is in Colorado Springs.  I barely remember the falls, but I do remember all the steps we went up.  It seemed they would never end.  I never made it to the top, but my brothers did.  I must have been a wimp.  I am sure my grandkids could make it, and they are not even 10 years old.  When we started down the steps, my legs would shake.

On another day we rode the Pikes Peak railroad cog up to the top of the Peak.  My dad did not go, just my mom and us kids. There were so many of the activities that we did that he could not participate in because of his being on crutches.  He did not seem to mind.  He would find people to talk to and visit with them.  When we got on the train at the bottom, it was very hot.  By the time we reached the top it was sleeting.  Because of the clouds we could not see anything from the Peak.  I was very glad to get back down to the warm sunshine.

I do not know if we went to Garden of the Gods or not.  Another place we might have gone by was the Broadmoor Hotel.  These were both places my mom had gone to visit when she went on her Senior trip after graduating high school.  I am sure she would have wanted to see these places again.  If we did go to these areas, we probably just drove by without stopping.

The next place we visited was Denver.  We went to the Capitol Building.  I guess my parents wanted us to see the historic sites, plus this was free.  We went inside and looked around. I do not think we got to go up to the dome.  I don't remember anything else we did in Denver.  From there we went to Wyoming.

Our next stop was Cheyenne, the capital of Wyoming.  We were going to go see the Capitol Building there, but it was already closed.  I do not think we missed a thing.  Once you have seen one capitol building, you have pretty much seen them all.  I remember staying in a motel in Cheyenne that had a kitchen.  I suppose that we had stayed in motels the entire way that had kitchens as that would have been the cheaper way to eat.  The motel was managed by a Japanese couple, and there was a garden. The plants were some I did not recognize.  Why I remember this piece of trivia, I've no idea.

I am pretty sure after we spent the night in Wyoming, we made our way back home.

My mom took photos of our vacation, and if I could look at them, likely I would have a much better recollection of what actually took place.  It was a fun trip, and I was thankful we got to visit Colorado.  I never dreamed that I would one day live in the city we had visited on vacation so long ago.