Kit Carson County Carousel (Burlington, CO)
Kit Carson County Carousel Wooden Token
This is the second time we have visited the Kit Carson Carousel. It sits on the edge of the Kit Carson County fairgrounds in the small town of Burlington, Colorado. The first time we visited the carousel we were driving Interstate 70 from Colorado to Kansas to visit family. We were looking for a good place to stop for a little bit and stretch our legs. It was such a neat place to visit we told other family members about it and the next time we were driving through we stopped to share the experience with them!
The carousel was #6 of the 74 carousels made by Philadelphia Toboggan Company. It was made in 1905 for the Elitch Gardens amusement park and was used until 1927. In 1928 Kit Carson County purchased the carousel for $1,200 (the price included shipping).
The carousel animals are stationary with three animals per row. The original Wurlitzer band organ has been restored and plays music when the carousel is in motion. The carousel is inside a 12 sided framed building on the edge of the fair grounds with a museum and small gift shop beside it. It is the only antique carousel that still has the original paint on both the panels and animals. Most modern carousel go approximately 8 mph, however, the Kit Carson one goes a whopping 12 mph.
The carousel has quite an interesting history. During the Great Depression the carousel spent several years in storage. They local town stored grain inside the building that housed the carousel. At one point 3 of the animals were stolen and later found in another state. It was designated a National Historic Site in 1978 and National Historic Landmark in 1987.
If you are in the area or driving through on I70 we would encourage you to stop and explore this neat carousel. It only costs 25 cents to ride the carousel and $1 to visit the museum.
Riding the Kit Carson County Carousel
Flowers at the Kit Carson Carousel
Going for another ride on the carousel!
All smiles!
Kit Carson Carousel building
Other side of the wooden token!
On the Road Again: Where Were We?
If you guessed the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri you are correct! We have actually been in St. Louis 4 times already this month. I have seen the Arch many times driving through St. Louis, but a couple years ago we actually went up in it. It is a great place to visit with some neat history. There is actually a museum in the bottom of the arch.
Did you know?
- Arch is 630 feet tall
- It is made of Steel and Concrete
- Eero Saarinen was the Finnish-American architect who designed the Arch
- From the top of the Arch on a clear day you can see up 30 miles in either direction
- Tram ride takes 4 minutes to go up and 3 minutes to go down
- There are 1,076 steps inside the arch, however, they are only used for maintenance and emergencies
- It was originally called the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial now it is the Gateway Arch National Park
- The Memorials to Thomas Jefferson, for his role in opening the West & Dred Scott who sued for his freedom in the Old Courthouse
- Directly across the Mississippi River from the Arch on the Illinois side is the Malcolm W. Martin Memorial Park where the Gateway Geyser (the tallest water fountain in the U.S.) and the Mississippi River Overlook can be found
If you are going through St. Louis, Missouri and have extra time I encourage you to check it out.
Wild Animal Adventures (Stanton, MO)
The 2 tigers were together in the pen, we got to see them interact, swim, play, and relax.
After the girls got out of Cub Creek camp in Missouri we went visited Wild Animal Adventures. It is outside of St. Louis in Stanton, Missouri. It was a smaller establishment, but the animals were well cared for. We went at busy time and their parking lot was full (they had a trailer blocking part of the parking lot which made it a little inconvenient) but after a few minutes we got a spot.
They have an indoor section with aquariums, touch tanks, birds, reptiles and more. Outside the have both farm and wild animals in different sections. The workers seemed to enjoy being there, interacted well with the animals and were happy to share stories about the animals.
Our girls did two extra interactions, playing with the foxes and the dingos. The dingos also known as “singing dogs” were tired so they were laying down and let the kids pet them. I was hoping to hear them “sing” but they were not into that while we were there. The workers allowed 4 people in at one time with the dingos. For the foxes they gave the kids “treats” aka cat food to feed to the foxes. Our two girls were the only ones other than the worker in the pen with the foxes. The foxes loved munching on the treats and were more energetic. The website lists the extra activities with a price range, however, at least one of the activities was more than their list price. They need to update their website if they are not still charging those rates.
Overall it was a fun stop for our family. The animals were fairly active and the employees were nice. If you are driving through the area it is a nice place to stop especially if you have kids that enjoy animals. We have included a sprinkling of photos from our trip to Wild Animal Adventures.
The llama had some personality.
Gorgeous colors
The kids were not interested in the pretty flowers, but I enjoyed them!
Their 3 legged white fox. He can still move quickly and nibbled up treats from the girls.
This one liked to interact and have conversations with you!
The llama was more interested in you if you had food!
Glad this one was in a cage and behind a window.
Beautiful white tiger!
Wild Animal Adventures
TrackRock Stable (Blairsville, GA)
We specifically picked Trackrock Campground as one of the places to stay so we could go to their stables. Our girls love horses. When we booked our campsite we also booked a 2 hour trail ride. They have about 65 horses on the ranch, 45 are owned by Trackrock and the other 20 are ones that people are boarding at their location.
The horses each had their own individual personalities. The trail was a little tight and steep in some places (bushes would brush up against you) and my horse, Tango, enjoyed bouncing from tree to tree. They had a lot of different trails you could ride on depending on the weather and wildlife in the area. There were bear tracks on one section of the trail and our horses were a little skittish in that area so we took another path.
We had 9 guests and 2 guides on our trail ride. We walked, trotted, and cantered with our horses. The trail went through the woods, meadows, streams and more. It was a hot day, but the majority of the ride was in the shade. At one point it started raining, however, it didn’t last very long so we didn’t get too wet. The horses were well trained yet had a lot of spunk. Thankful for the opportunity to go for our ride at Trackrock Stables. The kids LOVED it!
Karlie riding Chef
Jake on Carlos and Brina on Felipe
Enjoying the trail ride!
Our crew in one of the meadows.
Are we having fun yet!?
Trackrock Stables
TrackRock Campground (Blairsville, GA)
Our family recently had a weekend trip to the TrackRock Campgrounds in Blairsville, Georgia. We left on Friday afternoon and stayed until Sunday. The campground was very nice and well maintained. We arrived after the office closed but they had our name posted with our campsite on the bulletin board.
There was a mix of retired couples and families as well as RVs and tents at the campgrounds. The campsites had enough space and trees around them to give everyone some privacy. We stayed in campsite #10 which had full hookups (water, electricity and sewer) and as a bonus wild blueberries! They were not quite ripe yet, but there were other berries around the property and a blueberry bucket in the office so they are pretty common.
They have a lake you can fish or swim in, a couple playgrounds, hiking trails, and more. TrackRock has their own stables were you can either board your own horse or go for a ride on one of theirs. They have a variety of horse trails.
Lake with the mountains in the background.
Barn with old farm equipment around it.
My favorite peeps!
Trackrock Campgrounds, Cabins & Stables
North Georgia Zoo & Farm (Cleveland, GA)
North Georgia Zoo & Farm is a great place to visit with your family, especially if your kids enjoy animals.
That turtle and zebra have familiar faces…. Thankful that the girls still occasionally “humor” me with the cheesy pictures!
Baby goats!
This porcupine has a fantastic breakfast, look at all those fruits & veggies!
The beaver is munching on his veggies too!
Beautiful animal!
Are you sure you don’t have another treat for me!?
Albino Kangaroo napping in the shade!
Singing dog, so wanted to hear it actually sing!!!
Brina loving all the animals!
Jake and Karlie waiting for the Animal Show to start
Soft….of course the girls wanted at least one when they found out that they sale them at this location
Fascinating to watch it run awhile!
A lot softer than we expected.
Sleepy Hollow with Cedar Creek Cabins (Sautee Nacoochee, GA)
Spending some time away over Spring Break. Playing “Spot It”!
Look twin bears in our cabin!
Karlie hanging out in the loft.
Easter baskets for the girls.
Ready for another great day in the cabin!
Rib Country BBQ (Helen, GA)
On a recent family trip to Helen, Georgia we stopped at Rib Country BBQ for dinner. Their BBQ smelled delicious as we were exploring downtown Helen. The girls ate a kids Rib Basket and Jake & I had a shredded Pork BBQ. The meals were very filling and delicious barbecue.
The restaurant had a choice of indoor or outside seating. Since it was a warm evening we chose to eat outside on the deck. A band was playing during our dinner which was nice. The kids loved watching all the tubers coming down the river past the restaurant. We set on a table overlooking the river.
The kids had so much fun eating dinner and watching the tubers go down the river that they asked if we could go tubing as well. We didn’t realized they were already tubing with the water still being chilly. Most of the people going down the river were fully dressed except for their feet which most have flipflops or crocs on which made me feel better about not getting fully soaked. Plus the tubes had the bottoms in so you didn’t have to have your backside in the water the whole way which should keep us warmer.
Overall: We recommend the food, atmosphere, service, and entertainment at Rib Country BBQ. If you enjoy ribs or BBQ this is a great place to eat. The price was reasonable too.
Muller’s Famous Fried Cheese Cafe (Helen, GA)
When my husband and I were visiting Helen, Georgia we decided to try out this small family owned authentic German or Czech food cafe. We decided to try it because some of our family heritage is Czech. Since it had a lot of dairy products on the menu Jake and I went together on our last day in the area. They are known for their “fried cheese” sandwiches. We have a child who cannot have dairy so figured if we wanted to eat at this restaurant it was a good day to do it.
We had the fried cheese sandwich as an appetizer. Even as an appetizer it was pretty rich and we ended up bringing the majority of it home. If you like cheese sticks you may enjoy this treat. It was a little much for us, but tasty. Jake had a Pork Schnitzel and I had a Chicken Schnitzel. We split a bowl of Homemade Goulash Soup with Beef.
Overall: We enjoyed the service and the quietness of the cafe. The meal was richer than what we were used to eating so we could not eat much, but the food was good. We typically do not eat a lot of fried food and brought some home to eat as leftovers. If you like rich and cheesy food than you may enjoy this restaurant. They are only open a limited amount of hours some days and closed others, check their hours prior to going.*
*We would not recommend this place if you have any member of your party with a dairy allergy as they would have limited menu options.
Inside of the fried cheese and ham sandwich
Homemade Goulash soup and Chicken Schnitzel
Trambahn Card Game
Fun 2 person game!
On a recent trip Jake picked up the game called Trambahn from Mayfair Games! It was a fun 2 person game to play. I didn’t win, but had a blast playing it. It comes in a small hard box even though it is technically a card game. It is a game that you will most likely want to play on a table because the cards will be spread out throughout the game.
The game is built to reflect Munich around the end of the 19th century. Each player tries to build and expand their own tramways while new routes are being created, stations are built, and existing routes gain additional trains. The game take about 30 minutes. The rules are easy to understand and it is fun to play.
Thankful for a husband who enjoys playing board and card games as much as I do. Also, grateful for the opportunity to stop and play a game together every once in awhile. It is a fun and relaxing time together.
If you are looking for a fun, easy, two player and card game you should check this one out!
