Gwen in front of some of the buildings. A lot of the buildings had doors in the back allowing the kids to climb inside.
Back to Part 7!
We stopped in Denver on the way home to visit family. We also stopped at a place called Tiny Town. It dates from 1915, when some guy built 1/6 scale buildings to amuse his daughter. It was opened to the public, and became a huge tourist destination. I can remember driving past it on earlir trips as a child, but we never stopped.
Then in 1969, the creek flooded and wiped it out. The only buildings that survived were the ones on the hillside above the creek. It sat there for a couple of decades like that, then someone decided to rebuild and reopen it.
Gwen in front of some of the buildings. A lot of the buildings had doors in the
back allowing the kids to climb inside.
Here are some of the original buildings that date from the 1920s.
And they have a train ride. Here are the girls in the caboose.
Mount Evans is a 14,000-foot-plus mountain located just outside Denver. It's home to the highest paved road in North America. How high? All the way to the top.
Here are the girls and I at the sign in the parking lot. Remember that picture
at the continental divide that I said wasn't the highest altitude we reached?
There used to be a restaurant and gift shop here, but it burned down in 1979. The ruins
were stabilized later. The buildings in the background are an a observatory, no public access.
The parking lot itself is not at the actual summit. There's a trail leading there. It switches
back and forth and climbs up the extra couple of hundred feet. Here are the girls and me at the
actual summit. Notice that we have put on long pants. It was 48 degrees with a 30-mph wind.
A view of the parking lot from the summit.
You can see for miles. Click to embiggen.
We stopped at Summit Lake on the way down.
A marmot.
We also saw mountain goats.
This guy came in pretty close.
Did that idiot follow us from Yellowstone?