Hooray…….Zip Lining. Today we had no problem getting up and getting going. We actually got the van packed and we pulled out of the hotel parking lot early. I guess we were a little excited. We had a 9:30 zip line tour scheduled. After a little confusion our guides Ben and Riley came and got us at around 9:50. They took us over to an area where we got geared up and they immediately started cracking jokes with us. We instantly liked them.

We got into our harnesses with a lot of help from Ben and Riley and secured our helmets and piled into a van to make the 10 minute drive to the course. Our van was driven by a nice young man referred to as Chainsaw. We had a fun ride with the staff cracking jokes and Chainsaw driving really really fast. Apparently he was in a hurry for us to start our adventure.

We arrived on site and had our lesson and most importantly learned how to break and how to not trip over our gear. We set off on our two short practice runs and were already having a great time. Now that we are professional zippers we are ready for the course which consists of 11 runs including 1702 foot zip and a side by side racing zip. We had a blast. I have never seen Ray smile so much. We jumped off Cliffs, taught our guides to cooooooey, and raced around the mountain side. Lesley never quite got the hang of breaking so it was entertaining watching her come in for a landing. The guides were great and helped her stop without crashing.

At the end of the course we found ourselves standing on a 70 foot tall platform with only one way down. Repel. Ben and Riley once again gave us a quick lesson and we leaned over the side and jumped off. It was a great way to end the tour. We all piled back into the van and once again put our faith in Chainsaw to get us back to base. We were all in the van yelling coooooey and chanting Aussie, Aussie, Aussie….Oi, Oi, Oi. When a guy named Chainsaw thinks you're crazy, you are definitely doing it right!

We said goodbye to our guides and purchased the zip drive with the pictures Brandon took of us and headed out to find a good place for our picnic lunch. The Royal Gorge is nearby and we were hoping to go there and see the bridge. Unfortunately there was a large fire last month and most of the park was closed off so we couldn't get in for a close view. We ate our lunch and decided to head out to our next destination.

This morning my old Nikon bit the dust. We had been babying it for the last few days and had hoped that it would make it until we got home. Sadly it died just before the zip line experience. Ray has been interested in buying a computer while he was in the States so we decided to head back to Canon City to see if we could find a laptop and a camera. We stopped at Office Depot and they had exactly what we were looking for and on sale. Ray bought us a new Nikon to thank us for the hospitality and for planning the trip. So very generous. I will think of my Aussie friends every time I use it and I use my cameras a lot.

Eric found a back way for us to travel from Canon City to Cripple Creek. Not Surprising. Eric likes the road less traveled and we have all enjoy his choices. We started off and he announced we would be taking the scenic route. Very shortly after we turned onto Eric’s choice of road, the pavement ran ended. We drove for about 30 miles on the dirt track through Phantom Canyon. It was gorgeous and we all enjoyed the scenery.

On our drive we stopped to read the historical signs about the old railway that used to travel the canyon. We saw a Utility truck that almost drove off the road and had to be pulled back by a tow truck. We got stuck behind mega movers working a coal mine and drove through the dying little town of Victor.

We arrived in Cripple Creek which is a small gambling town and checked into our cottage. It is once again amazing. We are on the hill above town looking out over the valley. I guess you could say we are "up on Cripple Creek."

I cooked Shrimp Fajitas for dinner. We watched the sunset from our deck and then we walked to town to see the casinos. Town was dead. After Eric and I lost $4.10 and Lesley and Ray winning $5 at Video Poker we decided to head back to the cottage. We had our own game of Texas Hold Em. We couldn’t find poker chips so we played for scrabble tiles, connect four pieces and match sticks. Eric won but more importantly we laughed and enjoyed each others company.

What an amazing day.