The Tunnel is closed

It had been a few years that I had driven to Cripple Creek and it was a shock to see that the old tunnel had been closed up.

Negotiating the tunnel was one of those things you never forget. It was one way and you would carefully pull into it, honk your horn and slowly drive just around a slight curve watching whether it was clear to go on. If it wasn’t, you had to back out. You had to turn your lights on as it was long enough to be pretty dark in the middle of it.

With gambling coming to Cripple Creek and traffic increasing, the tunnel was made obsolete. It was also falling in. Hard to believe that a one lane tunnel provided the main access on Highway 67 to this historic mining town all those years.

Entering the Garden of the Gods!

Just around the bend used to be a road that took you past Kissing Camels rock and to the old visitor center. The Garden of the Gods has to be one of the most scenic/beautiful sights in the Springs.

Back in the early 1980s I drove past Garden of the Gods every day on 31st Street on my way to work at MOSTEK. One morning I realized that I hardly EVER looked at the amazing scenary just to my left. I often took the area for granted. There was a co-worker at Mostek (Berta) and her dad was the caretaker of Garden of the Gods back in the 50s and 60s…it was quite common to find arrow heads then and they had one of the largest collections which I believe was donated to one of our museums.

What a view! A great backdrop shot of Pikes Peak from the 18th fairway, from the parking lot at Patty Jewett, spring of 2004. Opening in 1898, the oldest golf course west of the Mississippi has some great scenery of the Pikes Peak region. The course is a favorite of residents.

The Mom and Pop business is an endangered species. On the corner of Palmer Park and Union are three long standing locally owned businesses. For as long as I can remember, BJ’s Velvet Freeze ice cream, the corner gas station and Leon Gessi pizza have been there. I think Velvet Freeze and the gas station go back as many as 50 years!

Last I knew, the ice cream place was now owned by a former student’s family, the Hougers. Maybe the success is in that all three of these have provided our city three necessities — pizza, gas, ice cream.

This one small corner contains so much history and memory. Maybe that explains why there are quite a number of searches for this place.

If you came here my search, say hello in the forum and tell your memory of Bj’s Velvet Freeze.

One of my very favorite pics of America’s mountain, Pikes Peak. This was shot on the first day of fall from Woodland Park by Denise Symes. (link to her photography coming.)