Greeley, Colorado
Wednesday was my birthday. Fionnula had an appointment at 9:20 Wednesday morning back in Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs is 2 1/2 hours from Grandma's house where we are currently staying. Sometimes orthodontist appointments happen, even on birthdays, and in this case we decided that it made sense to schedule an activity that was in yet another town in Colorado. So here is what our quick trip to St Elmo, Colorado, chosen because it fit my requirements of being a ghost town, accessible by car, that was only another 2 ish hours of driving to get there.
6:45 ish: We pile in the car. We had planned to leave at 6:30, but, well, we just didn't. Truthfully, I am just happy we are all there and all brushed our teeth.
8:45: Thanks to an alternative route and amazing traffic, we are already at the orthodontist. I leave Kris there with Fionn and take the boys with me to Safeway. The boys have lots of opinions about lunch. After a lengthy discussion of whether it is worthwhile to buy lettuce for sandwiches without tomatoes, and a vain search for pre-sliced tomatoes, we buy the lettuce but decide that hummus and or cream cheese with no knife to spread them on sandwiches is not happening. In the cookie aisle each boy has different ideas about which cookies are essential, so we get way more cookies than is really necessary and Ronan is criticized excessively for his choice, not because of the kind of cookie but because of the low quantity in the package. When I turn around after picking up meat at the deli counter, Noah and Liam have filled the cart with armfuls of cheeses. They re-stock the cheese display.
9:30: We pick up Kris and Fionn, but not until we have completed a fairly regular ritual in which Kris, trying to get a hold of me, calls all the cell phones in the car in quick succession. None of us answers, either because, as he claims, we never answer our phones or, as we all claim, he hangs up before it even rings twice just so he can say he called a half dozen times. Ronan sees the call as we pull into the parking lot though, we call him back and are able to schedule an August appointment for Fionnula.
We buy gas. We stop at the mall for Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory toffee for Father's Day. And we head to St Elmo.
1:00: We arrive in St Elmo. We park just outside of town, open our trunk and eat our lunch mostly standing around our car. There is a river running by and lots of mountain scenery to take in even just standing in the dusty pullout parking area. It is actually a little chilly standing in the wind listening to the water and it feels pretty great after the heat of the northern Colorado plains. Ronan is fiercely protective of the Garden Salsa chips that he thought we should buy two bags of but which we only ended up buying one of so that the second bag would be a flavor Fionn likes. Turns out most of us like the garden salsa variety.
We walk through the town's main street. Most of the buildings are marked with a date, a family name and sometimes with the occupation of the home's owner: "shoemaker." Except for the reconstructed courthouse (the original burned) and the general store, which is an operating souvenir shop, you cannot go inside the buildings as they are now privately owned. They are mostly vacant though, so we still did a lot of peering through windows, and Ronan still tried many doorknobs. At the end of the street there is a grove of aspen trees, that must be gorgeous in the fall and a short path down to the riverbank.
Back in town, we turn off the main road towards Tin Cup pass. Back in the trees are more houses, some of these are modern homes with people sitting on their porches observing the flow of tourists, but there are also several more from the late 1800s, and there are fewer people making their way back here to see them. The schoolhouse is up this road too. You can only go into the schools' entry, from there you can see into the main room but not enter. It is fully furnished with desks and blackboards, a huge stove in the center, readers on the shelves, even glasses resting on the teacher's desk as though everyone has just stepped out.
On our way back to the car we stop to watch other people feeding the town's somewhat famous 'tame' chipmunks who will eat seeds right out of the hands of tourists. Hummingbirds are also abundant and we stop to watch them gathering at feeders near the store. Ronan reaches out and pets one as it feeds!
Driving back out of town we turn towards Iron City. I know there is a cemetery up this road somewhere. We nearly turn around twice because it seems too far from town and my memory of seeing a cemetery here thirty years ago is possibly not all that reliable. However, past the campground we find it, and bonus the campground we determinedly drive through has a bathroom. We explore the cemetery briefly. Fionnula is particularly struck by the grave of two toddler sisters. Many graves are marked only by pain wooden headstones with no engraving at all, but a list posted at the entrance to the cemetery informs you of names, dates, and usually even cause of death: fell 75 feet down a mine shaft, gas in the mine, miner's lung, found frozen to death two months after he disappeared, died in an explosion when he was thawing his dynamite by the fire.
3:30: We head home. I napped during the morning drive, so it is only fair that I take over for at least a portion of the return drive and let Kris have a rest. The drive home over the mountains and through Fairplay is pretty great all on its own. The kids continue to eat from the leftover foods from lunch making a dinner stop unnecessary in my opinion and I start focusing on finding an ice cream place.
6:00: We finally find ice cream in Conifer after resorting to asking google maps and google maps totally came through for us. After asking the nice ice cream lady to describe in detail every chocolate flavors they have, I choose blueberry cheesecake and peach melba. I regret nothing.
7:30 We arrive back at Grandma's in time for Kris and I to still take an evening walk.
We could easily have spent more time in the area. The Mount Princeton hot springs are close by, there are hiking trails everywhere, including some to more remote ghost towns and another to an old railroad tunnel. The mountains all around are full of old mining ruins. But sometimes all you get is an afternoon after a less than convenient orthodontist appointment.
No comments:
Post a Comment