July 9, 2026
On July 16, as we continued along Hwy 50, we made a stop at Dodge City, Kansas. We got some lunch then took a quick walk around outside. We looked at the outside of Boot Hill Museum and even went inside. There wasn’t much to see. You had to pay to get into the Wild West city. Actors refight the gunfight at the O.K. Corral on a schedule. We decided staying in the heat was not a good idea. We did stop to drive the train.
We took a moment to admire a sculpture in the median.
We got back on Hwy 50 and continued our journey. We made it to Colorado! In many ways, Colorado still feels like home.
We stopped at the small welcome center. It was really a rest stop.
The sunset was pretty as we drove along Hwy 50.
We stopped for the night at a Micotel Inn and Suites. I would not stay in the same room again.
On July 17, we got up and walked to the car to put away our luggage. The Front Range mountains were a happy sight for us.
Since we parted ways from Hwy 50 in Pueblo, Colorado, our route was I-25. We reached Colorado Springs in the morning. We could see the Cog Railway cutting a path up Pikes Peak. At least, that’s what we think the open path is.
We wanted to ride the Cog Railway up Pikes Peak. We drove through Manitou Springs to reach the railway. Since we didn’t have reservations, I bought tickets for the noon Cog Railway trip. Because it would be a while before our ride, we went to Manitou Springs to look around.
It is a very touristy town. The architecture of the town was charming, some of the buildings were grand and historic.
Bruce took a picture of me with fairy wings. Sitting down made the wings a lot easier to align.
Most of the shops didn’t open until 10:00 AM. We enjoyed our walk, looking in windows. One store was open, so we stepped in. We enjoyed looking around, then I saw a display of monsters. The artists who made our monsters, were selling their monster creations through the store. (I wish I could remember the name of the store.) We spent the rest of the morning, before we needed to leave for our ride, looking at the monsters. Bruce talked the ears off the shop owner. Then, it was time to head to the train station.
There are only two small bathrooms in the station’s waiting room. However, if you walk towards the front of the train, there are large bathrooms with almost no wait. If they put sign up in the waiting room, it would help so much.
We enjoyed the ride up to the top of Pikes Peak.
After our ride, we stopped at Miramont Castle Museum. It’s a mishmash of styles that somehow seemed to work together.
Then we joined Bruce’s nephew, his wife, and their two cute little girls at the Heart of Jerusalem in Colorado Springs. The older girl will be in first grade this year, so I gave her the first Paddington Bear book, “A Bear Called Paddington.” I hope she’ll find Paddington Bear as wonderful as I did. We had hoped to spend more time with everyone, but the toddler wasn’t having a good night. I remember when my toddler didn’t have a good night or day.
Since it was fairly early, Bruce decided to drive up to Denver, then to Westminster. Jeanne, Larry, and their kids welcomed us.
On July 18, we woke up and talked to Jeanne and Larry for a bit before we got dressed for ***’s wedding.
As my friend and his new wife walked down the aisle, he did a dip kiss. Everyone applauded. Bruce said, “***’s got style!” The wedding seemed to be between 150 to 200 people.
After the wedding, we headed over to Golden, Colorado to the Rose venue. It was a very well-planned event. The appetizers were delicious.
Once we were seated at our table with our names, the salad was waiting for us. When a table finished their salad, the salad plates were whisked away and entrées were brought in. Unlike most events, the food was fabulous.The entrée plates seemed to magically disappear when we were done eating.
After eating each table number was called out and the table members went to the dance floor. *** and his bride, knelt in front of the members and had a picture taken.
Then came the cutting of the small two-layer wedding cake. The layers were tall. The topper was a knight in shining armor and his lady. A mutual friend used his 3D printing press to print the parts for the toppers. *** and his fiancée put the toppers together and painted them. They were beautiful and looked like something they bought. For each table with cupcakes, they had a topper. The short sword (Sting from “The Hobbit”) was brought out for them to cut the cake. Once the cake was cut, guests could help themselves to the cupcakes.
I did more visiting with friends. We left as the dance floor became crowded. Bruce drove the car from the parking garage since my feet hurt from new shoes.
JAfter lunch, we headed back to Jeanne’s for some fun.
We headed to Jeanne’s to take off our finery and put it safely away. While we were gone, Jeanne made a delicious spicy ketchup. When I tasted it, I found it to be a delightful different ketchup. Jeanne and I both felt it was closer to a BBQ sauce than the familiar ketchup. It will be a great way to use up all the tomatoes I have from the garden.
On July 19, my friend ***, wanted to visit with some of us he couldn’t visit with because of all the “wedding craziness.” We had lunch at a charming Mexican restaurant. I enjoyed getting a chance to congratulate him in person. We talked for a bit and caught up.
We headed back to Jeanne’s for more fun.
While at Jeanne’s I was honored to cook with such an amazing chef. When she sliced onions like a machine, I mentioned that I would like to improve my knife skills. She was kind enough to show me how to safely use a knife
Blackberry Homestead 