Looking for a fun summer getaway? Call 1-800-825-0208 now or visit www.ourjourney.info for a free ticket to 13 unique historic attractions on Colorado's Central Plains. Call now for your free pass that is good Memorial Day through Labor Day.

Families, explorers and history buffs alike will discover that Cheyenne, Elbert, Kit Carson and Lincoln counties are alive with history on the delightfully wide-open plains. Simply log on to www.ourjourney.info or call 1-800-825-0208 to request a free "Our Journey," kit. Each kit includes interesting historical information, a map of the area with driving instructions for a self-guided tour, highlights of highway mile marker road-side attractions and even a song book and CD to keep travelers entertained on their journey east.

Visitors who use the ticket receive a "Journey Stamp"at each unique destination. After receiving at least seven stamps before September 7, 2009, tickets can be returned to the Our Journey offices for two free books: "The Legacy of the New Deal on Colorado's Central Plains" and "Our Heritage." Visitors who collect nine stamps are entered in a drawing for two nights and a dinner for two at a wonderful Central Plains bed and breakfast.

Families who journey east from the Front Range they will discover wonderful treasures in each of the museums that offer free admission through the "Our Journey," program:

Elbert County Museum - New Exhibit This Year!!

515 Comanche Street (Highway 86) - Kiowa, Colorado 80117 Open through Labor Day

Or by Appointment (303-621-2088)

Hours = Thursday 11 am- 2 p.m.; Saturday 12-4 p.m.; Sunday 2-4 p.m.

www.elbertcountymuseum.orgDistance from Denver: 45 minutes

70 million years ago, Elbert County was a tenth of a mile under a salt water sea with the nearest shore hundreds of miles away. Check out the oceans, dinosaurs and ancient forests of Elbert County in Prehistoric Kiowa, a new exhibit opening at the Elbert County Museum. Touch and feel ancient sea creatures and leaves found on local ranches. Help celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science's research core drilling in Kiowa that went 2256 feet deep into prehistoric Elbert County and uncovered many ancient fossils. View the scientifically aided artist renditions of how Kiowa's landscape has changed over millions of years. Relive the excitement of months of drilling progress in 1999 and enjoy a National Geographic Society video of prehistoric marine dinosaurs. This is a must see museum!

Kit Carson County Carousel & Museum -- 815 15th Street, Burlington--New!!

Bus/Group Tours Now Available

Open Daily 11 a.m. - 6 p.m., Memorial Day - Labor Day

Distance from Denver: 2 ½ hours on I-70 east

In 1928, Burlington commissioners bought the original wooden carousel from Elitch Gardens for $1200, then promptly lost the election because folks thought they'd squandered the county's precious resources. Now, more than 75 years later, of the nearly 4000 wooden carousels carved in America between 1885 and the 1930s, fewer than 150 are still in existence. One of the finest of these survivors is the Kit Carson Carousel located on the county fairgrounds in Burlington, Colorado. The sixth of 74 carousels manufactured by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company between 1904 and 1933, the Kit Carson County Carousel is a three-row, stationary (the animals do not move up and down) machine housed in a 12-sided frame building. It is the only antique carousel in America that still includes original paint on both the scenery panels and the animals and costs just 25 cents to ride. Visitors ride to tunes churned out by an original 1909 Wurlitzer Monster Military Band Organ. A new era has just begun with the opening of the doors to the new Museum! Kit Carson County and the Kit Carson County Carousel Association developed the museum to interpret the history and the restoration of Carousel No.6. Fun exhibits share stories about every facet of its history including the 1902 G.E. Induction Motor which has never been rebuilt and still powers the carousel today, a "one-note" band organ-the Wurlitzer Monster Military Band Organ exhibit, and a "planks to ponies" exhibit that answers age-old questions such as who really painted those scenery panels. The museum is a walk back in time, an amusement park atmosphere with turn-of-the-century charm and craftsmanship. Don't miss this one!

Old Town Museum -- 420 South 14th Street, Burlington

Bus/Group Tours Now Available

Open Year Round, 9-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday, Noon - 5 p.m. Sunday

Distance from Denver: 2 ½ hours on I-70 east

Visitors take a step back in time at Burlington's Old Town Museum. Opened in 1988, this historic attraction showcases life on the prairie, homesteading and farm heritage. Old Town houses 21 buildings spread over six acres and includes a main museum, a barn, a train depot circa 1889 and a two-story manor house. On weekends Old Town offers free horse drawn wagon rides, can-can dancing in the saloon, an old-time working soda fountain and demonstration gun fights.

Limon Heritage Museum & Railroad Park-- 899 1st Street, Limon

Open Memorial Day to Labor Day, Monday - Saturday 1-8 p.m.
Distance from Denver: 1 hour, 15 minutes on I-70 east

Following the devastating Limon tornado in 1990, local business leaders formed a heritage volunteer group to save part of their past. The 1910 Limon Depot was restored and is now maintained by Heritage Society volunteers. The Depot once serviced both Rock Island and Union Pacific Railroads and is now a community treasure on the National Register of Historic Places. The Museum includes the restored train depot, an adjacent railroad park and an exhibit building depicting the life and legends of the plains. Visitors will find a permanent "Trains on the Plains" exhibit on display along with antique machinery and vintage windmills, arrowheads, pottery and a complete railroad model of the Limon community circa 1940 when 13-15 trains rolled through Limon each day. Visitors can also see a replica of an original plains story front mercantile and one of the original weather stations, complete with "Limon radar."

Mountain States Telephone & Telegraph Museum - New!!

60 S. 1st Street, Cheyenne Wells, CO80810

Open Memorial Day to Labor Day 1-4 daily

Cheyenne Wells, Colorado was home to the first radio wave telephone system in the United States and now a new museum has opened that interprets telecommunications in the 1920s with an original phone booth, switchboard, and other unique artifacts. In April 1927 the Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company purchased the Cheyenne County Telephone Company. Seven months later the business opened a new building in Cheyenne Wells. This modest brick structure represented a big change for the community: 161 telephone lines were brought in and the operator was now available 24 hours a day! For a brief time, the Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Building enjoyed a stint as the technological center of the modern telephone world. Don't miss this new historically significant telephone museum. It's really fun!

Cheyenne County Old Jail Museum -- 85 West 2nd Street, Cheyenne Wells

Open Memorial Day to Labor Day 1-4 daily

Distance from Denver: 2 ½ hours on Highway 40 southeast of Limon

Visitors to Cheyenne Wells get to spend a little time in "jail" when they visit the Cheyenne County Museum. Built in 1894 by noted Denver architect Robert S. Roeschlaub, the jail was a stout brick structure with several rooms to house the sheriff and his family as well as a single large room that housed two barred cells. The building includes a tower with a window overlooking the cells where you could see for miles in every direction. The jail was placed on the National Register for Historic Places in 1988 and is maintained today by local historical society volunteers.

Flagler Hospital Museum & Hal Borland Room -- 311 Main Avenue, Flagler

Open Year Round, Monday - Friday, 9 - Noon - 1 - 5 p.m.

Distance from Denver: 2 hours on I-70 east

Many travelers know Hal Borland as the author of 30 books, hundreds of magazine articles and nearly 2,000 nature essays. But folks on Colorado's Central Plains know Hal Borland as the son of local farmer and Flagler News publisher Will Borland. Visitors to the town of Flagler often stop to visit the Hal Borland Room. Located within the Flagler Library, the room includes a reading area, samples of Borland's published works and photographs taken during his days growing up in the community. The Flagler Hospital Museum is housed within the same historic building. Renovated in 1995, the hospital includes several rooms with antique hospital equipment, memorabilia and photographs taken of the hospital during its 25 years of operation from 1937-1963.

Second Central School Museum -- 404 4th Street, Flagler

Open by appointment only -Call 719-765-4571

Distance from Denver: 2 hours on I-70 east

This historic schoolhouse once housed more than 60 students in grades 1-12. Built in 1915, the Second Central School was the first consolidation of one-room schools in Eastern, Colorado. Four sod and frame one-room schools were consolidated into one three-room brick school house designed to accommodate four grades in each classroom (first-fourth; fifth-eighth and ninth-twelfth.) In the 1990s, the school was moved to the town of Flagler from its original location 14 miles south and two miles east of town. The Museum now displays photographs of the community and artifacts from the original school.

Arriba Museum

317 Lincoln Street, Arriba, CO 80804

Open daily 8 a.m. - 5p.m.

Distance from Denver: 2 hours

This museum is in a tiny, 100-year-old home at the northeast corner of Arriba's city park, and it's full of local history including unique artifacts from Lincoln County, antique furniture and a look at life on the prairie.

Lincoln County Museum - 617 3rd Avenue, Hugo, Colorado

Open 4-7 p.m. Friday, 1-7 p.m. Saturday, 1-4 p.m.

Sunday -- Memorial Day to Labor Day

Distance from Denver: 1 hour, 30 minutes on Highway 40 south of Limon

In the 1870s, Hugo's first store keeper and postmaster built a small home for his family about four blocks north of the railroad depot. The house was eventually sold to Judge P.O. Hedlund and remained in his family for more than 50 years. In 1972, the last Mrs. Hedlund donated the house to the town of Hugo. This historical property is now a Museum with a unique collection of pioneer artifacts including one of the first double-edged razor blade sharpeners created in the early 1900s. Knowledgeable volunteers staff the Museum and are on hand to tell interesting stories including one about the time President Teddy Roosevelt made an unexpected stop in Hugo. History has it that President Roosevelt was on his way to Denver in 1903 when his train passed through Hugo. Local business leaders had invited folks from near and far to watch the train carrying the President as it passed by their town and more than 2000 people showed up. As President Roosevelt stepped out from the train to express his regrets for not stopping in Hugo, he smelled a delicious aroma of beef, potatoes and biscuits cooking over an open fire. Roosevelt changed his mind and hopped off the train for breakfast. Nearly 60 years later, the cowboy cook who was honored to serve the President breakfast donated the hat, gloves and boots he was wearing as well as the plate, tin cup and utensils used by the President to the Museum. These are just some of the unique artifacts on display today.

Kit Carson Museum -- 200 Park Street, Kit Carson

Open Daily 9-5 p.m., Memorial Day - Labor Day

Distance from Denver: 2 hours and 15 minutes on Highway 40 south of Limon

In 1968, Union Pacific Railroad announced plans to demolish the Kit Carson train depot. Thanks to the fast action of a local citizen, the depot was saved and in 1971 opened as a museum in the town park. The complex now includes a UP signal maintainers house and a caboose both listed on the State Register of historical places. In addition, the complex includes a 20-foot-tall lighthouse without a light, an Aroya, Colorado landmark for nearly 50 years that was constructed by the late Owen "Red" Moreland. The train depot houses the main Kit Carson Museum artifacts including the original safe from the Alfalfa Valley State Bank in Wild Horse and a vintage broom making machine. Visitors see a representative sample of the heritage of the great Colorado prairie.

World's Wonder View Tower -- 30121 Frontage Rd., Genoa

Open Daily Year Round, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Distance from Denver: 1 hour, 30 minutes on I-70 east

This 22-room Museum is quite a site to see! Once the brain child of the son of PT Barnum, the World's Wonder View Tower is now home to a two-headed calf, an antique gun collection, 20,000 Indian artifacts, mammoth bones, antique bottles and nearly 1000 paintings by Princess Raven Wing a full-blooded Sioux Indian. Eight of the 22 rooms are constructed of solid rock from floor to ceiling. An old dance hall makes up one of the rooms and includes a historic stage built on a slant. From the top of this magnificent tower, visitors can see six states including Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, South Dakota, New Mexico and of course, Colorado.

Grampa Jerry's Clown Museum--22 Lincoln Avenue, Arriba

Open Daily 10-6 p.m., Memorial Day - Labor Day

Distance from Denver: 1 hour, 45 minutes on I-70 east

More than 3,000 clowns are on display in this one room Museum. Clowns dating from the 1940s to present day adorn the walls, shelves and floor of this unique space. Visitors will find everything from porcelains statues and dolls, children's toys and original clown artwork in oil, pastels and watercolor. Grampa Jerry even boasts the world's smallest clown which measures a mere 3/8" tall and dates back to the 1940s. The tallest clown on site stands five feet tall.

For more information, log on to www.ourjourney.info or call 1-800-825-0208 to request a free "Our Journey," kit.

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ABOUT COLORADO'S CENTRAL PLAINS

Cheyenne, Elbert, Kit Carson and Lincoln counties and 15 incorporated municipalities have worked together on regional planning and programs through the East Central Council of Local Governments since 1973. When the Prairie Development Corporation was created by ECCOG in 1986, the entities continued this regional approach through PDC for Economic Development and general tourism development/promotion. This traditional and well-established working relationship among the towns and counties within the region in combination with shared travel routes, geography and history resulted in the Prairie Development Corporation's decision to begin development of a regional Heritage Tourism program. The region includes 28 State Register Properties, eight of which are also listed on the National Register. Historic trails crisscross Colorado's Central Plains including the Starvation Trail, the Butterfield Route, the Leavenworth, the Pikes Peak stagecoach route, the Texas-Montana Cattle Trail and the Old Military Trail.