For the holidays this year, we decided to ditch the usual traditions and travel to the Desert Southwest, specifically to Tombstone, Arizona. If nothing else, it would be warmer than Minnesota! We had many other adventures, grim and otherwise and caught up with some dear friends a long the way. As always, the Minnesota Roadhounds accompanied us.
We decided to split up the long drive from Minnesota to Colorado by staying in Lincoln, Nebraska. Our favorite place to stay in that area is the Countryside Suites, which is conveniently located and close to everything, specifically one of our favorite fast food eating establishments, King Kong!
King Kong comes by the name honestly, with giant burgers fit for a beast. We usually end up with the meat sweats after dining here but since it’s only occasionally, it’s worth it.
The next day we drove to the Boulder, Colorado area. We stopped by our favorite recreational dispensary in the state, The Farm and spent the night at the La Quinta in Louisville, a suburb which unfortunately was recently devastated by wildfire. Boulder has always been one of our favorite places in Colorado and this tragedy wasn’t made any easier by the fact that it happened right around the holidays. To donate to relief efforts for this community and other communities affected by the Marshall fire, please visit The Denver 7 Wildfire Relief Fund.
Como Cemetery
The next morning, our first stop would be at the Como Cemetery in Como, Colorado. Located in Colorado’s high country of Park County. Como is for all practical purposes, a lightly populated, unincorporated ghost town. The cemetery is located right outside of the town off Boreas Pass Road.
Como Cemetery was beautiful and eerie, set off in the woods among the aspen trees. It was very cold and had recently snowed the day we were there. There were some interesting graves there, including those of persons unfortunately murdered at a School Board meeting long ago. There was also a colorfully decorated grave of a local pilot and even an open grave awaiting burial. At one point, the EMF meter we were carrying went off, very near the open grave site.
Fairplay – South Park City
After we bid Como Cemetery farewell, we headed back onto Highway 285 to the town of Fairplay, Colorado. Fairplay is the town inspiration behind the show “South Park”, whose creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone grew up in Colorado. We were there to visit South Park City, which is a reconstructed mining town from the Gold and Silver Rushes of the 1850’s through the 1880’s. Unfortunately, South Park City is closed in the winter but we have visited this place before and it is a very well-preserved treasure trove of Old West and mining history.
UFO Watchtower
Our next stop would be at another place we’ve spent time at, The UFO Watchtower in Hooper, Colorado. Located in the San Luis valley with the Sangre De Cristo mountains in the background, this is easily one of the most scenic valleys in Colorado. This time when we went to the Watchtower, the gift shop was not open and no one was around, including at the modest campground located there. We spent a little time visiting the tower and vortex and taking photos and then were on our way again.
Great Sand Dunes National Park
Our first National Park on this trip would be the Great Sand Dunes National Park. This park is located only 50 miles from the UFO Watchtower and we had also visited this previously when in the area. This is one of the few dog friendly parks in the National Park system. We did a quick stop to take some pics and take in the scenery but couldn’t stay long because we had just completed a long day and had the whole trip ahead of us still. This is a place we are planning on coming back to in our camper, splitting time between here and the extraterrestrial charms of the UFO Watchtower campground.
Stay tuned for Part II of our journey!