Day 10 - Elk City, OK - Conway, AR

Our last day of vacation and it was a driving day, of course.  That's the only problem with Colorado, it's a good 2 day journey there and back.  We had a great 2 room suite at the La Quinta in Elk City and after breakfast, we applied the last stickers to our Stow-a-Way and loaded up.  About an hour and a half later we arrived in Oklahoma City.  We didn't have a lot of time to sightsee, but we did stop at the Capitol Building.  Franklin loved walking around the Arkansas State Capitol building earlier this year so I thought he'd enjoy the Oklahoma one too.  It's been years since I've been there myself, but I did spend some time there as a kid.  I attended two state History Day competitions in the Capitol and I remember going into conference rooms to be interviewed about my historical papers, plus sitting at in the chairs on the floor of the House for the awards ceremony.  Also, in 1989, I paged for the Speaker of the House, Jim Barker from Muskogee (shortly before he was ousted from the position).  I served for a week and learned how to get around the Capitol pretty well.  When we arrived today, we discovered that the west exterior side of the building is under construction, but we soon found a door in.  After a run through security, we had the building to ourselves essentially.  We ended up in the House gallery and the memories came flooding back.  I had forgotten that the carpeting was green and that the ceiling had stained glass panels.  However, I pointed out the exact seat I sat in as a page (near the dais so the Speaker could summon me quickly).  I also pointed to the spot I sat for the History Day awards ceremonies.  We scampered down the back stairs and ended up outside the Speaker's office (same location as it was in 1988) and I explained how there's actually 3 offices inside:  reception, conference room, and private office.

Running short on time, we went back into the rotunda and I marveled at the inside of the dome.  The dome was added to the building in 2002, so I'm still not accustomed to it being there.  The last time I visited, there was a flat stained glass ceiling over the rotunda so what's there now is visually better, but still not the same.  We loaded back into the car and soon did a drive by of the OKC Bombing Memorial as Jason wanted to see it.  My sister later told me there is a good museum there now too, but we were out of time.  We pressed east and ate lunch in Shawnee.  Afterwards, the Cubs were playing so we piped in the game over the radio and were soon crossing the state line into Arkansas.

This vacation has come to an end, but it was fantastic!  The ten days away did a world of good for me and I hope the kiddos made some lifelong memories.  It'll be good to review photos over the next week or so and relive the adventure, but for now, it's back to the office and normal daily life, which sound appealing!

Day 9 - Colorado Springs, CO - Elk City, OK

We awoke to a hot air balloon ascending outside our hotel window, which was quite nice to see.  After a hotel breakfast, we faced a long driving day as we had to drive across parts of 4 states.  Heading down I-25, we paralleled the southern part of the Rockies, but they soon got smaller in size and then became mesas and buttes as we entered southern Colorado.  We took a break in Trinidad as our Roadside America app pointed us to the "Canary in the Coal Mine Monument" in downtown.  It honors the "thankless" canaries that helped ensure miners were alerted to the presence of carbon monoxide.  Jason drove us around the town a bit and we soon found ourselves going up a very steep county road full of boulders, potholes, and no guardrails.  We were all shaken, not stirred.  At the top is Simpson's Rest, an overlook of the town which includes the final resting place of pioneer George S. Simpson.  The grave marker has unfortunately been very desecrated so there are no words or inscriptions left, but the sandstone bluff offers great views of Trinidad, Fisher's Peak (the mesa to the south), and the Trinidad electric sign which is still lit nightly.

Once we scampered back down the road, we made our way south to Raton, New Mexico.  We grabbed lunch at Pappa's Sweet Shop, which used to be the candy/sweet store in town, but has since morphed into a great local restaurant.  Near the historic downtown, we spotted the Raton Public Service Company's power plant and had to stop to look in the windows.  Just like Conway, Raton's electric is municipally owned and provided by the PSC.  Even though the plant stopped producing power in 2006 (the coal supply dried up), it was a neat building to see.  We made one more unplanned stop near Raton:  Sugarite Canyon State Park.  While at lunch, we learned that the local coal mine and town in Sugarite Canyon still had ruins you could see.  We stopped at the visitor center, but learned that all the ruins are on a hike in the area and we just didn't have time to do this.  Another time, perhaps.

Our next stop was a short drive away:  Capulin Volcano National Monument.  It is a well-preserved, relatively young (58,000 to 62,000 years old), dormant symmetrical cinder cone volcano that rises steeply from the surrounding grassland plains to an elevation of 8,182 feet above sea level. The irregular rim of the crater is about a mile in circumference and the crater about 400 feet deep.  We drove up the volcano to the parking area and then hiked up (and I mean up) to the summit where we could see out across the prairie to Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado.  The crater is full of green plants, but under their leaves are ancient volcanic rock.  It was a neat stop and one I'm glad we made, but the heat and biting gnats were distractions.  I'd love to go back for one of their star viewings as this area is apparently known for having one of the darkest skies in the country (excellent for star viewing).

We still had many miles to cover so off we went.  Texas and the Central Time Zone were soon whizzing by our windows and the mesas gave way to the flat agricultural fields that I've often seen from the air:  the circular patches of green in otherwise desert-looking land.  We stopped for dinner in Dumas, TX (yes, there is a disagreement between this Dumas and the Arkansas Dumas over the origination of a specific song which mentions the town name) and then continued toward western Oklahoma.  We finally arrived at our hotel in Elk City at about 10:00 pm which is far later than we had originally hoped, but we had an excellent day yet again!  One more push and we'll be in our own beds soon.

Day 8 - Colorado Springs, CO

We've decided that while we all liked the cabin in the woods, the mattresses needed some help.  The hotel beds felt reinvigorating overnight for sure!  After a Springhill Suites breakfast, we headed to the Garden of the Gods park.  Sandstone, limestone, and conglomerates jut up into the sky from the surrounding landscape in this public park that was given to the city of Colorado Springs in 1909.  Various driving loops are available along with hiking paths.  The temperature had already started climbing so we enjoyed the sights from the car while also stopping at the main cathedral area for a brief hike into the center.  The park offers great views of Pikes Peak just to the west.  Rock climbers also love Garden of the Gods and they were easily seen today.

Based on a recommendation from a friend, we headed into Old Colorado City which was once its own town having been founded during the Gold Rush of 1859.  It's now on the National Register of Historic Places and has small shops, restaurants, and Victorian houses.  We stopped at Front Range BBQ and enjoyed a fantastic lunch.  A short while later, we parked in downtown Manitou Springs, a quintessential tourist town since the 1870s, when visitors discovered the healing waters the Ute Indians had been drinking for years.  After finding a parking spot (a rare thing indeed), we took a brief break in the city park, visited some of the small, local shops, and some were brave enough to taste the still free mineral water.

We next headed up the mountain a bit to the Cave of the Winds Mountain Park.  We had tickets for the 4:00 Discovery tour of the cave itself, but the park has many other attractions including a ropes course (a maze of steel beams, ropes and ladders which sits on the rim of a 600 foot drop into Williams Canyon) and a "Bat-A-Pult,"  a 1200-foot aerial attraction similar to a zip line high along the canyon.  The kids did the ropes course and a rock-climbing wall while we all did the Bat-A-Pult.  It was a very nice ride with a great view of the area.   Our tour soon headed into the cave which was right inside the mountain--didn't have to go down steps to enter it, which was weird.  Our 60 minute tour took us into some tight spaces, allowed us to see what a cave looks like by lantern light, and appreciate how dark caves really are without lights.  Everyone had fun even when we had to crouch, shimmy, and climb steps.

When we started planning this trip, I reached out to one of my cousins in Colorado and we were able to plan to meet for dinner tonight.  We all arrived at The Mason Jar in Old Colorado City at the same time and we were soon seated around the table sharing stories, laughing, and having a great time just like we always do.  My aunt and uncle (Mary Kay and Mark), their daughter Abby, and her daughter Kate made the drive down from the Denver area and I was so thrilled!  Mary Kay is my mom's sister so she has an extra special place in my heart.  She and Mark were also always so fun to be around when I was a kid (still are) and Abby and I have grown quite close over the years.  It was an excellent way to end our time in Colorado and I can't wait to see them soon.  We begin our 2 day journey home tomorrow, but still have sights to see and fun things to do!