The Epic Colorado Road Trip of 2011 - Part 1, Austin to Fairplay

A view inside Rocky Mountain National Park, July 2011

We originally planned to venture to Colorado at the beginning of June, so we could miss a lot of the summer crowd, benefit from the spring price breaks, and still see a lot of mountain snow.  A special legislative session pushed our plans back to July, but we still got to enjoy our trip, which I'm finally posting about today.

I can't tell you how badly we needed this break.  In 2010, we weren't able to take a real vacation, thanks to the pressures of a brutal election season.  We had quick trips out to Oxford, MS and a lot of small day trips, but nothing to really take the stress off.  So, when planning for 2011, we wanted to stretch our legs outside Texas.  In May, we found out I was pregnant with Annalise, and suddenly our trip to Colorado became the last big road trip we would take as a couple for a long time.  All the more reason to live it up a bit!

July 5, 2011 - Headed toward Amarillo.  This was as straight a push as we could make it.  We stopped for a couple of courthouse pics and that was really it.  We had dinner at the Pizza Hut in Plainview and spent the night at a Hampton Inn once in Amarillo.  I think this was the first time we used the Expedia app on my Droid, too - so handy on this trip, with only two hotel reservations made ahead of time, and a deep desire to wander as much as hearts desired.

July 6, 2011 - We headed northwest out of Amarillo to get a courthouse pic in Dalhart, and stopped for lunch at a McDonald's in Raton, New Mexico.  Can you believe I had never been to New Mexico before?  Not that this really counts, but still.  The mountains impressed us immediately after the day before, traveling through straight Texas prairie for so long.  We went as far as Canon City, Colorado.  Once we got our hotel room (thank you again, Expedia app!), we went out to Royal Gorge.  We walked across the bridge and through the wildlife area - where we saw a very rare white buffalo calf, born to another white buffalo!  Of course, we counted this as a good omen for our trip, and I bought a stuffed white buffalo for our baby.  On our way back into town, we stopped at The Winery at Holy Cross Abbey.  Sadly, I couldn't participate in tasting, but we got a couple of bottles to take home for a later time.

Of course, there is no fishing off the bridge at Royal Gorge.

Our good luck charms - the white buffalo and her calf - also female!  We found out at the shop that this is rather rare.

July 7, 2011 - Our first morning in mountain time!  We woke up with one goal in mind - head to Colorado Springs and up Pike's Peak!  It was a perfect morning for it, though once we got up the mountain we learned just how quickly weather can change at that altitude.  On our way back down, we were caught by a brief thunderstorm, complete with hail.  It turned out later to be just the first of many storms on this trip, totally unlike the summer we were having back home in Austin.  We had plans that night to stay in Breckenridge, the first of our planned overnights.  We had a room waiting for us at the Lodge at Breckenridge, a great place with some of the best mountain views we had on the trip.  But on the way there, plenty to see!  I grew up with a bit of a James Michener obsession - Centennial was annual viewing at our house, and last winter I read the book for the first time.  Imagine my geeky delight to discover the South Platte River!  The winding road we took gave us beautiful views, even though it rained for just about the entire drive.  Then, we found ourselves in Fairplay - and we couldn't resist stopping!

Randy on Pike's Peak.  You can see the storms building off to the left.

Michele on Pike's Peak - about 12 weeks pregnant.  Annalise can't say she never went anywhere!

In Fairplay, there is this awesome "ghost town" attraction called South Park City.  It's a complete main street replica of a 1800s Colorado mining town.  Most of the buildings and all of the "stuff" are authentic.  The pictures we took hardly do the place justice, but I'll share a few with you.  The next part of our trip will be in the next post.

Randy posing with the coal train.

Seeing as how part of Colorado was once in the Republic of Texas, we wondered if Commissioner Patterson would like these digs....

Just to give you an idea of how built up the attraction is.

The South Platte River!

The schoolhouse was the only place where you couldn't get right up to the artifacts, but it was definitely amazing.

This is the drugstore. Contains the most complete collection of authentic medicines and pharmacy tools known in the United States. The collection actually came from Iowa, I think, belonging to the grandson of a 19th century pharmacist. They really have cures for whatever ails you in this place....