It was about 12:30 & all were getting tolerably hungry when Honk! Honk! And here came Hattie, Clara & two boys, Billy & Russell. "Caracoles"! [Spanish for “snails”] and we were not looking for them until tomorrow! Well, we began getting dinner in earnest then. We girls washed the dishes, while Pops, Mama & the company sat in the shade and rested for, of course, the clouds had cleared away and the sun shone down most uncomfortably.
After the dishes were done, Papa, Clara, Chas, Fred, Annabelle, Nora & I went over to an old mine around the bend & across the stream. Hattie & Iva staid with Mama at camp. The walls at the door of the mine were caved in a bit & we crawled in past it. Clara was afraid to go in, but Papa had the searchlight & she ventured in after all of us, to see a large hole which had caved in & water was in it. All but Annabelle & Clara went on back in the mine. My, how cold & damp it was! Our voices echoed & it sounded very weird & queer! Then we came to the end – the miners had given it up as no good, so we turned around & came back. There was another section leading off from the entrance but we were afraid of it –It was just like the other anyway! We came back & threw rocks in the stream. Ann & Hoppy (Nora)went back to camp but the rest of us went on over the mountain, above “shelter house” & up over the big mtn. to find columbines & locate “big rock”. Chas wearied & turned back home. The rest of us four continued. We gathered rocks & flowers for relics & remembrances & rested along the way. We searched the mtn. over for the big rock which we could see from camp but to no avail. Then we started back, Papa helping Clara down & leaving Fred & me to come down by ourselves. [telling, isn’t it] I found the "big rock" way down below us & we went down &climbed up on it & waved at the ones below, at camp. After a while, we started down and Fred & I beat Pops down. We gathered an armload of wood and with that & our rocks & cactus, we went home. Hattie laughed at Clara’s flowers! Annabelle & Nora were there, all cleaned up and already to go with Hattie to Denver. I had planned to go but now it was too late. Before they left we ate a watermelon they brot & then they left. Chas ran to catch them & go with them. I washed the dishes, made beds & I wrote some letters to Ingersols & Wella and then we went to bed.

August 1, Friday: A beautiful morning, clear but pretty cool. Mama wanted some washing done. !Sin novedad! So we put out a small washing. About 10 the Coca Cola wagon came by & left us a box of pop! (The Texaco man continues to go by & wave to us.) About 11:00 Papa & Mama went up to Wuebbenhorst’s cabin for dinner & a visit. The boys & Billy fixed up their dinner and went down toward Starbuck & Ann & I ate our dinner. We just started when here came Lou, Olga, Hattie , 2boys, Clara, etc. We made sandwiches & ate dinner and Lou’s went on up to Wuebbenhorst’s cabin “Uneeda rest” The rest lay on cots, grass in shade and rested & slept. A pretty dry afternoon. Soon all came home & we ate the water melon, looked at pictures & then they all went home. We planned our trip for the next week & Papa struck out for Denver to see Lou before he went to work. He staid all night there. We began arranging our grub box, clothes, etc. but night overtook us ere we finished so we ceased for a good nights rest. “Well for crying out loud!”

August. 2, Saturday: We began packing in earnest now. I sorted clothes and cans all morning. When Papa came we were half done and after dinner we were all ready to go. Annabelle and I rode in the coupe, the rest in the truck. We reached Lookout Mountain without trouble or accident about sundown. We ate a supper and then went over to view the sight of Denver and go through the museum. We came back ready to go to Denver but it was dark and I didn't want to go down after dark. We finally decided to stay and looked for and found a camping place for the night. All were ready for bed when we decided to run over to the Lookout and see Denver by night. I put on Nora's coat over my pajamas, for she and Ann wouldn't go. It was a wonderful sight. We saw the burning oil well south of Wellington, about 12 mi. south of the Wyoming line. Then we went back and went to bed.

• Caribou City was organized in Sept, 1870 & by spring, 1871 had over 400 people. There were no "shady ladies" as the town fathers booted them to the town of Cardinal. For President Grant's visit to Central City in 1882, silver bricks were sent from Caribou to line the walkway to the Teller House. The 70# silver bars were used because gold was felt to be too common for such an important person. In 1876, silver ore from Caribou was displayed in the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition. Caribou suffered 2 major fires - in September, 1879 from which it rebuilt, and again in 1899, when most of the downtown area was destroyed. It was not rebuilt. By 1880 the population dwindled to 549, by 1900 only 44 remained. The last resident died in 1944.

August 5, Tuesday: We got up rather early again and Papa gave us a bawling out for not beating Mama out of bed and getting the fire built. Ann and I dressed hurriedly and ran over to the car. Talk about cold! There was a north wind blowing and it wasn't warm! Breakfast of pancakes, biscuits around the blazing cook stove and we were ready to leave before 9:00. Charles tightened the brakes, which had to be loosened and adjusted later, and I took a picture of the car with snowy mountains in the background. We met a car and wagon with four horses and had a hard time to pass them. Then the car got to going fast and Papa couldn't hold it, ran into a bank to get it stopped! How it scared us, for what a very narrow escape it was. The car came within an inch of tipping over. The brake bands were burned out. All but Papa and Charles walked down the mountain to the road below, and soon here came Papa, coming down on compression as he should have been doing. Arrived in Boulder okay at 11:00. We drove on through Longmont and arrived at Cheyenne and out to the campground north of town. Ate a cold supper, made beds, set up the tent and watched the large search light at the airmail station. Then to bed.

August 6, Wednesday: Annabelle woke me up this morning by grabbing her corset and banging it around her in such haste. I asked her what's her hurry, but no answer and I went back to sleep. A few minutes later and I heard Elizabeth's voice!!! and -- I awakened and also dressed! How glad we were to see her! She had come about 10:00 last night, went to bed, and slept all night right close to our tent. We ate breakfast of sausage which Aimie had given us and then Eli and Papa went downtown. The boys tore up the car again to grind valves and fix the burned brakes. They got it all fixed without Papa's help before dark. Elizabeth brought back some salts which she and Annabelle took before dinner. I cut and shingled Nora's, Annabelle's, Betty's, Grace's, and Thelma's hair. Nora cut the boy's hair. Annabelle cut mine and then I washed my hair and put Vaseline on it. It took a long time to get this done besides cooking meals, etc. Just as we were thru here came Hattie & Clara. After much persuasion we got Mama & Papa to go in to supper with them while we kids packed the car & got our supper.
After this was done, we drove down to Hattie's and they were just eating. I played a few pieces on the piano, then Betty, Grace, Annabelle and I jumped in the coupe and tore down the Mentz Motor Co., leaving Nora frowning in the front door. Grace staid in the car & Eliz, Ann & I went in. A woman asked us what we wanted and we told her we wanted to know the price of the fixings on the Overland Sedan that had been bro’t in & fixed July 25, Friday, the last day of the “Frontier Days”. She told a man in the office & he said “Yes, a tall, old-like man bro’t it in didn’t he?” “Yes” we told him; so he looked thru all his records looking for it. I told Eliz what the people of the Mentz Garage said & did when they saw “Mr. Platt” coming (knowing who he was & why he was coming) and the simp said “Huh?” –so I repeated and the people in the office heard me -but they all burst out laughing (and I was embarrassed cause we had tried to keep it a secret) The Man said ”Oh, I beg your pardon” but he just roared and laughed- Gee! I’d spilt all the beans! In a few minutes he found it and it was$34.43!!! Then we got in the car & rode around a little, talking about the car cost and wondering why Papa never told us about it. Just as we were returning we met Hattie & Co. I got in and we all went looking at the sights. We rode around the city and out to Ft. Russell, then back to the airmail service. Watched aeroplanes land and go up, talked to an aviator asking him if he would take us up, but he only said that he would just give us his plane and let us have it. We watched them awhile and then we came back home, made our beds, and after Hattie played some pieces on the piano and sang some songs we took a good bath and went to bed.

August 7, Thursday: We prepare to leave for Denver – Packed the car, etc. planning to leave Papa & Nora (for he was sick with the headache) with the coupe. Eliz & all the rest of us would go in the truck, but Harvey wanted us to see the Lions Den- the Boy Scouts Lodge East of Cheyenne, so we bo’t some pressed ham, bread, salad dressing, etc. made sandwiches, lemonade & started about 10:00. I drove Eliz’s coupe with her and Ann in it and Harvey, Hattie, Billy, and 2 boys in their sedan, We got there about 1:30 & after climbing the rocks- they were so mammoth & wonderful- we ate dinner under the pine trees with large rocks around us. The chipmunks came up and ate the crumbs which we left. Hattie was greatly affected by the elevation and once couldn’t even speak. What a good dinner and the lemonade was grand! Then I climbed the rocks –thru great cracks and crevices and down under them –over balancing ones, etc. It was great –but my shoes surely got thin! Soon we left and going by a large lake, Hattie fainted clear away! But what a good visit we had with Elizabeth- we went quite slowly & got home way after the rest did. They were ready to go to Denver, so we did very little preparing- grabbed our things & left- leaving Nora, Papa & Eliz’s coupe- about 4:00. On the large hill South of Cheyenne the car would hardly pull at all –all we could do to get up it, and when we did, the boys (after great gobs and oodles of growling & fighting) fixed the clutch and the oil dufunny under the car. Then we got in the car & it just went fine! We just buzzed along. At a little filling station north of Ault we got gas, and south of Ault about a mile, we camped at a beautiful little place by an irrigating ditch and under large cottonwood trees. I made beds all by myself -some hunted milk and the rest got supper which we ate by moonlight & campfire. We were quite tired and so went to bed, but those cottonwood trees! How they rattled & shook -& trains going by! But we lived and finally slept through it all!

August 8, Friday: 5:20 found us up making beds, & cooking breakfast but it was 8:30 before we backed out on the road & left for Greeley and Denver. I can now work the Warford [?] very easily & I like it, too. Elizabeth sat with me in the front seat & we talked about my career & our future. At Greeley the truck went jerkety-jerk & wow! How terrible. I adjusted the carburetor, drove in low gear, but all to no avail. At La Salle we asked the advice of a garage man – a short in the timer was the trouble. He worked with it but couldn’t fix it. At another garage he put on a new timer & drove around a block for us & it worked fine! So we left for Denver without further trouble, arriving about 12:30. I went down Colfax Boulevard –the busiest street in Denver! I waited for a street car to pass & started across the tracks just as it moved on. Just as I crossed the 1st track & started on another, here came a street car on it ---%#@%-& !! Mama threw up her hands in the air (she was sitting by me in the front seat) & yelled “Oh! My Lord have Mercy!”