Donkey Derby Days in Cripple Creek, CO

Our day started out with one of my least favorite trip occurrences - August waking up when Chris is getting ready to leave around 5:00am. He woke up fussy and didn't resume his nighttime sleep until 7:00am. That two hour stretch sure isn't pretty for either of us! I was glad that at least he wasn't up for the day though.

We stayed at the Hospitality House & RV Park, a most unique place. It was built to be a hospital and at one point was converted to a guesthouse. We were in the RV park, but were told we could look around the house as much as we wanted. All of the rooms are themed, "Convalescent", "Maternity", "Surgery" and so on. There were lots of antique hospital items around as well. It is beautiful, different, and a little spooky. Some of the rooms would creep me out to stay the night in I think!

When we heard that Donkey Derby Days were going on this weekend, Auggie and I knew we had to stay in town a little longer than we normally do before taking off. Chris convinced the guesthouse staff to let me park the RV there until the afternoon so that we could see the donkey races. We took the shuttle to the center of town to take in the festivities. I am falling in love with shuttles and wishing every town had them!

First off we watched the parade. August particularly enjoyed the horses and the bands. My favorite was probably the Colorado Victorian Society and their full costumes. We had some time between it and the races, so we walked around checking stuff out.

There was a little petting zoo full of goats and August had a good time petting them. He definitely feels that the softer and fluffier the goat/dog/cat is, the better. One of the goats was a little hungry and started nibbling his shirt, he was not sure what to think about that!

Finally, after some delay from schedule, the donkey race started. I had no idea what to expect from this. Donkey Derby Days are a throwback to the donkey culture in Cripple Creek. During the gold rush many of the 25,000 residents had them, and afterwards when many of them moved away they simply left the donkeys. Because of that, there is a population of wild donkeys there still today. These are used for the races.

About 15 donkeys were in the race, each accompanied by a person. They don't even put barriers between the spectators and the race. The donkey/human team has to run to five different stations and complete a task at each one. "Kiss a Purdy Girl" was one of them, for example. It was definitely humorous to watch.

After the race was over we hurried back to RV to get going. August was long overdue for his nap and I was eager to head to our next destination, Breckenridge, for a layover day. The drive was, in a word, stunning. The Rocky Mountains are so majestic, and driving through the alpine meadows with their wildflowers and the mountains in the background was quite a view. We got into town at just about the same time as Chris. August was wearing his Donkey Derby souvenirs, a new hat and a maraca. They were very happy to be reunited!