Finally.The major Event- A ride on the Train

                              The Major event of the Vacation
                     Train ride on the Silverton-Durango  Railway

Parlor car, ready to go.

We first saw this railway in 1982, but at that time to go on it , you had to book over 2 years in advance, which we didn't know at the time.
So when we knew we were coming to Durango we really wanted this time to actually RIDE the train.

View as you leave Silverton

It was a grand experience and Mike had booked us just one way as 3 plus hours each way would be rather too much we thought. So bus up and train down was decided and to make it even better, we took the posh parlor car seating.

Car looking towards the back.
You can see it isn't very crowded!

 In the parlor car you get extra perks of a comfortable seat, free drinks and cookies etc, a knowledgeable storyteller, who makes it very interesting and lot fewer people, so you can get up and walk about in the carriage.

Here's Mike enjoying a drink as the scenery chugs on by.

I also liked that this car was the end car and well away from the smoke stack of the engine so we wouldn't get covered in smuts. I remember travelling in steam trains in England and the smudges of soot and noise I can do without.You could also stand outside on the balcony to take photos or just to view.

An occasional stop while the rail lines are checked.

The scenery is just beautiful and the rail line follows the river and you can see views and areas that are just not accessible by road.I spent my time taking photos and hanging out the window and marvelling on the beauty of the mountains and the wonder that this railroad had ever been built at all and survived.


The video is a combination of videos by Mike and some by me. His videos are the clearer ones!! It takes about 5minutes to watch. Enjoy as we did and share our vacation !!

https://youtu.be/penTQkoxEx8

Vacation #5 Silverton , CO

Vacation #5 Silverton, Colorado

We had visited Silverton years ago and were not really surprised to see that it hadn't changed in many ways. It had been settled by the early miners and  the railway had been built originally to transport ore down the mountain to be smelted in Durango. Now the mining is nearly finished and the second industry, tourism has taken over. There are still relics of the old mining days all over the quaint little town.

I'm not sure what this machine is for but it looks like the contraption would be used for panning whether it would be gold or silver or iron ore.

It is an interesting rather than pretty little town and the tourists are keeping it going. The population by winter, when the snow sets in ,diminishes rapidly.On the day we went the tourists outnumbered the normal residents.

Many of the unused lots had these lovely poppies growing. Couldn't resist taking lots of photos.Here's Mike  checking them out.

Many of the buildings were either tourist shopping places or bars or cafes.

The buildings all seem to be older buildings that have been renovated.

Touches of humor all around the place.

Then all too soon, it was time to head back to the station to catch our train Back to Durango.

Lucky us we were travelling in the parlor car , the end car so we didn't have far to walk and we had a great journey back.

Vacation #4 And on our way to Silverton. CO

Vacation #4 And on our way to Silverton. CO

Our trip started outside Durango station as we decided to take the special bus to Silverton and come on the train back. The trip takes over 3 hours each way on the train with a 2hour stop over in Silverton so you have time to view the town and get lunch and visit some of the interesting places.

This statue was so beautiful I just had to take a photo. The station is a nice building with a great museum just behind it. More on that later.

Durango Railway Station

So after Mike had taken a few photos of the outbound train we caught the bus and were on our way.

Our bus driver/guide was very interesting and made the long journey up the mountain and through the mountain passes very interesting with all tales of the first settlers and especially miners and the  brilliant road builders of the past.  We stopped at Molas Pass for a view over the mountains before we began the descent into the valley to Silverton.

More photos on the next blog.

Vacation #3 Roswell to Santa Fe, Chama and Pagosa Springs

Vacation #3 Roswell to Santa Fe, Chama and Pagosa Springs

This in fact should have been vacation pictures #1. We left Texas stopped one night in Roswell ( no aliens in sight) and travelled through extremely dull, flat countryside to Santa Fe

Santa Fe is very pleasant city with lots of historical buildings, art galleries and wonderful flowers. Too many tourists at this time of the year for my liking.

Then on we went finally getting into the mountains and beautiful countryside in the mountains and travelled via Chama on to Pagosa Springs close to Durango.

First view of the mountains we would need to cross.

A quick visit to the small town of Chama noted for its railway- no we didn't take a trip but did check out the station.

And then we were on our way through spectacular mountain scenery on very twisty roads to Pagosa Springs for lunch.

I'm not sure MIke knew I was taking this photo!

Our Vacation #2 Vallecito Lake , CO

Our Vacation #2 Vallecito Lake , CO

While we were staying in Durango we took a trip up to one of the closest lakes in the area and it was just like you imagine a lake in the mountains to be, calm and beautiful.

All along the east side of the lake there are places to put in canoes , to fish and to swim although parking areas are limited but the weather was just beautiful and the puffy white clouds looked lovely. As you can see not crowded at all.

Then on we went to the other side of the lake where it is slightly more commercialized although you'd never know it by this photo.You can see that a few years ago a forest fire had burned a good part of the area around here and regrowth is just getting started.

At the time of the fire, sadly a firefighter was killed so to honor him, the local residents took some of the remaining trunks and carved all kinds of memorials along the road.

Here is another that I liked of a mother bear and her cubs. You can see the devastation that occurred to the forest in the background.

Then on we went to Lemon lake passing fast flowing rippling streams gushing over rocks down the mountain.I just love these kind of rocky streams.

Another beautiful lake but as we watched a storm cloud started to roll in.  We knew we had pasted some flash flood areas when we were coming up to the lake so we didn't stay any longer but headed back to Durango.

Our Durango , CO Vacation 2015

Our Durango , CO Vacation 2015

This is the charming B&B we stayed in in Durango. Just a lovely charming country just a few miles north of Durango.It was an incredible friendly relaxing place to stay.

View from the grounds,which cover 5 acres full of beautiful small streams, flowers and walkways.

This is the front porch complete with rocking chairs so yu can rest a while after a busy day.

This is our comfortable bedroom, with a feather bed, ensuite bath and shower and lovely views of the garden and mountains.

On the  grounds are 6 individual cabins, all charming with views of the house and mountains.

There is a small lake on the property and twice a day from the very back line you can see the vintage Silverton railway pass by.
Just incredible flowers are everywhere.

The roses were especially beautiful.

A holiday we will certainly remember!

We highly recommend this B&B for a relaxing and comfortable stay in an outstanding Place.

The Moor"s Account by Laila Lalami

The Moor"s Account  by Laila Lalami

This was a historical novel based on an account of the exploration of the first Spanish explorers Of America. 
The account is written by a black Morrocan slave. It starts with the tale of how Estebanico becomes a slave as a young man . His master is one of the conquistadors of the Narvaiez expeditions to Florida.  The first part of the story concerns the time around 1527 when the Spaniards are trying to settle the new country for the King of Spain and find gold. They become hopelessly lost and gradually are killed by waring tribes of native Indians and by disease until only 4 of the party remain.
 They eventually travel across the southern area of America  encountering various other tribes, almost starving and giving up hope but eventually meeting up with Spaniards at  another Spanish settlement.
This is obviously a well researched book and is interesting historically, but fairly difficult to read. It is not a book for casual reading.
I certainly became aware of history that I had never realized before by reading it.