Cripple Creek, CO

The truck did great with pulling up the steep inclines near Cripple Creek (and being pushed down, too). Randy might say it was his expert driving skills — I’ll definitely give him credit for handling the tight turns like a pro! We got within a few blocks of where we were staying on the edge of town, at the Cripple Creek Hospitality House and Travel Park, and encountered a road closure. Thankfully, we had cell service, so I called the RV park to ask for the best route for a big rig. The manager was not aware of the closure and was apologetic, then he hopped in his car to come escort us around a different way. Nice service!

Once we arrived and opened up the RV, we learned our next lesson — don’t forget to attach the bungie to the top of the fridge door, to keep it from opening while traveling! The first thing we saw when we opened the door was most of the contents of our fridge on the floor. Oops! Not sure how, but nothing was broken or spilled (not even the carton of eggs!) and stuff was still cold — I’ll take lessons like that!

The highlights of Cripple Creek for me was the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine Tour and the Historic Trolley Tour. After descending about 1000 feet into the gold mine, riding in a cramped little elevator, we toured an actual old gold mine. The guide was a young man who used to work in the mine, so he was very knowledgable. He also demonstrated several pieces of old, noisy equipment. The Trolley Tour was cute – there were a group of performers dressed up in period costumes, telling stories and doing skits along the route. I thought it was an entertaining way to share the history of the town.

It was pretty cool to see the herd of donkeys roaming around town, too. They are descendants of the donkeys that used to work in the mines. They are protected by the town and are free to roam wherever they’d like, including in people’s yards. If you honk or yell at them, you could be fined. Kind of funny!

We also walked through a few of the casinos, but neither of us were interested in doing any gambling. It was interesting to see how they had turned the old buildings into casinos, though. It had a different feel than either of us had imagined. The other stops we made were the Jail Museum and the Heritage Museum, along with walking around a new gold mining site and the nearby town of Victor.

So, I’d say it was a successful first stop on our new journey that Randy and I both enjoyed! On to Eleven Mile State Park now; that should be a very different experience, with no water hookups or cell service.