Colorado Springs to Black Hawk

We love the view of mountains in the morning

From our room at the Towne Place Suites in Colorado Springs this was the early morning sight:

The mountains west of Colorado Springs. Pike's Peak is hidden in clouds.

Upgrades for frequent guests who have lots of points and are senile citizens to boot

We've been treated very well on this trip. By virtue of our spending 150-200 nights each year in Marriott hotels, which makes us Platinum members in their parlance, hotel personnel tend to treat us very nicely. Here is our Towne Place Suites room in Colorado Springs:

In addition to this living area are two bedrooms and the view of the mountains shown above.

Instead of the usual free continental breakfast at the hotel, we elected to have a real day-starter and located this great diner. Since Mary F.'s maiden name is Barney, we knew it had to be good. Turns out it's an old-fashioned diner with old-fashioned meals at old-fashioned prices. To make the morning even brighter, we met there with our step-niece, Roberta Watson, daughter of the late Joanne Barney, wife of Mary F.'s brother Elmer.

For a good, hearty breakfast in Colorado Springs try Barney's Diner.

Roberta Watson and Mary Frances at Barney's Diner.

Westward to Buena Vista

As soon as we headed west on Route 24 past Pike's Peak the Sawatch Range began to come into view, across a wide and beautiful valley whose name I can't find on the map, but defines the fertile area between the Front Range and the Sawatch:

Low clouds in the distance? Nope. Snow.

Snow-topped peaks of the Sawatch Range beyond a huge fertile valley.

Snow in the mountains, warmth in the valley between the Pike National Forest and the San Isabel National Forest.

Goats, deer, buffalo and Mary Frances share the broad valley around Hartsel, Colorado.

Mount Harvand and the Sawatch Range, coming into Buena Vista, Colorado, and a buena vista it truly is:

The beautiful Ivy League Mountains of the Sawatch Range;

Columbia, Harvard, Princeton, from Route 24 near Buena Vista.

Northward to Vail

Route 24 from Buena Vista to Minturn is high, cool, sparse and beautiful:

More Mountains in the Sawatch Range on the way to Leadville.

Driving along at 10,000 feet elevation:

Some of the scenery is too good. It's important to watch the road, too.

Mounts Elbert and Massive, the two highest peaks in Colorado.

South of Red Cliff, the snow begins to get personal:

Foot-thick snow beside the road; in some places ice and snow were still in the road.

Eastward to Black Hawk:

Just north of Minturn we left the beautiful Sawatch Range and joined Route 70 through Vail and the tourist meccas of the Park Range:

Nearing the northern end of Route 24.

In the Village of Frisco, on Main Street.

More upgrades for frequent guests who have lots of points and are senile citizens to boot

Late in the day we settle into the Ameristar Casino/Hotel in Black Hawk, and our 23rd floor room is perhaps the nicest on our trip so far:

That's my last Heineken in my hand, so it's time to go downstairs and see if the Casino holds any luck for us. *

* It did. Tell you about it tomorrow.