Durango, Colorado

The only reason we came to Durango was to ride the train to Silverton.  This train, in fact:

Bill took this shot by leaning out the window from our seat!

Fortunately, no one spit.

It was well worth the trip.  The scenery was spectacular as the train works its way from Durango to Silverton where it is 3000 ft. higher elevation.  It follows the Animas River which was raging today.  . The train cars and the engine are the same ones that made this same trip back in the late 1800's. My son, Bill and his wife Karen, tried to make this same trip several years ago but the train broke down. Well, Bill and Karen, you need to try it again. It was really really beautiful.  At the end of the 3 1/2 hour journey up to Silverton we had lunch and walked around this very old mining town. We love old buildings so we were in heaven.  It was very cold and it snowed on us for a bit.

A building from the old" red light" district

 ME....freezing.  My toothless friend was frozen like a wooden statue

Tomorrow we are off to Mesa Verde National Park. We hope.  It will snow tonight and Bill has never driven the motorhome in the snow much less up and down from 6300 feet up to 9000 feet and back down again. Should we actually MAKE it....we will be dry camping (no heat!)for 3 days!  The snow is supposed to continue for 3 or 4 days. We may find ourselves begging for a hook-up site when we get to the park! It will also make our tours more challenging as we have to climb ladders to the cliff dwellings. I say "if we actually make it" because our motorhome takes these hills at an average speed of 34mph uphill to 134mph on the downhill.  These gas motorhomes just don't have the power to climb nor the "jake brake" to slow them down. We have to adjust our GPS for when it says it will take 3 hours to get somewhere, if it's uphill, we add an hour. If it's downhill, well, we pray a lot.  Coming up the hill out of Fountain Hills, AZ through Phoenix was very tough. We never did over 34mph. It was the same coming from Cortez to Durango....until the downhill.  Then I closed my eyes and hung on while the brakes smoked away.  Can't flippin' wait to do it in the snow.

The park we have been in since we got to Durango has been nice.  The train ride is an all day affair so tour park offers a dog walking service.  For $10 Rufus got walked twice, played in the dog park and got a cookie.  Now, however, he expects a cookie after his walk. Funny how they can learn so.me things SO fast and other things (like "stay")  make you think he needs a "special ed" class
The setting here is beautiful and we loved hearing the train go by in the morning.

Since our sole purpose for coming here was the trip to Silverton we didn't spend much time in the city of Durango.  But it looked cute and had a lot of great old buildings for us to slobber on.

Well, that's is from Durango. Cross your fingers and toes that there  isn't too much snow fall tonight and that we make it our next destination safely and with ease.  We can use all the help we can get.