Yes, John Denver knew what he was singing about. We spent 4 terrific days in Durango, my birthplace. It was a great vacation and here are some photos to prove it.
This first night we went to a musical play at the Strater Hotel.
The next day we took a drive out to see some of the old places from my mother's childhood. This is Aunt Edie's house. Obviously, no one lives there now.
Aunt Edie's barn.
This is the school that mother went to. It is now a church.
Next door to the school/church is the cemetery where Uncle Raymond was buried last month.
My dad did a beautiful pen and ink of the Strater Hotel in downtown Durango.
It is very elegant inside.
Did I mention that Gary and Beth met us there on Sat.?
That evening we went to the Bar-D for the chuck wagon dinner and show.
Durango train station.
The high light of any trip to Durango is the ride on the narrow gauge train that goes to Silverton. Here are some pictures of that amazing day. I've been on this trip many times before, but, I was still thrilled at the beauty and the sometimes scary ride.
This old steam engine still uses the water towers for it's stops to fill up on water.
The views are spectacular.
Sometimes it is a close fit up next to the mountain.
Everything was so old fashioned that I thought I had gone back in time, until we pulled into Silverton and there was a cell tower.
It is a 3 1/2 hour trip up to Silverton, and they gave us just 2 hours in Silverton. It wasn't really enough time to see all of the shops, but we had a quick burger and ice cream.
I took so many pictures that I had a hard time deciding which ones to include here.
There is this one hairpin turn that is a very sharp drop off to the gully below.
At the end of the day we were covered in soot and very tired, but very happy. We decided to celebrate the day by eating in this nice restaurant, just steps away from the train station . We just got off the train and stepped into the restaurant.
I would recommend a trip to Durango to anyone.
This first night we went to a musical play at the Strater Hotel.
The next day we took a drive out to see some of the old places from my mother's childhood. This is Aunt Edie's house. Obviously, no one lives there now.
Aunt Edie's barn.
This is the school that mother went to. It is now a church.
Next door to the school/church is the cemetery where Uncle Raymond was buried last month.
My dad did a beautiful pen and ink of the Strater Hotel in downtown Durango.
It is very elegant inside.
Did I mention that Gary and Beth met us there on Sat.?
That evening we went to the Bar-D for the chuck wagon dinner and show.
They really know how to serve up the grub.
The cowboy singers there are sooo good and sooo funny.
The cowboy singers there are sooo good and sooo funny.
Too bad the picture of them is blurry.
Durango train station.
The high light of any trip to Durango is the ride on the narrow gauge train that goes to Silverton. Here are some pictures of that amazing day. I've been on this trip many times before, but, I was still thrilled at the beauty and the sometimes scary ride.
This old steam engine still uses the water towers for it's stops to fill up on water.
The views are spectacular.
Sometimes it is a close fit up next to the mountain.
Everything was so old fashioned that I thought I had gone back in time, until we pulled into Silverton and there was a cell tower.
It is a 3 1/2 hour trip up to Silverton, and they gave us just 2 hours in Silverton. It wasn't really enough time to see all of the shops, but we had a quick burger and ice cream.
I took so many pictures that I had a hard time deciding which ones to include here.
There is this one hairpin turn that is a very sharp drop off to the gully below.
At the end of the day we were covered in soot and very tired, but very happy. We decided to celebrate the day by eating in this nice restaurant, just steps away from the train station . We just got off the train and stepped into the restaurant.
I would recommend a trip to Durango to anyone.
