1937 Vintage Scrapbook Road Trip, Part 8 - Eagle River Canyon, Mesa Lake & Dotsero

(for part 1, click here)

Colorado - Part 4 - Last Days in Colorado

Alden, Velma, Joan and Marilyn are making headway across the USA. They've delved into the heart of Colorado, and are making their way toward Utah. But they're not there, yet!

On the above page, our fearless scrapbooker writes, "Stopped over night at Buena Vista - 'The College Town' - because they have 3 separate mountains called Harvard, Yale and Princeton. These mountains are covered with snow."

Next to the top postcard above is written, "Eagle River Canon, Empire Zinc Mine and Gilman as seen from Battle Mountain Highway, Colorado."

Below that: "Dotsero Cutoff - 382 miles long is the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad's latest construction, connecting Dtsero, 17 miles each of Glenwood Springs, with Crested on the Moffat Road. Reduces distance 175 miles from Denver to Glenwood Springs, Salt Lake City & beyond."

On the page above, Scrapbooker Johnson has cut out pictures from a magazine or brochure of agriculture and scenery. Pictured are Mesa Lake, Fruita Canyon and Grand Junction State Junior College, plus grapes, cows and pigs. Delicious, delicious pigs...

Above is part of a Mesa Lakes Resort pamphlet pasted into the scrapbook. The resort is still there all these years later, though now called the Mesa Lake Lodge. Still offers cabins to weary travelers!

Looks like a nice place! Pictured are the smaller cabins.

The Johnsons have seen a lot in Colorado. Soon, they'll cross the border into Utah and visit Salt Lake City, which we'll get to in our next entry.

Until then, Alden, Velma, Joan and Marilyn wanted me to tell you that your postcard is in the mail!

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1937 Vintage Road Trip Scrapbook, Part 7 - Pike's Peak - Colorado

(for part 1, click here)

Colorado - Part 3 - Pike's Peak redux

Here, the Johnsons are still hanging around the Pike's Peak region of Colorado, taking in the spectacular views, the alpine air, the wildlife. It's the end of June, 1937, and I bet the air up there felt great!

The postcards below are titled Panorama of Pike's Peak and the Pike's Peak Region, Colorado and Summit House of the Pike's Peak Cog Road on Pike's Peak, Colorado. The Summit House is still there, with gift shop and restaurant. Only now, it's run by Aramark.

Our scapbooker writes, "At the very tip of Pike's Peak at an altitude of 14,109 feet stands the picturesque old Summit House, the terminus of Pike's Peak Road. Built of massive stone to withstand the fierce storms it has stood for many years to receive hundreds of thousands of visitors. Each spring it is dug out from the deep drifts. Each fall it is closed down to be buried in snow through the winter."

On the bottom half of that same page is a postcard titled Pike's Peak at Sunrise, near Colorado Springs, Colorado. The comic included says (girl) 'Oh, Daddy, there's the famous Cog-Railway car. I wish we had come up on it. You must be tired from that drive. (Dad) 'Not at all.' Again, I'm not sure of the name of the comic, so if you know, let me know!

On the next page is a receipt for the copy of the Pike's Peak Daily News that I mentioned in before. 25-cents. Perhaps the pages are a little out of order in the scrapbook, since they had been at Pike's Peak a few pages back, and are there again. Or maybe they were in the area a few days, and revisited.

The Johnson's have reached the Continental Divide. The cartoon below says, (girl) ' Oh, Dad, is it true that we're actually at the Continental Divide?' (Dad) 'Yes, Chubbins, we're at the roof of the continent. On one side, water flows to the Pacific Ocean, and on the other to the Atlantic.'

Okay...Chubbins? Really?

On the bottom half of that page, our notorious scrapbooker writes, "Tennessee Pass is the most important pass in the center of the state, with a road so well constructed that the Continental Divide can be surmounted in high gear. Thru the winter it is usually the only northern pass kept open for travel. The pass itself is but a few feet higher than the city of Leadville - most famous mining camp which lies about ten miles below it."

The postcard below is titled Looking East from the Summit of Tennessee Pass, Altitude 10,240 ft.

In the cartoon, Dad is telling his daughter, 'Now Chubbins, we're almost two miles above sea-level. See that lightening? There's a thunderstorm in the valley. But up here on Flattop we look down on it while the sun shines.'

Though I'm sure the Johnson family were having a wonderful time, poor Chubbins' teenage years became riddled with low self-esteem and a poor body image.

Now onto part 8!

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1937 Vintage Road Trip Scrapbook, Part 6 - Cave of the Winds

(for part 1, click here)

Colorado - Part 2, Cave of the Winds

It is the third week of June, 1937. Alden, Velma, Joan and Marilyn have made it to the Rockies in Colorado, having visited the State Capitol in Denver, the Garden of the  Gods and Glenwood Canyon. They're probably still acclimatizing to the mountain altitude. But it's still the first main leg of their journey, and excitement is at a high point.

There next stop in Colorado is Cave of the Winds. Here is also where we start to see the scrapbooker's commentary in her own handwriting.

The Cave of the Winds brochure states "Nature through the ages of patient handiwork has furnished this mile of mysteries that see no day."

Underneath the brochure, the scrapbooker wrote "The Valley of Dreams is a recently discovered section. This portion of the cave is noted for its highly colored walls, beautiful stalactites, stalagmites and columns. The direct lighting serves to bring out the natural beauty of the cavern."

In the next column of the page is handwritten, "A new section in the Cave of the Winds was opened in 1935. Its title, The Valley of Dreams, was suggested by verse: 'Dreams of Mountains, as in their sleep they brood on things eternal.'"

That verse was inspired by the Grand Canyon, but I cannot find who wrote it. Sounds very Lovecraftian, though, doesn't it?

Handwritten on the top of the next page above a postcard titled "The Shafts and Cathedral Spires, Cave of the Winds, Manitou, Colorado" is "Cave of the Winds is one of the geological miracles of the Rocky Mountains. It is 'Nature's Dark Room' in which have developed beautiful tinted walls, rare crystallized forms of exquisite flowing alabaster and immense carbonate stalactites, all forms that are at once wonderful and beautiful."

It's hard to say whether the scribe in the Johnson family is cribbing this from other brochures or not. If not, she's quite a writer!

Over the next postcard, titled "Old Maids Kitchen, Cave of the Winds, Manitou, Colo" is handwritten, "About the year 1914 someone placed a hairpin in the Old Maid's Kitchen with the wish that it might bring them a husband. The thousands you now see have all been left by visitors, presumably old maids. Within a year they were supposed to have success in marriage. If they had success in marriage they would come back and put a safety pin in it. A funny sight."

It's hard to tell by the postcard above, but the dark patches that look almost like blankets are actually linked safety pins flowing over the rocks. I wonder if that tradition is still held to this day?

Next page of the scrapbook:

The top black and white photo is titled "The Stratton Pueblo Mineral Spring, Manitou Springs, Colorado." It is still there, looking much the same as it did back then.

Under that is the brochure for the Johnson's overnight accomodations at the Okla-Texa Court. Funny, since it is located in neither Oklahoma nor Texas. I don't believe this place still exists, but it gets a mention in an interesting article called Happy Trails via Westworld.com.

The next few pages of the scrapbook are still in Colorado, and we'll get to those in the next entry!

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1937 Vintage Road Trip Scrapbook, Part 5 - Colorado

(for part 1, click here)

Colorado - Part 1

Alden, Velma, Joan and Marilyn Johnson entered the northeast corner of Colorado in the last half of June, the kids perhaps seeing the Rocky Mountains for the first time in their lives. I grew up in Minnesota, as did the Johnson kids, and I remember seeing the Rockies for the first time. I wonder if it was the same for them. Did father Alden or mother Velma see them first through the windshield of the LaSalle, pointing to them in the distance, saying, "Look, kids - the Rockies!" Did Joan and Marilyn's eyes widen, jaws drop a bit like mine when I first saw them?

The air feels different in the mountains. It feels cleaner. Fresher. Did their ears pop as they climbed in elevation? Did they grip the door handles tight as they drove close to the edge of mountain switchbacks?

From the next page of the scrapbook, there are postcards of the Chief Hosa Lodge and the State Capitol in Denver. Located in Genesee Park, the Chief Hosa Lodge opened in 1918 and boasted "America's first motor-camping area." It was designed by Jacques Benedict, built of timber and stone from the surrounding area. He named it after a Southern Arapaho leader. Like Shady Bend, this place also boasted its own bison herd, some of which were transported from Yellowstone in 1914. The lodge and bison herd are still there.

The Denver State Capitol is still there, too. Its dome is plated with actual gold. One of its steps is measured to be exactly a mile above sea level:

This picture obviously NOT from the scrapbook!

The next postcard in the album is labeled 'Famous Scenic Glenwood Canyon':

Glenwood Canyon is a sixteen mile stretch of Rocky Mountain goodness complete with bears, coyotes, marmots, bighorn sheep and other critters. In the early 1990s, the roadway of the canyon went through an extensive redesign, adding two more lanes, more visitor centers, and other amenities. Though a clean bathroom is always appreciated, I envy the Johnsons and others who traveled the canyon before it was so modernized.

The next page of the Johnson scrapbook is dedicated to Balanced Rock located in the Garden of the Gods. Apparently Balanced Rock, while still there, has since been cemented into place.

I am unfamiliar with the comic strip below the postcard. If anyone knows the name of it, let me know!

Turning the page...we have a natural rock formation called "Kissing Camels" - the top postcard of the three below. Kind of hard to tell from the picture, but the camels are locking lips on the top ridge, near the middle. This formation is also located in the Garden of the Gods - not to be confused with the Compost Heap of the Lesser Minions.

The two postcards below that take us into Williams Canyon in Manitou, Colorado. Manitou is also home to Cave of the Winds, which we'll get to in Part 6.

One cool thing inserted into the scrapbook is a copy of The Pike's Peak Daily News, "Official Newspaper" of the "Manitou and Pikes Peak Railway." What I love about it is all of the ads inside for different lodges, restaurants and nite clubs in the area. Here's a sampling (with my notes on their fates in parenthesis):

The Shirley-Savoy Hotel in Denver - rates starting at $2 daily. (eventually razed in the 1960s)

Milt's Cafe and Bar (not sure, but there's now a Milt's Coffee Shop in the area)

Silver Shield Nite Club - "Dance on the Largest Cushioned Floor in the West." (no longer there)

Casa Motor Court (no longer there)

Cliff House Tap Room (no longer there)

All-States Cottage Camp (no longer there)

Sundance Inn (may be now the Sundance Mountain Lodge?)

Woodbine Lodge (burned down in 1945, but now location of the Woodbine Ecology Center)

Tom Boy Inn (last mention I could find was in a 1980 newspaper announcement)

Wayside Inn (might be this one?)

The Broadmoor Hotel (this has been there since 1871 and is still there!)

Oxford Hotel (been there since 1891 and is still there!)

Rodeo Cottage Court (no longer there)

Hughes Rotisserie (no longer there)

Columbine Inn (there's one in Estes, but not sure if it's the same one)

And there, in a section of the paper called "Arrivals at Pikes Peak" on June 20th, 1937, we find Joan and Marilyn Johnson from St. Paul.

I found this tidbit at www.explore-old-west-colorado.com: 

"The Pikes Peak Daily News had a building that took names of passengers on their way up the mountain and by the time they were on their return trip, the paper had been published with their names in it."

The Pikes Peak Cog Railway still exists today and can be taken to the top of Pikes Peak.

The Johnsons saw a lot in Colorado, and we'll get to more, including Cave of the  Winds, more Pikes Peak and the Continental Divide in Part 6!

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