A Journey to the Unknown (Sunday, August 21st, 2016)

I awoke this morning to packed suit cases and breakfast waiting for me, so I asked Steve what was going on.  He said he had a surprise planned for me and that I should get ready to go. He said that I should plan on being gone over-night.  So like any good wife would do, I got ready as quick as I could, and off we went.  

Our first stop was McDonalds for a couple of hot coffees, and then we continued up highway 6 through Clear Creek Canyon.  It is always such a scenic drive that I just sat back, relaxed and enjoyed the views!   Highway 6 eventually runs into I-70 West, and we continued on our way to some unknown location.  We kept climbing higher and higher into the beautiful Rocky Mountains. The aspen groves with their white trunks stood out on the mountain sides.

As we went through West Vail, we saw a couple of parasailers to the south of us.

The mountains of Colorado can be quite unforgiving, and trucker's let their brakes get too hot, they fail, and have to use the run-away truck ramps.  That's a bad day no matter how you look at it.



Then we continued onto a stretch of highway where we often see bald eagles.  Since I didn't have any idea what the plan for the day was, I asked Steve if we could take a little time to see if we could get a picture of a bald eagle.  So of course, he humored me and pulled off the highway in Gypsum.  After exiting, we headed back east through the Gypsum Wildlife Refuge.  We spent about an hour driving through and taking pictures, but to my dismay, there were no bald eagles to be seen.  But it is such a pretty place, I really wasn't disappointed at all.  

So back on the highway we went, continuing west. As we headed through Glenwood Canyon, we enjoyed the sights of the huge rocky cliffs, overhanging the Colorado River below.

The canyon is so narrow in places, that much of the highway had to be stacked in order to accommodate two lanes for the increased traffic. If you look closely you can see the east bound lanes below us.

When we hit the town of Glenwood Springs, I was starting to suspect where we might be going, but I just kept to myself to see how it all played out.

Our first stop was an old cemetery in Glenwood Springs called the Linwood Cemetery.  It is the final resting place for both Doc Holliday and Kid Curry.  Steve said that although it would be fun to see their graves, the reviews said that the views on the way up to the cemetery were as good as the cemetery itself.  So we decided to take the short hike to see it all.

We decided to do a big loop instead of coming and going the same way, so our climb up was via the maintenance road.  It had some nice views of north Glenwood Springs.  

We looked around the cemetery for awhile at many of the old graves that are located there.  

And then we went looking for the grave of Doc Holliday.  He is best know for his part in the shoot out at OK Coral.  The interesting thing about Doc Holliday is that he died in a hospital in Glenwood Springs of tuberculosis, with no money to his name.  He lived from August 14, 1851 to November 8, 1887.  He is buried somewhere in the cemetery, probably in the Potter's Field, but no one really knows where.  

After leaving Doc Holliday's memorial, with the flag standing nearby, we stumbled upon the grave of a girl who died in 1912, at the age of twelve.  We were intrigued to see that there was still a doll and stuffed animals adorning her grave.

Next we came to the section of the cemetery call the Potters Field. As the picture below explains, the potters field is where the "unbefriended" are buried.  It is where many of the communities poorer residents are buried, as well as visitors to the area and known people that may have drown in the river.

In the Potter's Field section of the cemetery, we also found the grave of Kid Curry.  He was a famous train robber in Colorado.  After robbing the No.5 Denver and Rio Grande train, he and his accomplices were surrounded by a posse and a shootout ensued.  Kid Curry was shot, and ended up taking his own life to keep from being arrested.

Most of the other people buried in the Potter's Field are known only by a number.  They have only a small metal marker distinguishing their graves, most of which are now unreadable. The grave below now lies right in the middle of the path, marked only by rocks surrounding the metal marker.

As we made our way down the western trail, there we beautiful views of Glenwood Springs in all directions as we descended back to our car.

The Historic Hotel Colorado in the background

When we left the cemetery, we made a quick stop to check out a new hot springs that our friends had told us about.  It is called Iron Mountain Hot Springs, and has about 15 different hot tubs all kept at slightly different temperatures, two of which are reflexology pools with stones in the bottom, and a larger family pool.  It is $25 per person per day, with in and out privileges. They serve food and drinks, including alcohol, so the only things that are allowed in are water and gatorade.  We think we might give this a try tomorrow.

After we left the hot springs, we got back on I-70 and continued west to the town of Silt.  This is where I thought we might be going.  

There is a little Holiday Inn Express on the South side of the highway that our friend Dawn recommended to us several years ago.  I just love it!  It's not fancy, it is just a normal Holiday Inn Express, but the back of the hotel faces the Colorado River, with many room on the south side having either a balcony or patio that overlooks the river.  

Steve and I don't usually stay in super nice hotels, since our goal when we're traveling is to spend as little time in the hotel as possible, but this little gem is the exception. But I guess the caveat is that we still don't spend much time in the hotel, we spend it on the porch or balcony.  It is such a relaxing place, watching the river and the wildlife that call it home.



We headed into Silt for lunch, and upon the recommendation of the hotel manger, we ate at a little place downtown called Thai Chili Bistro.  We shared a chicken green curry and garlic pork.  Both were very good.  Something we didn't expect in such a small town.







They brought us fried wonton strips with sweet and sauce sauce for starters, then we had the choice of hot and sour or egg drop soup. We both had the hot and sour, which was a little different than we are used to, but very good.  





Then back to the hotel for an afternoon of relaxation!







And this is why we stay here.  The river is literally right outside our door.

Just down the road from the hotel is this silly silo with a tree growing out of it.

We enjoy just being outside in this area, and today the weather is gorgeous!

The view from the patio outside the breakfast room.

After lunch, we spent our afternoon at the hotel, sitting in the grass outside our room, under a tree in the shade.  It was so relaxing and peaceful!  The thing that seemed strange to Steve and I is that we didn't see anyone else outside all day.  There were a few kids in the indoor pool, but that was it.  We have this incredibly beautiful setting, and we were the only two people outside enjoying it. Kinda weird.

As evening approached, we headed inside to get ready for dinner. Steve had made us a reservation at my favorite restaurant in Silt, called the Miners Claim.  It has a casual atmosphere,but we decided to dress up a little bit for the occasion.  

They are famous for their steaks and martinis.  Sunday night at the Miner's Claim is also all you can eat crab legs, but that would mean we would have to forego the steak, so that's a tough choice.

Each entree comes with bread and soup or salad, and we really enjoy their salads, so that is usually what we order, but the soup of the day today is seafood chowder and our waitress Kim assured us that it's really good.  So we both ordered the chowder.  

We both started with a martini, which is their drink specialty. Most martini on the menu are about $8. Steve ordered a dirty vodka martini, which was not on the menu, and to our surprise, it ended up costing more than the specialty martinis on the menu.  His was $10, which was fine, but just surprising.  I had a caramel apple martini, which was to die for.



Steve had their nightly steak special which was blackened ribeye with grilled onions and peppers and I had the new york strip with a mushroom and onion kettle.  They did not leave us disappointed! When Steve called to make our reservation, he had let them know that it was my birthday, so Kim finished our meal with a complimentary hot lava cake, complete with a candle.  It was so good!

As we finished our dessert, we asked Kim if the fire pit was going and she said that if it wasn't, it would be by the time we got out there, so we each ordered one more martini to enjoy by the fire pit. Steve had a chocolate raspberry and I had a butter baby, which was basically butterscotch and baileys.  YUM!  We moved out to the fire pit, where one other couple was sitting.  They were also from the Denver area and we really enjoyed talking to them.  When they left, Steve and I were alone by the fire pit, but all of the waiters came by to say hi and talk for a few minutes.  This seems to be a tradition at the Miners Claim.  They are all so friendly, and we really enjoy our time talking with them. Several of the wait staff, including Kim, have kids that will be starting college soon, so it was fun to get their perspective on being the parents of soon to be college students. Pam, one of the waitresses that we really like wasn't there tonight because she was delivering one of her kids to college.  

After dinner we headed back to the hotel to get a good nights sleep in preparation for tomorrow.