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Beth Ann over at It’s Just Life is a teapot collector. I love teapots, but they are one of those things I just don’t have room for. Whenever I see a cool one, I think of Beth Ann, and this emporer just screamed her name to me. Sorry about my hands in the mirror behind him – but they do seem to add something, don’t they?
Cripple Creek, Colorado.
Quote of the day: “Return to the centre of your heart; not your past.” – Unknown
Daily gratitudes:
Yellow bicycle tires
Lace
Banana muffins
The aspens turning
Dressing spiffy
The chrome of a 1950′s BelAir reflects the blue sky and history of Cripple Creek.
Cripple Creek, Colorado.
Quote of the day: “I never ask a man what his business is, for it never interests me. What I ask him about are his thoughts and dreams.” – H.P. Lovecraft
Daily gratitudes:
Road trips
Horse days
Beautiful days
Red earth
Laughter
This is just about the most fabulous thing that I have ever seen. I so desperately want it to come home with me. (Suzicate, let me know if your imagination was close.)
Cripple Creek, Colorado.
Quote of the day: “It’s quite possible to leave your home for a walk in the early morning air and return a different person—beguiled,enchanted.” – Mary Chase
Daily gratitudes:
Llama earrings
Bach
Loving and being loved
Letting go of the past while holding onto its lessons
My red journal
What did I do today? MKL and I went to “Cruise Above the Clouds” in Cripple Creek – a classic/muscle car show with about 200 participants. I love classic cars and they offer a lot of scope for beautiful and creative photography, so I’ll share more images with you over the next few months. And being up in the mountains showed us that Fall is coming…
Cripple Creek, Colorado.
Quote of the day: ”And she said, It’s okay that you can’t get over it. Maybe you never will. Maybe that hole will never fill. She said, Maybe your learning to leave it empty is the meaning of your life.” – Heather Harpham
Daily gratitudes:
Road trips with MKL
Beauty made of steel
Spooky places
Dogs
My wished-for pink taxidermied rooster
The Pine Emporium
He speaks (or sings) for himself.
Cripple Creek, Colorado.
Quote of the day: “The experience of beauty does something profound and powerful within the heart and soul of every human being. Beauty creates wonder in us.” – Steve DeWitt
Daily gratitudes:
Changes
Stillness
Book titles that come to mind and then escape me
Commercials that make me cry
The endless supply of books that have revivified Sherlock Holmes
This Civil War chess set, at the Carr Manor Luxury Bed and Breakfast in Cripple Creek, Colorado, served as a reminder in that in many subtle ways and places, the war between the states is still being quietly waged.
Cripple Creek, Colorado.
Quote of the day: “We all need people in our lives who take away the chill of this world with the warmth of their presence.” – Lessons Learned In Life
Daily gratitudes:
So much exercise today!
Sencha Rose Green Tea
Plane tickets
That it gets light earlier
That the cat crawls into my lap whenever I am sitting down
Finishing Pride and Prejudice
Photo title: Untouched
Cripple Creek, Colorado.
Quote of the day: “There are many things in life that will catch your eye, but only a few will catch your heart…Pursue those.” – Anonymous
Daily gratitudes:
The cooing of pigeons
Dogs with their heads out car windows, tongues flapping in the breeze
My hour-and-a-half workout today
Tidying up
A lone Canadian goose
The dog stopping to smell the flowers today, and the owner appreciating it
Ready? “A drunkard’s dream if I ever did see one….”
Since I am still under the weather with a stomach bug, we’ll take today as sort of an intermission for the trip. I will share with you a brief photographic summary of the dog competition and some outtakes from the parade.
I love how mountain towns are so dog friendly – and how dogs in mountain towns are so friendly! It’s like a giant dog park.
I know that dogs are 50/50 about being dressed up, but I know that owners are generally 80/20 in favor of doing the dressing. So of course, the first thing on the docket was the costumed dog competition:
Adorable beagle as Underdog (my favorite childhood superhero)
Another adorable beagle as Snoopy, compete with Woodstock
Jailer and inmates (the littlest boxer was just rescued from a puppy mill)
Cutie-pie Butterfly
We then moved onto the Tricks Competition:
Ridgeback High-Five
Best try at a high-five!
Getting Luvs (the trick didn't work so well)
We had the smallest dog competition:
And the winner, weighing in at 5 pounds and 3 ounces of cuteness...
And the largest dog competition. A word about this dog: he’s a Spanish Mastiff, and I WANT ONE. He was so mellow and adorable. His owner has 3 of them (there are only 100 in the US) and Kelsea and I speculated on if they have a van to ship all 3 around in.
Leon wins paws down (and they were the biggest paws I've ever seen), weighing in at 230 pounds of love.
And finally, the cutest dog competition – how can you possibly pick one? In my opinion, Leon was the cutest dog, but there were others:
One Cool Dude
Gorgeous Husky
And the winner is ... Dustmop!
We also watched the Best Beard Competition, which was sparsely attended:
Bearded Contestants
This was another “touch it and judge it” competition. And the winner is…
"Cowboy" - though that's not the name on his driver's license.
And I leave you this hot and chilly night with a random selection of fair photos and parade outtakes:
Pink Sunglasses
Walking the Goat
Bad-ass Firefighter-to-be
Blue Sky Bike
Ferrets Enfleeced
I was truly hoping that the Pug was the Mayor.
Psychotic clown - but really, is there any other kind?
Just another day with the sheriff
Charter member of the Red Hat Society
Mountain man and companions
Proud flagbearers
The Original Dogs Playing Poker
Some things are best not looked at too closely, so I wish she hadn't stood right in front of me.
Statuesque
Leon and his little mistress
And finally, proof that mountain people simply do not mince words:
Plain Speaking
Stay tuned for more tomorrow…
(All together now…”I don’t have to speak, she defends me.”)
In many ways, Donkey Derby Days is like any other small town festival. With the exception of a lot of asses. Well, maybe that’s also consistent with quite a few small town festivals.
Small Town Festival, Big City Ass (not mine)
The festivities themselves started bright and early at 10:00 am on a beautiful sunny Saturday morning, and we were right on the spot for the first event: the Hairiest Legs contest. While we were desperately hoping that there’d be some mountain women in this competition, we were disappointed. In fact, there were only a few participants. I would recommend to the organizers that this event be held later in the day, after the Beer Tent has been open for a while.
The Beer Tent In A Quiet Moment
The judge for the hairiest legs contest not only had to view them but had to stroke them. There were no wookie-worthy contestants, but the winner, Levi, did indeed have a most hirsute pair of gams.
Levi, He of the Hairiest Legs
We made our way through the street vendors, stopping on occasion to inspect their wares more closely. I saved $30 by not buying myself a dress I really wanted.
You can almost see the dress I didn't buy over there on the right...
Glass items were very popular. One gentleman was concerned that his crystals were setting the tablecloth on fire (they were).
Opaline crystals
The Air Force Academy Falconeering Club had a beautiful bird on display. Kelsea didn’t mind looking at the cadet either.
Air Force Falcon
As is common at almost every festival, someone was selling stuff from South America. Do they come all that way just for the summer? And how do they make any money?
Denizens of the Lower Realm
Mountain ladies were selling handmade soap.
Touchy Feely Soapy
We took a side detour into a couple of shops along the main drag to get out of the sun. Kelsea tried on some magnificent hats.
Napoleana
We resisted nearly uncontrollable purchasing impulses.
Seriously.
And then wandered back down to discover one of my favorite elements of any festival….. the petting zoo! Kelsea has temporarily outgrown the petting zoo. I, apparently, am experiencing my second (third? fourth?) childhood, so I was right in there with all the other 8-year olds. Let me tell you, this was some petting zoo!
We had a mini-yak.
Mini-Yak
A rather assertive and wide-bodied llama.
A One-Sided Conversation
Caution: Wide Load
A ram and numerous goats:
There was a little girl who had a little curl...
Incredibly Teeny Incredibly Cute Incredible Baby Goat
And of course, the star of the show, the donkey.
The Star in Profile
The donkeys, however, after consulting,
Consultation
Decided to be ornery and present me with their best side.
The result of the consultation.
Some of the tamer critters were providing donkey rides for the younger set.
Ready to Ride
Trying To Tip... Or Eat The Tips?
That made the poor chained-up pony rides on the hill at the “kids” part of the festival rather unnecessary. Those ponies always looks so miserable. I wish that particular form of entertainment would be banned. But we did like the giant Plinko Board.
Giant Plinko = Cool/Pony Rides = Not Cool
We filled out a survey for Santa,
Santa? We did see a sign for his house up the road...
and found ourselves the perfect parade watching spot across from Big Jim’s casino. The parade opened up with the Civil War Soldiers. Or maybe they were the Calvary. I’m not quite sure.
Parade Opener
And it consisted of queens (not the city kind):
Queen of Somewhere Way Out West
Dogs:
Happy Dog, Happy Dog
Classic cars:
An Oldie...
And a goodie.
Classic people:
Escorted Down The Avenue
Fire and rescue services (Kelsea’s favorite):
She waves at every emergency vehicle she passes (but not the po-po).
Pre-Parade Pose
Ranchers:
A long line of ranchers
Here come the cowboys... (an inappropriate song line comes to mind)
A big man needs a big horse. One big horse = check.
and Shriners.
One of many Shriners
I was so happy to FINALLY see their little cars in an actual parade.
What if we all drove these little cars? Would the world be a happier place?
Next came the event we’d ALL been waiting for: The Donkey Derby! I will say that Kelsea and I discussed participating. First we said yes, then we said no. Then we decided we needed to train so we could do it next year. Then when we realized we wanted to do it this year, it was too late.
The Long Donkey Road
Participants started up at the top of the hill by the old jail and received a set of terrifying instructions from a mountain man.
Mountain Man who provided instructions to city slickers
Donkey Chaos
Lining up (in a manner of speaking)
The more ornery local pack was gathered to offer brays of advice to their brethren as they started down the street.
Watching and Laughing
At the sound of the rifle shot (hope it was blanks or we might be one donkey or ass-puller short), they were off! Off is a relative term. Some would go and some wouldn’t.
Donkey Chaos In Motion
One poor man had to physically lift his donkey in the air to get it started after it stopped.
The newest fad - donkey hefting.
One refused to move until its bowels had done so.
Emptying the tank
And one looked as if he were about to drop dead on the spot, poor thing.
One unhappy donkey
But others were frisking along so quickly their handlers had trouble keeping up.
Does this thing come with instructions?
It was a long course, down the hill and up the hill, about a mile in all. At the end, everyone got a trophy and the donkeys got lots of noms.
Give me noms. Now.
It was quite an event, and it helped our strategic planning to see it on two different days. We saw the start and the middle and then met the tribe at the end.
Tune in tomorrow for the second day competitions and some outtake shots from the parade! I leave you with this image to shadow your dreams.
Attack of the 50-foot teenager
[If I spring a leak, she mends me....
Thanks, Cheryl - and for all of you who had the song running through your head since yesterday, well, let's keep it going.]
I know that a lot of people think of a hotel as just a place to dump their stuff and their carcasses at the end of a long day of vacation. I am not one of them. I do not need the whole 5-star treatment (though I must say that when I’ve had it, I’ve enjoyed it). But I do like to stay in comfortable, interesting, non-traditional places.
One Perfect Unconventional Place to Stay
This has led to sojourns in bug-infested rooms with cold-water showers.
One Less Than Perfect Unconventional Place To Stay
And overnights in rooms so frilly you’d think you were going to be smothered in your sleep by a rogue ruffle.
Hiding from Vicious Flounces
Up in Cripple Creek (yes, you can start singing again if you need to), I’ve found a gem of a place in Carr Manor. The town has several in-casino hotels, but as I don’t gamble, they are totally not my style. And the reviews on TripAdvisor for such places are not particularly stellar (I know we can’t always rely on TripAdvisor, but even taken with an appropriate number of grains of salt, these are pretty bad.) The B&Bs rate much better, and Carr Manor is the best.
Carr Manor (the former Cripple Creek High School)
Carr Manor is the former Cripple Creek High School. Its current owners, Gary and Wini, are a wonderful couple who moved here from California, though Wini has roots in Cripple Creek of which she was barely aware when they chose to buy the Manor. They have fixed it up, retaining many of the original features of the building, including the original chalkboards from the school in quite a few of the 14 guest rooms.
An Old School Chalkboard With New Memories
Two large upstairs rooms are used for meetings and special events. A lovely lounge area offers a big screen TV and books. Complimentary homemade cookies, sodas and water are always available. Several of the guest rooms are themed for personages who spent some time in the area (Lowell Thomas and Jack Dempsey, for example), and one is dedicated to one of the penultimate cowboys, Roy Rogers, who was Gary’s neighbor back in his days in California.
The Roy Rogers Room
The suites, particularly the two spa suites are exceptionally luxurious. Perhaps someday I’ll have the pleasure of staying in one.
The Jacuzzi Bar in the Ralph Carr Spa Suite
I’ve stayed in two of the rooms now – once this past weekend and once in February. We were in the Corner Queen this time, which was spacious with lots of light and a comfortable bed. It was a bit noisy, as we could hear people conversing on the street outside the room in the morning. The Standard Queen that I had on the 2nd floor in February was lovely as well – though the old fashioned keyholes can be a bit challenging after a cocktail or two.
Room at Carr Manor
Breakfast is fabulous, in a sunny room off an open kitchen filled with pictures of Wini and Gary and their large family, and images of the town. Our surrogate innkeepers this trip, Rex and Carla, were equally charming and exceptionally knowledgeable about local lore, to-dos, and trivia. And Carla’s a marvelous cook.
Breakfast at Carr Manor
The only thing missing from Carr Manor (at least in my opinion) is a ghost, but either you have one or you don’t, so I don’t hold that against this lovely place. Besides, Gary and Wini have bought the old Imperial Hotel and are fixing it up to be another fantastic guest house (the casino downstairs is leased and operated by another party). The hotel also was (and will be again) the home of a theatre troupe in an intimate setting down in the basement.
Downstairs and Backstage at the Imperial Hotel
Gary was kind enough to give a few of us a tour of the areas under construction in the Imperial back in February. And for the so-minded, believe me, there are several ghosts there.
Under Transformation
I know Gary had hoped to have some rooms open by now, but the best laid plans… he’s confident he’ll have six rooms open sometime this season.
The Bishop of Chicago's Former Bed - No One Is Quite Sure How It Wound Up Here
The good news is that the restaurant is open and that’s where we had dinner. That’s the unfortunate thing about casino towns – it’s hard to find a place to eat with your teenager. The Midland Depot fulfills this need nicely, with simple Italian food that will likely appeal to both children and adults.
Stained Glass In The Midland Depot Restaurant
This evening, we were serenaded by a handsome baritone playing an acoustic guitar, who was actually an almost-opera singer living here for the summer. We provided him with applause and even did the wave for him (just the two of us.) Unfortunately, we did that when he was drinking a glass of water and we made him choke.
A Happy Diner In Between Waves
Kelsea was spooked in the ladies room, and by an unfortunate woman who came around the corner when she was telling me about being spooked. I think Kelsea jumped two feet and the woman was equally startled.
Hallway to the Haunted Bathroom
We weren’t ready to go home after dinner, so we thought we’d try to find a place to shoot pool. We love shooting pool together, and for some reason, we only do so out-of-town. I think the last time we did so was up in Cheyenne last Labor Day. We found Ralf’s which boasted that it was a family friendly place – perfect! There were arcade games and shuffleboard in the front, and pool tables in the back near the small stage and the bar. The waitress said Kelsea was welcome in the bar area as long as food was being served, which was until 11:00. Well, we shot with some of the boys in the bar, who were miners and cowboys starting their weekends, until after midnight and had a fabulous time. The boys were buying me wine, dancing with both of us, and being really very jovial and gentlemanly. But as I said before, I berated myself for not being a paragon of motherhood by taking my 14-year old to a bar to shoot pool. She loved it. She said it was so comfortable and relaxing. The people were nice. She wasn’t interested in drinking or flirting. She just liked being at ease. And I think I set a good example of how to handle one’s womanly self appropriately in such a setting.
Our other dining experiences in Cripple Creek consisted of street food at the Donkey Derby (and no, no one was cooking donkey) - while there were many delicious sounding items, we settled for hot dogs -
Street Faire Food (and I use the term "food" loosely)
and of pizza at The Creek, a local restaurant that served only pizza and burgers. It was so busy in there, filled with folks in historical dress carb-loading after the parade.
Somewhere Out Of Time At The Creek
The cool juke box was signed by numerous celebrities, and the pizza lunch lasted us two days, which was helpful.
Celebrity Signatures (Or Good Forgeries)
One place I wish we’d had the hunger to try is a little spot called Crawdaddies, which I think is only a summer place. It’s out of a little house up the hill, and serves three homemade Cajun dishes daily. If you’re going up, look for it!
So, now you have the summary of how to sleep and sup in this little town. I am planning a return trip for the Cruise Above the Clouds Car Show in the Fall, and perhaps an overnight ghost investigation visit to the old jail next month. As you can tell, I really like this Cripple Creek.
Cripple Creek Skyline
Stay tuned tomorrow for the down and dirty on the Donkey Derby!
One Of Oodles Of Donkey Icons
