ESTES PARK

MONDAY, 6th JUNE.

The plan for today was to drive from Georgetown to Estes Park, with stops whenever and wherever we felt the inclination.  Our first such stop was in Idaho Springs, simply because what we could see of the town from I-70 looked interesting.  Founded in 1859, the town is the site of the first significant discovery of the Colorado Gold Rush, and today the city continues to preserve and celebrate its rich heritage.  We enjoyed a leisurely stroll up and down Miner Street, quiet at first but by the time we left, extremely busy with people poring into the many cafes and restaurants and a heavy build up of traffic.  After a visit to the Heritage Museum we continued on our journey, leaving I-70 a few miles down the road to head north.
Our next 'stop' was actually a drive through and a total surprise to us...the town of Black Hawk incorporated in 1864 as one of Colorado's first cities and was a milling centre for the gold ore mined throughout the region.  In 1991 a ballot measure passed allowing limited-stakes gaming and today, the city generates over 84% of Colorado's gaming revenue.  We counted at least 20 casinos as we drove through the town and although there were hundreds of cars in the car parks, there were very few people about...I guess they were busy gambling in the casinos. 
We stopped for lunch in Nederland, a town with a history rich in both mining and music.  In the late 1960s, hippies began moving in and a vibrant music scene soon followed.  Nearby Caribou Ranch Recording Studio opened in 1971 and recordings by Elton John, Michael Jackson, Billy Joel, Rod Stewart and many others have become legendary.  A fellow diner struck up a conversation with us and told us about the Carousel of Happiness, a magical menagerie featuring 56 whimsical handcarved animals on a restored 1910 Looff carousel, all the work of a Vietnam veteran who needed a new purpose in life and who dedicated his life's work to his two good friends who never came home.  At $1 a ride, great value!
By this time the weather was beginning to turn a little nasty so we carried on, hoping to beat the rain to Estes Park.  We made a brief stop at St Catherine's Church at Camp Malo on the Rock, chatting to and having a photo taken with a group of Apache Indians.  After a very pretty drive, and a most enjoyable day, we arrived in Estes Park in the rain, to be greeted by large deposits of hailstones on the roadsides and on the roofs.  We're hoping for fine weather tomorrow for our visit to the Rocky Mountain National Park, just a few miles down the road.