#23 - Kit Carson Carousel

This is another "always wanted to " adventure.  Well, I guess I haven't "always" wanted to do it, but I have wanted to do it for at least 10 years since I've been driving I-70 back and forth between Colorado and Ohio/Pennsylvania. 

On the very eastern plains of Colorado sits a town named Burlington. This part of Colorado really should be annexed by Kansas, because it is just flat plains as far as the eye can see---a whole lot of nothing.  Yet, in the midst of this nothingness along I-70 there is a sign advertising the Kit Carson Carousel.  How intriguing, a carousel out in the middle of nowhere.  I've always loved carousel horses. I even had a decorative one in the house for over 15 years. So, every time I saw the sign for the carousel I really wanted to go check it out. However, when you are in the process of a 1,200 mile drive (either barely into it heading east or almost finally done with it heading west), it seems pointless to waste time taking a ride on a merry-go-round.  So, when I first compiled a list of possibilities for my 40 adventures, I was quick to include the Kit Carson carousel. Since we wre in western Nebraska for the lake camping trip, we were able to swing south and hit Burlington on our way home. 

For those of you who have never heard of Kit Carson, he was a frontiersman/explorer guide/Indian "agent".  Burlington resides in Kit Carson County, hence the name of the carousel.

The carousel has an interesting history. For those of you who would like to read a bit about it, I recommend this website. http://kitcarsoncountycarousel.com/about.html  Here are some quick facts:

• It was built in 1905 by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company (yep, toboggan company) for Elitch Gardens amusement park in Denver.
• It is a menagerie carousel, meaning it doesn't have just horses but a vareity of animals. It is the only surviving menagerie carousel made by the PTC.
• It was purchased for $1,200 in 1928 from Elitch Gardens. The townspeople were so outraged at the \"extravagent" purchase that the political careers of the country commisioners who approved the purchase were ruined.
• The carousel is self-contained in a 12-sided building.
• After being used for a number of years at county fairs, the carousel building (with the carousel still inside) was used for grain storage. Loose grain was housed in it as if it were a silo.
• Restoration efforts began in 1979 when the carousel was declared a Historic Landmark.
• Rides cost $.25!, what a bargain!
• It is a stationary carousel, meaning the animals don't go up and down. To compensate for this lack of motion, the PTC built it to be one of the fastest carousels, topping out at a whopping 12 mph!

While I'm sure I was far more excited than the other family members, I think we all enjoyed ourselves. After all, I had never ridden on a giraffe before! 

#22 - Wakeboarding

The posting for this  entry and #23 were delayed a week due to some technical difficulties.  Both these adventures occurred last weekend. 

I was originally going to count #22 as "Lake McConaughy, Nebraska," but I decided that wakeboarding at the lake was actually a more exciting adventure.

Lake McConaughy is a huge (22 miles long) lake in western Nebraska. We have friends who camp there every summer, and this year we decided to join them.  Since our trip was rather last minute, we only had the full day of Saturday to spend there, after driving there Friday evening.  As busy at Saturday was, I'm not sure I would have survived two days on the lake! 

Our friends (and their friends---there was a group of roughy 25 people) were all very generous in sharing their water toys with us.  They had boats and jet skis, and we spent the entire day playing in the water.  While I had water skiied before (albeit about 25 years ago), I had never tried wakeboarding, so I jumped at the opportunity. For those of you who are not familiar with wakeboarding, it is essentially snowboarding on the water as you are being pulled by a boat.

I was not overly confident that I would do well, since I stink at both skateboarding and snowboarding.  So, you can imagine my pleasure and excitement when I actually make it into a semi-standing position on only my second attempt!  I probably stayed up for a whopping 3-5 seconds!  I was so excited.  Victoria was quick enough on the camera to capture my victory!

Unfortunately, my excitement was short lived as I never managed to get on my feet again.  I was so frustrated and angry at myself. However, my experience was very typical for a first timer.  Victoria, Aubrey and Hunter all gave it a whirl, and Craig tried waterskiing.  Of all of us, Hunter was the best,  managing to get on his feet twice, and I came in second.  All of us struggled with learning the proper technique for actually getting up.  That's quite common.  But, we didn't let it get our spirits down.  The kids have already decided we MUST return to the lake next year, so we'll give it another shot then.

The trip was magnificent overall.  The water termperature was perfect.  The sun shone all day (yep, we all burned despite sunblock) and we had an absolute blast. We all got to ride jet skis.  The kids had the chance to go tubing, and we enjoyed tormenting our little shih tzus in the water (yes, they CAN swim, but they just don't really enjoy it). Thanks Carla and Mark for including us in your vacation.