Mixed Drinks, Gravel Roads, Penny Slots, and Sanborn!

(This is Doug writing, so of course, I'll need you to excuse my typographical errors)

Our rest day in Pueblo was delightful. The real highlight of the town was the basement hangout spot that The Presbyterian Church in town opened up to us. It had a nice fung-sway and included a full coffee bar and selection of Italian Sodas (mix sugary syrup with seltzer water and ice...ummmm).

From Pueblo we road to Canon City and slept at yet another church with people kind enough to host us. At this point, our course deviated from the Trans America bike route we had been following for the most part thus far. Jeff and Pick where counselors at Sanborn Western Camp last summer, and only 50 so miles off the route we wanted to stop in.

We took two days for the ride. The first day our aim was to get to the infamous town of Cripple Creek - a western style gambling town. The ride to Cripple Creek was AWESOME! of the 25 miles, close to 15 was on a rough dirt/gravel road known as "shelf road" because of the sheer cliffs and steep drop offs. We climbed about 4,000 feet in elevation over the 25 mile stretch, but a majority of the climbing was on shelf road. The weight of our equipment and riding with road tires (except for Jeff who bought a knoby tire in Pueblo for his rear wheel) made the trek all the more epic. Here are a couple pictures from along the way...





Well, we made it to Cripple Creek, the land of milk in honey where steak dinners only cost 6 bucks. After steaks, we went to one of the local casinos - The Brass Ass (donkey). We each chose our game (Ross at the black jack table, Pick and Dave at the Roulette wheel, and Jeff and I at the Penny slots). While each of us walked away with a little less cash, it was a night well spent. Something I found out was that as long as you are "actively gambling" you can have free drinks. We took full advantage of that perk to try the local brews of Colorado.

We slept out that night under a canopy of stars, then hit the 49 cent breakfast at one of the Casinos (the food is so cheap to try to keep you around for more gambling). The 5 of us had as much breakfast as we could eat and coffee we could drink for $5.20!

From Cripple Creek we set out for Sanborn. I can honestly say that at least one time each day Pick and Jeff have referenced Sanborn, so it was particularly exciting for Dave, Ross, and I to be going to see what the talk was all about. Our reception has been very warm, and we've been giving one of the tent/buildings that was vacant to use while we are here. One of the highlights for me has been seeing a friend from middle school - Andrew Tromey - who is working here this summer.

Sanborn owns about 6,000 acres of land, and is surrounded by an additional 50,000 that are a part of Pike National Park - which Sanborn has full access to. Last night I decided to hike up and camp out on top of one of the small peaks ("Little Blue") that surrounds the valley main camp is craddled in. About the time I got up there, I saw a storm coming with flashing of lighting touching down across another valley on the back side. I had time to set up my tent in a grove of aspens and admire the beauty and power of the storm as it came.


This morning I got up and saw a beautiful sunrise that came up just to the east of Pikes Peak. It was wonderful to see the world come back to life hours of sleepy darkness.


Anyways, that about bring it up to the present. There is a good chance we'll hang here in Sanborn the rest of today, and just hit the road tomorrow. Breakfast is in a few minutes, then we'll see what happens from there...horse back riding, hiking, swiming...ANYTHING could happen!