Annie Oakley

by

Georgetown Loop Railroad with Zeb and Soapy Smith Duck

Soapy Smith Duck and I, Zeb the Duck, took our moms to Georgetown, Colorado to ride the narrow gauge train.

Georgetown Loop Railroad

Georgetown Loop Railroad

We live about 40 minutes away and it was a beautiful, sunny Colorado day.   It was Buffalo Bill Days at the railroad.    This is a great chalk picture of Annie Oakley.

Annie Oakley in chalk

Annie Oakley in chalk

And, of course, here is a silhouette of Buffalo Bill.

Buffalo Bill

Buffalo Bill in chalk

Jeff was there helping people pan for gold.   We are watching and helping Soapy’s mom with gold panning.

Panning for gold

Panning for gold

She found some gold.

We found gold!

We found gold!

Then she panned for gems.

Panning for gems. Pan has wider ridges

Panning for gems.

This is fun.   The Georgetown Loop Train leaves from Devil’s Gate Station in Georgetown.

Devil's Gate Station at Georgetown, Colorado

Devil’s Gate Station at Georgetown, Colorado

We like riding this train.

On the train

On the train

When you drive in the mountains, the roads have switch backs, so you do not drive straight up. The train tracks do similar looping and turning, to reduce the uphill grade to about 4%.   We will cross Clear Creek four times to arrive at Silver Plume.

Clear Creek

Clear Creek

This is one of the bridges we will cross.

We will be up there soon

We will be up there soon

In the late 1800’s this was a great engineering accomplishment.   Soapy’s mom with a wild west character.

Soapy's mom and conductor

Soapy’s mom and conductor

We arrived at Silver Plume station.

Arrival at Silver Plume Station

Arrival at Silver Plume Station

Some passengers got off and others got on here.   We got off for a few minutes to purchase snacks and then back on the train.   We love being in our Colorado Rocky Mountains.

Love riding in Colorado's Rocky Mountains

Love riding in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains

Now Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley sit with Soapy, Zeb and Soapy’s mom.

With Annie Oakley and Buffalo Bill

With Annie Oakley and Buffalo Bill

Here is another view of the front of our train.

Our train is heading back

Our train is heading back

We are approaching Devil’s Gate Station, our starting and ending point.   We liked these musicians, and they like the Colorado Traveling Ducks.

We like these musicians

We like these musicians

When you are in Colorado, we hope you ride this train or one of our other narrow gauge trains. Have fun and do some tourist things in your home town also.   We had fun today.

Advertisement
by

Western Kansas with Zeb, Soapy Smith and JB Duck

Ducks, let’s get in the car.   Those are some of our favorite words.  Driving east on I-70 from Denver, we passed Limon and Burlington and entered Kansas.

We are entering Kansas

We are entering Kansas

Naturally the first stop was the Kansas Welcome Center for travel information.

Let's find out what to see

Let’s find out what to see

The wind was strong here.   Our next stop was Goodland, Kansas to see the Van Gogh.   A huge, 80 foot tall, reproduction of Vincent Van Gogh’s “Three Sunflowers in a Vase”, on an easel stands tall in Goodland.

Replica of Van Gogh's Three Sunflowers in a Vase

Replica of Van Gogh’s Three Sunflowers in a Vase

The reproduction was painted by a Canadian artist, Cameron Cross.   If you are on I-70 in western Kansas, you should stop in Goodland to see this.   Continuing east we took Exit 70 to Oakley, Kansas.   As you may guess, this was the home of Annie Oakley, originally Annie Moses.    We stopped at the Buffalo Bill Cultural Center.

Buffalo Bill Cultural Center

Buffalo Bill Cultural Center

The big attraction here is the statue on a hill.

Buffalo Bill and a Buffalo

Buffalo Bill and a Buffalo

Buffalo Bill and a buffalo.   Inside, the Colorado Traveling Ducks, sat on the head of a buffalo.

Colorado Traveling Ducks sitting on a buffalo's head

Colorado Traveling Ducks sitting on a buffalo’s head

We believe this was our first buffalo sitting.   Buffalos are big.   So far, Kansas was all farmland.

Kansas farm

Kansas farm

We headed south on Hwy 83 toward Oklahoma, and soon we saw pumping oil wells.

Pumping oil wells

Pumping oil wells

Turning off the highway onto dirt roads, we were heading for Monument Rocks.   We liked this view of the road.   There are not many trees, but these two near a river bed formed an arch over the road.

We like the trees over the road

We like the trees over the road

Suddenly we spotted the Monument Rocks, also known as the Chalk Pyramids of Kansas.

Monument Rocks

Monument Rocks

The 70 foot tall sedimentary formations of the Niobrara Chalk were created 80 million years ago when Kansas was a vast inland sea.   We parked and walked around some of the chalk pyramids.   They are really big and we are really small.   Mom had to be careful where we sat.   The wind blew us away a few times.

We are in this photo

We are in this photo

We love arches.   We three ducks are on the ground on the right side of the arch.

Colorado Traveling Ducks on right side of arch

Colorado Traveling Ducks on right side of arch

If you look closely, you can see us.   These Monument Rocks, or Chalk Pyramids were the first to be designated as a National Natural Landmark by the US Department of the Interior.   These Chalk Pyramids are on private rangeland but the owner opened the land to the public.   The Chalk Pyramids are fragile, and humans are asked not to climb on them.   The Monument Rocks, or Chalk Pyramids are on both sides of this dirt road.

Monuments Rocks or Chalk Pyramids of Kansas

Monuments Rocks or Chalk Pyramids of Kansas    Mom is experimenting with the panorama feature on the camera.

We think these formations, about 27 miles south of I-70 are worth the time to leave the interstate and see some of what Kansas has to offer.   When you are in Kansas, be prepared for lots of wind.