We did not get the possible snowfall in September that friends told us we could get in the Springs, but now I am even more excited about possibly seeing snow in October! (Maybe tonight but we shall see, or not see if I fall asleep and miss it). This past sunday Caleb and I enjoyed a fun fall afternoon together. We drove to Cripple Creek, CO which is an hour west of us in the mountains. The aspen trees have been changing colors so we wanted to take advantage of our free afternoon to drive into the mountains and see them. As usual pictures don't show what our eyes see in person. Caleb and I were talking about how grateful we are that God created our eyes so detailed and with so much focus. Caleb then made a statement I had never thought of before about how our eyes can see something miles away and then focus almost immediately back on something right within a few inches from our face. Amazing! A camera just can't capture things the way our eyes see them, although I have seen some beautiful photography. We enjoyed seeing the Aspen leaves different shades of greens, yellows, and gold. The trees looked splendid with the sunlight on them. Almost as if they were really bright gold. This was our second trip here. Our friends Kat & Jobie brought us here just a couple weeks after we moved to Colorado Springs. We ate at a local pizza place in Cripple Creek. We met them at church our second Sunday here, and they invited us to go target shooting up in the mountains. Then we spent the day driving and seeing spectacular views. That day was memorable for me and I had lots of fun seeing all the back-country of the Rocky mountains right outside of Colorado Springs. So Kat and Jobie, if you are reading this. Thank You! There are some memories of Colorado I won't ever forget and that was one of them. I should write another blog post someday about some of my most memorable moments here including previous trips as a kid and last December with Caleb, Krista, and Nathan in Colorado.
Back to our most recent Cripple Creek trip. Here is a picture journal.
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| Town of Cripple Creek. Today this town has less than 2,000 people. |
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| In my opinion this isn't one of those mountain towns I'd like to spend time in. It gives me the feel of an actual wild west town. The streets are lined with casino after casino which you may be able to tell in this picture. The area surrounding Cripple Creek sure is beautiful though. I can picture this place with dirt streets and saloons and bars lining it with cowboys and miners walking around back in the day. |
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| We took a train ride that gave us a history of Cripple Creek. A cowboy named Bob Womack found gold in 1890 here. This is what led 22,000 people to settle here. They began mining gold in hopes of making big money. Many people did as this town had quite a few millionaires living in it at one point. That was definitely big money in the early 1900s. |
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| The hill that looks like a mound of dirt on the top left and right of the photo above is the active gold mining going on today in Cripple Creek. Miners say this area has about 50 more years worth of gold to be mined. This area is not what you think of typical mining with tunnels under ground. They use strip mining here. Our train ride took us along areas where we saw other gold mine spots where the traditional gold mining you think of with underground tunnels was used. |
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| An old site of where tunnels would have been for gold mining. There are hundreds of miles of old tunnels throughout this area in the mountain range. Sometimes the tunnels will collapse in causing a sink hole. This isn't very common, but it does happen. Last month here a sink hole opened up in the middle of the highway we drove on to get to the town. They had to close the road for a few days to repair it. |
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| There are quite a few old buildings around the area that were connected with the gold mine tunnels. |
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| The drive back home was pretty as the sun was setting and casting neat lighting along the evergreen countryside. |
We did not get the possible snowfall in September that friends told us we could get in the Springs, but now I am even more excited about possibly seeing snow in October! (Maybe tonight but we shall see, or not see if I fall asleep and miss it). This past sunday Caleb and I enjoyed a fun fall afternoon together. We drove to Cripple Creek, CO which is an hour west of us in the mountains. The aspen trees have been changing colors so we wanted to take advantage of our free afternoon to drive into the mountains and see them. As usual pictures don't show what our eyes see in person. Caleb and I were talking about how grateful we are that God created our eyes so detailed and with so much focus. Caleb then made a statement I had never thought of before about how our eyes can see something miles away and then focus almost immediately back on something right within a few inches from our face. Amazing! A camera just can't capture things the way our eyes see them, although I have seen some beautiful photography. We enjoyed seeing the Aspen leaves different shades of greens, yellows, and gold. The trees looked splendid with the sunlight on them. Almost as if they were really bright gold. This was our second trip here. Our friends Kat & Jobie brought us here just a couple weeks after we moved to Colorado Springs. We ate at a local pizza place in Cripple Creek. We met them at church our second Sunday here, and they invited us to go target shooting up in the mountains. Then we spent the day driving and seeing spectacular views. That day was memorable for me and I had lots of fun seeing all the back-country of the Rocky mountains right outside of Colorado Springs. So Kat and Jobie, if you are reading this. Thank You! There are some memories of Colorado I won't ever forget and that was one of them. I should write another blog post someday about some of my most memorable moments here including previous trips as a kid and last December with Caleb, Krista, and Nathan in Colorado. 
Heather, I really enjoyed your post! I especially liked the photos of the old mining buildings. I imagine each of them has a hidden story just waiting to be told!
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