Cripple Creek, Colorado, 1990
Bennett
A "Day" in Cripple Creek
Since arriving in Colorado Springs from Franklin Tennessee Jane and I
have had little time to enjoy some of the pleasures that this area offers.
Jane had worked for 7 straight days and we needed a day of fun together
and the place to go only an hour away was the small
Gold Mining town
of Cripple Creek.
Cripple Creek is high in Colorado Rocky Mountains and a few years ago
the state opened three small towns to Casino gambling,
one of them
being Cripple Creek.
I had always loved a day of playing in the Casino and since Jane and I
were married 2 years ago, she had come to love it just as much as me
if not more. (I made a monster is the truth)
In order to completely understand this you should know that when Jane
and I met she was a conservative level headed lady and that was sure
good to me considering the free spirit that was a big part of my personality
for over 60 years. I mention this because I have finally started
to level out a bit and become as level headed as Jane-although I doubt
that she would agree with this.
We left Colorado Springs about 1PM on a lovely July Wednesday and the
drive up Ute pass through Woodland Park was beautiful. After passing
Woodland Park there was only one small town between Cripple Creek
and us and it only took another 15 minutes to get there. The town’s name
is Divide and the turn off for Cripple Creek is there.
It only takes another ˝ hour to drive from Divide to Cripple Creek and the
mountains and valleys are spectacular on this short journey. A curvy road it
is but gentle when compared to other mountain passes in Colorado.
The sight from the top of the drive looking down into the valley that
Cripple Creek nestles in is something everyone should get an opportunity to
see. It is nearly straight downhill from the top on a switchback road but only
takes another 5 minutes or so to pass the Molly Kathleen gold mine which
signals the entrance to town.
As we entered town Jane said, “Let’s park the car at
the Midnight Rose Casino”.
I agreed (Jane was driving because I had acted like a fart yesterday and as a
result, I no longer have a car key).
I thought, “Maybe if I’m good enough today Jane will give my key back” “So I
made the pledge, I’ll be good”
Midnight Rose Hotel and Casino
I looked at my watch and it was a little after 1:30PM and said to Jane, “We have
all day to play and have fun” We were both excited about being here. It’s a fun
place to spend a day and can at times offer some very large jackpots from
its slot machines.
We started playing the nickel slot machines at the Midnight Rose and after a
couple of hours I was even and Jane had not lost much.
We decided to walk up the hill a little to the Double
Eagle casino and test our
luck there.
After you have lived on flat ground at sea level it’s a chore walking far up that
hill. Cripple Creek sits at an elevation of almost 10,000 feet and even though I
had lived in the area for 13 years I could feel it a little.
Poor Jane could really
feel it and we walked very slowly, stopping a couple of times.
Casinos in Cripple Creek are built right into the old stores from the early 1900s
and are only a few feet apart, you can go from casino to casino in a short time
and Jane and I did just that.
Double Eagle Hotel and Casino
Three casinos later we entered the Double Eagle casino and started looking for
our favorite kind of 5 cent slot machines. We each found one and played near
each other awhile moving from machine to machine but never being far away
from each other. We would win a little then lose a little and in
general stay
close to even.
I was getting hungry and by that time it was nearly 6:30 so I found Jane
and we
went across the street to Bronco Billy’s and each got one of their
50 cent hot dogs
and a soda.
We found a place to sit together and started on our hot dogs.
Jane said, let’s go
back to the Double Eagle now, I have that feeling.
(Jane gets these feelings when
we gamble) I was getting tired and also broke
and decided to finish my hot dog on
the sidewalk bench in front
of the casino and Jane went in to nourish her “feeling”.
I was almost finished eating when I saw one of the semi famous wild Burros of
Cripple Creek wandering down the middle of the street.
These originated when the
Gold miners lost them to the hills
or they just ran away. Somehow through the
decades they had multiplied
and there were hundreds of them around the gold
mining towns
of Victor and Cripple Creek.
Sitting on the bench and drawing absolutely no attention from the visitors
walking
by I decided to coax the Burro over to where I sat.
With the final remains of my
hot dog as bait I managed to get
his or her attention and the little fella had no
hesitation of finishing off my hot dog.
I patted his old nose and sent him away only to have him nudging
me for more with
his nose.
By this time I sure had some attention and the folks were
talking about how
cute the whole situation was.
I figured I had carried this far enough so I left the
bench and started into the Casino
to see how Jane was doing.
Suddenly I lurched backward. The Burro had my shirt in
his mouth
and he already had it half pulled off me.
What to do now?
Oh God! My shirt had been tucked neatly into my jeans and I felt the
top button of
my pants pop off. Good lord he had my jeans too.
These animals are known for their strength and also their tunnel vision
and I knew
I was in a bunch of trouble if he did not let go pronto.
I grabbed the door to the Casino and held on then rip!
There went my jeans and my
shirt and the Burro proudly trotted
down the middle of the street with both proudly
displayed to the laughing crowd.
How I found Jane and how we got into our Valet parked
Car is just too painful to repeat
but with any imagination,
you each can come up with the saga of that terrible time.
Warning, never, ever feed a Burro your hot dog.
© Bobby 2002
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