Ouray, CO - Silverton, CO - Salida, CO - Colorado Springs, CO - Central City, CO

 August 3 - 10, 2026

On Monday, August 3 we did a day trip from the campground to Ouray, to Silverton and back.  This is a view of downtown Ouray.

We drove the Million Dollar Highway.  We've heard that it's no big deal, or that it's really scary.  There were a couple of drop offs that went down what seemed like a thousand feet with no guardrails, but for the most part it wasn't too bad.  That being said I wouldn't really want to pull the 5th over it if we didn't have to.

A view from the highway.

We had lunch in Silverton at Lacey Rose Saloon. They're known for their prime rib french dip sandwiches so that's what I had.  It was really good!

Afterwards we went to the Mayflower Gold Mill and did the self-guided tour.  I won't even claim to understand everything I saw as it was all on such a huge scale.  We've seen gold mines, but never really a mill where they take the ore and process it except small operations.

From the mill the ore was carried across the valley from the mine near the top of the mountain on the left.

Ore bucket.

Men sat in the ore buckets or the chairs like the one below to "get to work" in the mine.  What a commute!

Chair used to take miners from mill to mine and back.  I don't think this one is OSHA approved.  :-)

Custom ore chutes.

Balls were used in the grinding process to crush the ore into smaller pieces.

This was the 'floor' we were walking on.

This with added water broke down the ore some more and if it wasn't fine enough it was sent back to the top to go through again.

In these bins they would float off different kinds of ore:  gold, silver, copper, lead, etc.

I've seen these used to separate gold, but I've never seen one so big.

This is the size I've usually seen.

These pictures were not all of the ones I took, as there were others that documented the whole process.  John could explain it all but not me.

The mill.  If you're in the area it's a good tour to take and we enjoyed it.

Some pictures of the road back to Ouray.

On Wednesday, August 5 we went to Garden of the Gods RV Resort.  It was full hookups for $79.55 per night.  Our site was between two trees and that kept the trailer a bit cooler.  It was a nice park except for the road noise.  The last day we were there John fixed some delamination on the passenger side slide.  It was pretty much just flapping in the wind, but now it's solid.

We took the Pikes Peak Cog Railway to the top of Pikes Peak.  There are 156 turns and no guardrails on the road up to the top so we decided get up the easier way.

Some views on the way up and at the top.

It's hard to see but if you click on the picture and enlarge it you can see the cog rails going up the mountain.

Our train at the top.

They only gave us 40 minutes at the top, which was barely time to eat lunch and use the restrooms.

Views on the way back down.

After we were finished we went to Garden of the Gods.

Balanced Rock

Yes, we fit between the rocks on the road.

Some views in the park.

On Saturday, August 5 we went to Denver West/Central City KOA in Central City, CO.

We have full hookups for $102.35 per night.  John wanted a cement pad to do some repair work on.  It really is a nice site.

Sunday quite a few people left, and this morning (Tuesday) a lot more left.

This is our current problem.  The welds on the back of the 5th wheel are broken.  They didn't do a very good job of welding them in the first place.  Now we're trying to find someone at our next stop to weld them until we can get to Affinity RV in Goshen, IN to finish the job and put the side skirts (behind the slides) back on.
The other thing we had here is that the washer/dryer combo started flashing lights when it was drying.  John pulled it out last night and vacuumed out the lint hose and got as much out as he could.  I called Splendide this morning and they emailed what to do about it to fix it.  John got that working this morning and now is back out there working on taking the other skirt off and taking pictures of more broken welds.  Life on the road is not always fun and sightseeing.  But we know that the Lord has it under control and has it all planned out.  We're just waiting for Him to tell us!

Tomorrow we'll be...

Roving on...

Lord, You have been our dwelling (refuge) place in all generations.
 Before the mountains were brought forth,
Or ever You had formed the earth and the world,
Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
Isaiah 90:1-2

Bridgeport, CA - Lone Pine, CA - Skyforest, CA - Las Vegas, NV - Parowan, UT - Green River, UT - Olathe, CO

 July 23 - August 2, 2026

It's been awhile since my last blog so this will be long one, but we have either been busy or traveling.

We left Bridgeport, CA on Thursday, July 23 and headed for Lone Pine, CA.

While we were there we went to the Museum of Western Film History.  A lot of films were shot in the nearby Alabama Hills (more on that later).  They gave us a brochure with a map of the museum.  If you're in the area it's worth the stop.

Old cameras.

Several movies were made nearby with John Wayne.

This is the jacket he wore in Rooster Cogburn.

Who remembers watching The Lone Ranger?

After we were finished at the museum we drove a few miles away to the Alabama Hills.

This is the same view as the scene from the movie above.

More Alabama Hills.

By this time it was getting hot so we decided to go up to Mount Whitney Portal for lunch.

The Mount Whitney Trail intersects with the Sierra Crest Trail at an elevation of 13,645'.

The lady at the museum told us about the store with a cafe, so we each got a hamburger.  They were so big we could have easy split one.  They had some picnic tables outside and we enjoyed the trees and shade.  While waiting for our food I was talking with a young man who said he had started hiking in Yosemite three days before.  It took us a good portion of a day just to drive the same distance.

It was a LOT cooler up there!

View of the valley on the way back down the mountain.

Our next stop was Cerro Gordo.  We stumbled on a YouTube channel about Brent, who bought a ghost town and has been restoring and exploring it.  It's not far from Lone Pine so we decided to explore it for ourselves.  The road up is 7.2 miles of one lane, steep dirt road, and it climbs almost 5,000' in those 7.2 miles.

Silver deposits were discovered by Mexican prospectors in the mid-1860s.  Cerro Gordo was once a thriving mining town in the late 1860s through the 1870s. It was the largest producer of silver and lead in California, and supplied the wealth that built Los Angeles  Several thousand people lived there and nearly every flat spot once held a building of some sort.  From the mid-1860s to 1938 the mines produced approximately: 36,000 tons of lead, 12,000 tons of zinc, 4.41 million Troy ounces of silver, 286 tons of copper, and 2,010 Troy ounces of gold.

Valley view from Cerro Gordo.

The Hoist House, which they still use today.  We got the extra tour to visit this building.

Not a good picture, but this mine shaft goes down about 1,200'.  The tunnels add up to about 26 miles, going in all directions.  Brent has explored as much as he can get to and it's sometimes a little scary to watch him.

If you ever watch the videos, this is where Brent does assaying and chemistry experiments.

The hoist has been converted from steam, to electric, to hydraulic.  Keep in mind this is how Brent gets in and out of that mine shaft.

The town of Cerro Gordo from the hoist house.

View of Death Valley from the hill above Cerro Gordo.

What's left of a tram trestle.

More mine works.

Belshaw House.

Assay Office.

The new American Hotel.  They were going to restore the original one but it burned down in 2020 so they are rebuilding it.  You can imagine that it wouldn't be easy to get supplies and workers up there but they manage.  They're still waiting for permits to move forward.

We were almost finished and saw Brent walking by so asked him if we could do a selfie.  He was as nice in person as in his videos.

The church.

View of part of the road going back down the mountain.

This was our view on the way back to the campground.  We saw so many different views of God's handiwork today.

We stayed at Boulder Creek RV Resort just south of Lone Pine for two nights.  It was a large campground, and an oasis in the desert.  We had full hookups for $83.13 per night.  There really aren't any other options.  It was hot there - over 100 degrees so the air conditioners and swamp coolers were on all the time.

We left Lone Pine on Saturday, July 25 and went to SkyPark Camp and RV Resort for three nights.  It's halfway to Big Bear Lake, where I originally looked for a campground but wasn't able to find anything.  The Lord knew better than I did because the road just up to Skyforest was no joke.  We came down I-15 and took Hwy. 138 which we should not have done.  There were 10 mph hairpin curves where the truck took up the oncoming lane.  Thankfully no one was coming down each time that happened.  We found out later that we should have kept going south and picked up another road that was a four lane road.  Needless to say we didn't go back the way we came.  We had full hookups for $92.33 per night.

The best part is that Joanne, my high school friend and maid of honor in our wedding, lives nearby and was able to come up for a couple of days.  It was so much fun seeing her again as it's been seven years.  We both went to high school nearby and I lived in the Los Angeles and San Bernardino area most of my growing up years, so it was familiar to me.

We had a pretty sunset the first night.

Joanne and I went to the shops on Lake Arrowhead but we didn't buy anything.

It was nice enough to sit outside and enjoy the cooler weather.

Bye Joanne. :-(

View of the road going back down, overlooking the San Bernardino valley.

Have you ever heard of this town off of I-15?  It's for real.

We left CA on Tuesday, July 28, briefly passed through AZ, and entered NV.

We stayed at the Oasis Las Vegas RV Resort for two nights.  This one was really a resort and not just a campground.  They had a security guy before you get inside, they gave me a booklet that was 12 pages long of rules and regulations, and I had to sign and initial about seven different things.  But I got the Passport American 50% off rate of $50.82 per night for full hookups.  Once again the temperature was over 100 degrees and we were glad to have the a/c.  We were only there for two nights, and spent the day doing errands, two of which were the fun ones - Sew Yeah Quilt Store and See's Candies.

We left on Thursday, July 30.  Here are some pictures of the views along the way.  We weren't too far from Bryce Canyon National Park. 

Our stop for the night was Painted Hills RV Resort in Parowan, UT.  It was $65.71 for full hookups.  I didn't get any pictures because it was a long day and once again it was hot, but it was a nice campground.  We just stayed in with a swamp cooler each on us to keep cool.  The a/c's were running full blast and as usual it was still well into the night before it cooled off.

On Friday, July 31 we stayed at Green River KOA Journey in Green River, UT for one night.  It was $68.88 per night for full hookups.  Once again, it was over 100 degrees and we planted the swamp coolers in front of us.

Saturday, August 1 we arrived at Uncompahgre River RV Park in Olathe, CO for three nights.  It's full hookups for $93.78 per night.  Although it's still pretty hot here (upper 90s) there are lots of trees that make it feel cooler.

We have some plans for tomorrow and then we'll be...

Roving on...

 Of old You laid the foundation of the earth,
And the heavens are the work of Your hands.
 They will perish, but You will endure;
Yes, they will all grow old like a garment;
Like a cloak You will change them,
And they will be changed.
 But You are the same,
And Your years will have no end.
Psalm 102:25-27