Vaction Day 2

Edited to add: This is part of a series. The Vacation 2016 story begins here.
I thought about not posting this until I got a comment on day 1, but since I already wrote it...

Vacation 2016 day 2

The printout for today read:

Tuesday drive 6 hours and stay 8-23 in Rodeway Inn 3975 Peoria Way Denver (two double rooms and 1 king)

Optional stop 1.Mushroom rock State Park. (adds 37 minutes total drive time) 5 acre park with a couple of big mushrooms. (directions)

Optional stop 2. St Fidelis Church (Cathedral of the plains), in the town of Victoria. (old Catholic church)

(Non)Optional stop: Burlington, Colorado Old Town Museum (entrance fees total $34) - 21 restored buildings including sod house, saloon, Emporium. (3.5 hours from Salina hotel) Exit at Burlington CO welcome center.

Comanche Crossing Museum - Strasburg, Colorado, (directions).  trains. free. grounds open til dusk.

(directions to) Sleep at Rodeway Inn. Outdoor pool.

We had breakfast in the hotel and then headed to the State Park. It was fun: our children love running and climbing on rocks. We filled up with gas in the little town before getting back on the interstate and heading west.

 

We did stop at the Catholic Cathedral, which was bigger than I expected, and in a picturesque town. We picnicked in a city park, though it was very windy and our plates kept blowing away. The children weren't quite as impressed with the stained glass as they had been with the rocks, but they got to learn a bit about different worship styles so it was a good visit as well.

 

Burlington Old Town wasn't impressive from the street, and I was already tired from the complaining about when we were going to "get there", etc, so I suggested skipping it, but Bob thought it would be nice after all, so we went on in. It was a good decision, as it was more authentic on the inside (the area visible from the parking lot was brightly painted, with manicured lawn, and just didn't have an "Old West" vibe). The children enjoyed many of the buildings, and Ruth spotted a rabbit on the grass.

It wasn't dark yet when we left, so we went across town to the Kit Carson County Carousel. That was also really cool, and only cost 25cents each.

 

We skipped the Comanche Crossing, and arrived late at our hotel, which was kind of scuzzy, but we didn't have any problems. There, Bob and I had our own room with a king-size bed, and the girls and boys each had a room with 2 beds. We didn't bother about the pool and went right to sleep.