Help Me Choose a Destination / Edit: Destintaion Chosen

[OkieFlyer]

Scratch that, we're early.

Thanks for the directions, Nate.

 

[Mtns2Skies]

I'll be a bit late. Morrison traffic.

 

[murphey]

No worries.

Hey since you've never been there. Th airport entrance road is off of Peoria. Once you turn in on it, it'll bend left and up a little hill and you'll be looking straight at the control tower.

There will be buildings on your right. As the buildings move far away from the road to the west (right - big parking lot) that's where you'll want to go.

Restaurant is upstairs from Denver Jet Center. Second floor. Look for their sign or PL signs.

On the entrance road if you got past the big Mayo Aviation building on the right or the hotel on the left, you've gone too far. Easiest way back is to go into the holding pattern (roundabout) directly around the control tower to reverse course and back to the middle of the entrance road.

I'll post inside directions once we know where they sit us. I also have a present for you. I'm wearing my monkey race t-shirt.

And I'm running very late....just finished grading papers and lost track of time.

 

[OkieFlyer]

We went ahead and and took a seat. By the window between the bar and the F-18 parked on the ramp.

 

[Everskyward]

Clark and Mari are walking up. We were waiting outside.

 

[Flymeariver]

Going to provide a group picture for those of us far far away to see the CO folks?

 

[denverpilot]

Since @eman1200 didn't give @OkieFlyer a shirt, we made sure he got some monkey underwear. Haha.

His lovely wife obviously wants nothing to do with this. LOL.

 

[eman1200]

dude...............I got all of Chapter 1 a shirt, haven't heard one shirt story or seen 1 shirt pic. no, wait, I think 6er had a shirt pic at The Kosh. oh, and denver got a few peckeration pics. I can send everyone more peckerations. if I'm gonna send EVERYONE a monkey shirt I'm gonna have to have a bake sale to pay for it......maybe if I sell a bunch of cupcakes I can cover the cost. wait, cupcakes aint worth sh@#, nevermind.

so what gives, y'all are having a get-together?

 

[denverpilot]

dude...............I got all of Chapter 1 a shirt, haven't heard one shirt story or seen 1 shirt pic. no, wait, I think 6er had a shirt pic at The Kosh. oh, and denver got a few peckeration pics. I can send everyone more peckerations. if I'm gonna send EVERYONE a monkey shirt I'm gonna have to have a bake sale to pay for it......maybe if I sell a bunch of cupcakes I can cover the cost. wait, cupcakes aint worth sh@#, nevermind.

so what gives, y'all are having a get-together?

I was in @SixPapaCharlie 'a photo but the shirt was still in Denver. I owe you a shirt pic. Ha.

@OkieFlyer came to CO for vacation so we all met for dinner. But everyone else is camera shy. LOL.

 

[OkieFlyer]

Um, we were jacking our jaws so much, I forgot to take a pic. I guess that means it never happened

But seriously, I had a great time with all you Coloradoans, and soon to be Californian.
@Everskyward
@Clark1961
@murphey
@denverpilot
@Mtns2Skies
Thank you all for taking the time to come and hang with us. Hope I wasn't too much of a disappointment. Y'all are all great peeps in my book. Hope I see ya 'round sometime.

 

[denverpilot]

By the way I forgot to mention that @ejensen sent his regards. I caught up with him via separate means other than POA and he was already booked for something else tonight.

I was hoping to see his Bronco airplane. I like the little orange and blue and white thing. It's neat.

 

[denverpilot]

By the way @Clark1961 and @Everskyward -- you guys said you were waiting outside and I parked right next to Clark's wheels (nice Sunday driver by the way Clark... whistle...) when we got there not knowing it was Clark's.

So I was wondering... were y'all over near the Jet Center door and we went in that newly renovated "back way" on the Mayo side? Heh.

 

[Everskyward]

By the way @Clark1961 and @Everskyward -- you guys said you were waiting outside and I parked right next to Clark's wheels (nice Sunday driver by the way Clark... whistle...) when we got there not knowing it was Clark's.

So I was wondering... were y'all over near the Jet Center door and we went in that newly renovated "back way" on the Mayo side? Heh.

We were at the "back door" but we could see anyone who would have gone in the main JetCenter entrance. I got there after Clark and parked across the aisle from him but at that point he was sitting in his car.

 

[Ted]

The Colorado PoAers are a great group, much like the Texas PoAers.

Well, I suppose there's yet to be a PoAer region that I don't like.

But I like the Colorado folks.

 

[denverpilot]

We were at the "back door" but we could see anyone who would have gone in the main JetCenter entrance. I got there after Clark and parked across the aisle from him but at that point he was sitting in his car.

Ha. So weird. We had to have walked right by one of you since his car was there when we pulled in.

Haha. Aliens!

 

[Everskyward]

Ha. So weird. We had to have walked right by one of you since his car was there when we pulled in.

Haha. Aliens!

He might have been up in the restaurant asking about the reservation. He came back down when they told him there was no reservation for "Nate" or "POA". Maybe you used different entrances.

 

[denverpilot]

He might have been up in the restaurant asking about the reservation. He came back down when they told him there was no reservation for "Nate" or "POA". Maybe you used different entrances.

LOL. And the reservation they confirmed twice to me was under both Nate and Pilots of America. LOL.

 

[denverpilot]

The Colorado PoAers are a great group, much like the Texas PoAers.

Well, I suppose there's yet to be a PoAer region that I don't like.

But I like the Colorado folks.

Me: Wonders what Ted wants. Because I know we aren't that nice. Haha.

 

[Clark1961]

Ha. So weird. We had to have walked right by one of you since his car was there when we pulled in.

Haha. Aliens!

I'm thinking I was ogling the f18 from the fence when youse guys arrived.

 

[OkieFlyer]

Me: Wonders what Ted wants. Because I know we aren't that nice. Haha.

I think he just has really low standards.

 

[Ted]

Me: Wonders what Ted wants. Because I know we aren't that nice. Haha.

I never said all of you and I never referred to you by name.

 

[denverpilot]

I never said all of you and I never referred to you by name.

See. A man's got to know his limitations. Confirmed! Haha.

 

[OkieFlyer]

BTW, in case anybody gives a hoot, we made it back safely. Dang, I wished we had flown.

 

[Everskyward]

BTW, in case anybody gives a hoot, we made it back safely. Dang, I wished we had flown.

What did you end up doing besides visiting with us? I heard you mention the Air Force Academy.

 

[OkieFlyer]

What did you end up doing besides visiting with us? I heard you mention the Air Force Academy.

We drove up on Friday, and got in to town kind of late. Just had time to eat dinner and go to bed.

Saturday, we drove up to Cripple Creek. Took a tour in the Mollie Kathleen gold mine, which was totally awesome! For those that aren't aware, the Mollie Kathleen Mine is a hard rock mine that goes as deep as 1000 ft. below the surface into solid granite. You descend into the mine straight down in a steel cage on a cable. You get to walk through the mine passages with a guide and learn all about how the mining was done from the beginning up through more modern times. Many pieces of original equipment are still down there, and the guide even operates some of the old steam drills, shovels, and even a little steam train. Really cool.

From there we took a beautiful drive up over Wilkerson Pass down into South Park, which may be my new favorite place on planet Earth, then up to Fairplay, CO. Had lunch in Fairplay at a rustic little café, which was really good. Then, since I'm a big fan of the Discovery series Gold Rush, we snooped around and looked for one of the gold mine claims featured on the show. We found it. Then we drove down to see how close we could get before security or production crew told us to scram. Well, the security guard we ran into told us to hang around and visit with the cast and crew, so we did that. We ended up having a nice, lengthy conversation with a number of the cast and crew as they were wrapping up filming for the day. While some may not appreciate that, it was a really cool deal for me.

Then, on the way back toward Colorado Springs, we drove up Pikes Peak. We were in the clouds up near the top, and I had to clean out my shorts afterward. Then back to the Hotel.

Got up Sunday morning early and went to the Garden of the Gods dressed in our Sunday best, then went to church. After church services, we took a tour of the U.S. Olympic Training Center. Got to see a few Olympic athletes in training while we toured the facilities. After that, we drove up to the Air Force Academy. What a beautiful campus it is. Then headed up to Centennial to meet you fine folks.

We didn't have a lot of time, but we thoroughly enjoyed the mini vacation. I've spent lots of time in Colorado over the years, but I'm always able to find something new to see every time I visit. I even enjoy revisiting places I've been before. It's a pretty grand place. Thank you again for spending a little time with us. Meeting you folks was a nice ending to our little trip.

 

[denverpilot]

From there we took a beautiful drive up over Wilkerson Pass down into South Park, which may be my new favorite place on planet Earth, then up to Fairplay, CO.

Love the mine tours. If you ever make it up to Silverton, visit the Mayflower mill and associated mine if you like such stuff. Unbelievable how hard those folks worked. Ride the Durango & Silverton steam train up or down one-way, your pick. They'll bus you back, or up there to save on it being a really long trip if you go both directions.

You probably also caught that my dad used to have property outside of Fairplay. That area is one of my faves in CO, of course. My old boss who got me started in tech just retired and bought a house up there. We tried to convince dad to sell us his cabin up there too, but he was right -- second homes in very rural areas means a lot of DIY and you spend half your time at them working on them. He did for decades. He didn't want us to buy it. Knew we were too busy.

Wilkerson Pass is also an awesome drive -- not that bad to fly over either. ;-)

My mom's mom's side of the family homesteaded in South Park. Great grandmother on that side. Late 1800s. Still have some antiques from her and when they lived there. Half a mile to a natural spring for water every day... even in Winter. Tried to ranch up there. Didn't go so well. They moved to northern CO. Tough people. I've read that through that side of the family we qualify for Colorado "Pioneer" license plates, but don't really have any intention of getting them.

Interestingly grandfather's brother on mom's side and grandfather both came here from Illinois. One ended up a railroad telegrapher (grandfather) and the other built or maintained most of the roads you drive on up in the mountains, especially Cripple Creek area, he drove a State snowplow up there for over 30 years, but they weren't here early enough to qualify for the Pioneer plates.

That branch of the family ended up eventually settling mostly in Estes Park and were all early members of the Fire Department up there. One of his kids is still on the Board. When the matriarch of that branch died, the entire FD put on a formal FD funeral for her. Estes has changed a lot since we visited them as kids. But still nice.

Dad also has property later in his life in Steamboat. If you haven't done that area and North Park... and you like South Park... you might find another "favorite". Very different in Winter though. Nasty cold up there but beautiful. That property rightly passed back to his ex-wife which was the right thing to do, but that one was a real heartbreaker. I'd love to have kept that place.

Yeah... even though I grew up "down here" in cowtown, I don't have much deep love for it. Real Colorado isn't here on the overcrowded Front Range. Mostly stay near it for civilization for Karen and of course, IT jobs are a tad more plentiful in the city. LOL. Got as far out of it as we could while still being able to commute and barely have high speed internet. Hahaha.

Glad y'all had a good time. We weren't kidding that the guest room is always open. You guys were more than welcome to come on out to where there's no street lights and crash... feel free to holler if you're visiting again.

The only downside is we're a long way from anywhere, but the drives to get "there" are pretty nice as long as it's not the dead of winter and even then, if the plows have cleared the roads, it ain't bad.

I need to get up in the rocks. Airplane or four wheeler. It's been too long.