Our Trip to COLORADO

We thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to pack up and get away from Utah for a couple of days.

DAY 1 - September 21, 2005

Cari and I packed our gear, including Kerstin's digital camera, and the Green Family's digital video camera. We left Orem in the direction of Heber, US-40, and I-80 Eastbound for Cheyenne, WY. As luck would have it, it was very stormy during the trip, but provided for some spectacular sights of fall colors in the canyons. Once across the Utah-Wyoming border, the scenery changed to dull, boring, and flat, and reminded me very much of my mission in South Dakota.

We got to our hotel and met up with John Rimmasch at about 3:00 PM. John then took us over to his place to see Beck and his boys Ryland and Wesley. Dinner with the Rimmasch's happened at Texas Roadhouse, which was quite delicious. We then chased a west-bound hotshot out of Cheyenne (Becky drove while Cari observed four boys going nuts over a freight train.) It's the first time Cari has ever been on a train chase, so John and I taught her the art of train chasing.

Before we got too far out of town, we went back to our hotel to crash and get some much-needed rest.

DAY 2 - September 22, 2005

Cari and I made it back over to the Rimmasch place early the next morning for scones and breakfast. Also present were the Miloti (Milotas) Brent and Brian.

For the next six hours, we went over the packets for the training, followed up on decals for another project, and helped John and Becky get their laptop computers set up the way they wanted. At about 2:30 PM, we packed up and headed out for Silver Plume, CO. The Miloti drove John's truck, and John rode with us.

We reached Silver Plume at about 5:00 PM and met with Steve Torrico and others from the Georgetown Loop Railroad. We discussed what would take place for the training. It fell to me to conduct the training about railroad equipment, how to secure it, and things to watch for. Cari set up to video tape the entire training, but ran out of battery power half way into it.

At the end of the training, we said our goodbyes to John, Brent, and Brian, and headed west for Frisco, CO.

DAY 3 - September 23, 2005

Cari and I stayed in the Ramada Limited in Frisco, CO. We both decided there was one word to describe the place: GHETTO. The only redeeming quality about our cramped, tiny room was that the TV was large and placed up high to make it easy to see while laying in bed.

We got up, showered, and then drove to Silverthorne (2 miles) for breakfast at Village Inn, then came back to our room, packed up and started our journey on I-70 westbound for Utah.

Because of the autumn season, we saw some wonderful scenery as we went through the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Cari attempted to take what pictures she could from the car as we passed through Vail. (Pictures found below.)

After driving through the majestic Glenwood Canyon, Cari was in need of a bathroom break, so we stopped at the Amtrak station in Glenwood Springs. This station is also host to the small Glenwood Springs Railroad Museum. If all was according to the regular schedule, we would have been able to see the eastbound California Zephyr arrive and depart, but as luck would have it the train was on detour due to track maintenance in Colorado. We were shown around the museum. We purchased a postcard for Jayni and a children's book that looked interesting. We must have spent about an hour there, then continued on our way to Utah.

Our next stop wasn't until Green River for a dinner break at Arby's, and then in Wellington (near Price) for a fuel stop.

Upon leaving Price, Cari and I spotted a westbound coal drag that had just crested Soldier Summit, so we decided to take some time and chase it halfway down Highway 6. Since the digital camera was out of battery power, we resorted to Cari's film camera. Cari shot most of the pictures, and I'm kind of anxious to see how they turned out. If we can get them processed soon, I'll scan them in and post them on the website.

PICTURES

Beautiful Sunset at Silver Plume, CO Photo by Cari	Autumn Colors by Abandoned Mines Photo by Cari
More Pretty Colors - Vail, CO Photo by Cari	Even More Pretty Colors - Vail, CO Photo by Cari
Historic R.R. Station - Glenwood Springs, CO Photo by Mike (Sorry, no trains...)	Utah Colors - Near Soldier Summit, UT Photo by Mike
Mike Training the Firefighters - Silver Plume, CO Photo by Cari	The Guys and No. 12 - Silver Plume, CO Photo by Cari