Country Boy Mine-Colorado

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One stop on our Colorado trip was to the Country Boy Mine in Breckenridge, CO.

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The mine is located in literally a mine. The surrounding area driving up is full of old mining areas and gravel and is pretty cool to look at. The mine has a decorative mine building and a spiraling path up to the main mine area. Some people uhem loved it so much they didn’t want to leave at the end-not naming names-threenager.

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The mine offers tours and lessons on how to pan for gold. This is an authentic Gold Mine that is out of commission but was very much in use back in the day. The mine is open free to visitors but the tour will cost you. It was well worth it though.

The area has a fun but super fast slide for kiddos and adults. An area filled with artifacts and wagons fun for taking pictures. The scenes are amazing as well.

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The tour consists of roughly 45minutes in a confined, dark, wet gold mine. They provide mandatory hard hats and raincoats and during the summer you will get wet due to melting glaciers. Pretty neat! (Selfies in the dark are hard!)

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You need to wear outdoor shoes for this one because the area you walk in the mine is narrow and wet. You learn all about mining life. It was amazing. I was however ready to walk out once we were done so if you’re not into tight dark spaces you may want to sit this one out.

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The end of the tour brought us to a building where we were taught how to pan for gold. You’re able to go out to a running stream and pan four yourself. I think we got a flake of fools gold.

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So much fun and definitely something to add to your list while visiting Colorado! You will get dirty and you will need a coat for the mine-it’s a bit chilly, even in the summer!

Tiny Town & Railroad Morrison,CO

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Our Fifty Nifty fun in the USA continues with a trip to Tiny Town in Morrison, CO. Tiny Town was actually en route back from Breckenridge to Denver for our flight home so I scheduled an hour to visit this cute little place to give my own tiny one some time to run off some energy before the flight home.

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Tiny Town is located about twenty minutes outside of Denver. Tiny Town is a town comprised of miniature buildings and homes roughly the size of a three year old with intricate details. It was adorable! Tiny Town also has miniature steam engines that you can ride on! We picked that first to ensure we got to ride. There’s stroller parking! The trains run about every half hour and take you on a tour around the town. You even get to see the original even smaller houses on the property that were built back in 1920.

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We rode the train with our hands in the air! We decided to tour the grounds on our own for the remainder of the time we had. We spied in buildings and climbed into some too. Row had a blast and pretty much refused to leave. Apparently she wasn’t feeling pictures.

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There was also a large playground-we avoided because of the not wanting to leave factor. A cute eatery with old timey umbrella tables and fun ice cream and of course a gift store. You can also bring a sack lunch and eat at the picnic tables under the shade. Plenty of free parking too, oh and super affordable. Tickets cost $5 for adults and $3 for kids and then train rides are an additional $2. You can stay as long as you like and they often run special events. Oh and they host birthday parties how fun!

Tiny Town is also not only famous for being around forever but apparently it’s the scene of Stephen King’s sequel to The Shining…. A fun little stop on your way to Denver.

Top Family Spots in Southern California

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California-no doubt about it. If you’ve been following our family travels then you are full aware of our Fifty Nifty Challenge. That’s right we set a family goal to visit all 50 states by the time our Row goes to college. It’s getting fun! We did agree to split California into Southern and Northern trips since there is just so much to do there. We snagged an airfare deal to Los Angeles and off we went!

Here are our top family spots in Southern California!

  1. Disneyland-you know you saw this one coming. You can’t visit soCal and not go to Disneyland. I carved out one day for Disneyland and sadly we didn’t get close to doing everything! I would definitely plan for two days. Disneyland is tiny if you’re used to Disney world. The castle is amazing and the churros are necessary. Make sure you stop and see Toon Town. I mapped out a list of all the events and rides only available at Disneyland and made those a priority-you’ll see them in an upcoming post.
  2. California Adventure-you have to go to both parks….especially if you’re only going once like us! It’s literally next door to Disneyland. California Adventure has a boardwalk feel with a completely cool Bugs Land and Cars Land attached. Make sure you ride the ferris wheel but I will warn you-go on the stationary one!
  1. The Chinese Theater and Walk of Fame– It’s a quick visit into Hollywood. Easy to park. Once you get on Hollywood Boulevard the stars are everywhere and oh so fun! The Chinese theater is a quick visit but seeing all those stars of days gone byes hand prints are priceless and are definitely something to do while you’re there! Oh and it’s free! There is also always some kind of event happening in that area for film releases so check it out online for the day you visit.
  2. Hollywood Sign-Come on-it’s a classic. There are many spots you can stop at while driving-we especially liked that we could find a spot on our way to the next place we were going and knocked out two bucket lists item in one visit. Keeping it real with this picture!
  3. Griffith Observatory- This one is also free. You can pay a small fee to see the show but otherwise visiting is free. The views are amazing and there are tons of cool exhibits like a Tesla coil. So many films and tv shows have used this amazing place as a set.
  4. Santa Monica Pier-It’s so much fun to drive on the boardwalk! We rode the ferris wheel, rode some kiddie rides, peered off the edge to see the Pacific and smelled the sea air. The rides are a bit pricey but it costs nothing just to walk. I highly recommend the ferris wheel!
  5. Randy’s Donuts– My husband had no idea what this place was…..shocking. It’s the place with the huge iconic donut on the top of the building! It’s right on your way back to the airport and easy to stop at as you leave. Go for the Texas Sized donut-it was amazing.

There are so many more places we could have gone! I would definitely plan on staying at least 7 days to get everything in! Happy traveling!