Hello Colorado!!

Saturday July 23, 2016

On Friday we did a lot of packing and prep work for our relocation to Bayfield, Colorado.  In the morning finished wrapping up all the hoses and electrical cords, hooked up the trailer, had a continental breakfast and a shower before heading to Colorado.  We were eating breakfast and out of the blue a RC friend of June Yvonne’s from Phoenix walks up to our table and says, “I guess they’ll let anybody stay here.”  Turns out they parked right across the street from us the night before and without meeting her at breakfast we would have missed her.

The drive to Bayfield was about 4 hours including bathroom breaks and fueling up.  The scenery got better and better as we gained elevation into the San Juan National Forest.  The truck pulls the trailer without any problem at all and we are both very comfortable traveling with it in tow.  When we arrived at the Bayfield Riverside RV Park we were delighted with the condition of the park and the reception we received.  We scored a nice long pull thru site which was great.

The park entrance and the private residence of the owners are lavishly decorated with hundreds of colorful flowers and green grass.  There is a trout stream that runs through the park and several ponds along the course of the stream.  The stream and the ponds are owned by the park so no license is needed to fish.  Oddly enough they have an alpaca on a leash in the grassy area and a Yak in a corral in the large meadow used for “pot luck” park picnics.

On our first night we already met some nice people and a couple from Phoenix.  The owner of the park is from Phoenix and bought this park several years ago.  There are two young children living in the 5^th wheel parked next to us and we have already befriended them and have a date for some time in the future to have a “s’more’s” campfire night.   PRC

This was our travel day to Colorado; and it started out with a big surprise. We were in the breakfast room and who do we see but Pat O. from my Phoenix RC community. She had told me that she and her husband were looking for an RV. I didn’t realize how soon it would be though. They were only spending one night at American RV Park in Albuquerque so were leaving that morning. We didn’t realize that they had spent the night right across from our spot. It was a fluke that we didn’t miss them. Pat and her husband (they were recently married) and her 90 years + mother were traveling to a family reunion I think in Michigan. Included in the blog is a picture of Pat and I in front of their motor home.

Then we hit the road. After a couple of hours New Mexico made way for Colorado and the scenery began changing. The landscape became greener as we crossed the Animus River, then the Florida and Los Pinos Rivers. Desert scrub changed to farmlands, then cloudy skies, rain drops, cooler weather, and horses and cattle. Hello Colorado!

We finally pulled into our new home for the next two weeks – Bayfield Riverside RV Park. There are lots of flowers here. We met “Al”, the alpaca and the yak (I don’t know his name.)   JY

Sunday July 24, 2016

Slept in Sunday morning which is usually our “MO” after arriving at our new home.  We had cereal for breakfast and ate outside at our picnic table.  We were enjoying the sunshine and slight breeze when I heard a familiar honking noise coming from the other side of our RV.  We looked up and about 40 Canada geese flying in two “V” formations flew about 30 feet over the top of us on their way to the little lake at the north end of the park.

We have our hummingbird feeder up and now we have dueling hummingbirds as they chase each other off in an effort to claim the feeder as their own.  Hummingbirds are very territorial – I’m going to try and get a picture of two of them at the feeder at the same time.

After breakfast we drove into Durango – about 13 miles.  We parked in “old town Durango” and lucked out as parking is free on the weekends.  Our first stop was at a quaint but very old looking bookstore – actually an old house.  Went inside and WOW! I’ve never been in a bookstore like this.  It was wall to wall book – the owner estimated about 10,000 of them.  Every wall including the hallways had bookshelves filled with books and then books were stacked from the floor to the ceiling and in many rooms you couldn’t see the bookshelves.  I went back in on our way back to the car and the owner wasn’t there and I asked the guy working there if the owner was accepting any more books.  He said no – he just gets more from his warehouse – apparently he has an insane number of books which the worker described as “an obscene number of books.”

On the corner across the street is the train depot.  We went over there to check it out and confirm our reservations for our zip-line adventure on Monday.  We were good to go.  While we were there we went to the train museum and it was very cool.  As you walk up to the museum all the windows are open into the roundhouse where they do all the repair work and maintenance on the steam locomotives.  They have six operational steam engines.  In the museum I was fascinated by a movie that was playing about how they completely rebuild an old 1925 steam engine that had been sitting in a rail yard in Chama for 30 years exposed to the weather.  Engine 482.  They stripped it down and rebuilt/refurbished everything.  It was a very involved, complex and time consuming project that required a lot of engineering.  What impressed me the most was that they could do all of this back in 1925.

We moved on to old town and stopped for a snack at a French bakery.  June Yvonne had one of her prized delights – a chocolate croissant while I had a strawberry croissant.  While we were eating a family of three (mom, dad and a daughter (15)) walked by the window and they all had boa constrictors wrapped around their necks.  The two Japanese couples that were sitting closer to the window stood up like their chairs were on fire and pressed their faces against the glass.  They were speaking Japanese at about 100 mph.

We finished our pastries and continued to walk down the street going into the galleries and tourist traps.  Then I noticed a crowd across the street and I knew what it was – it was the snake people.   I walked across the street and I was right.  I asked if I could take a picture and they obliged.  Then I asked if I could touch them and they said, “Yes, they are very docile and gentle”.  Then I asked if I could hold one and the next thing I knew I had the medium sized one wrapped around my neck while the owner took pictures for me.  FYI – I’m terrified of snakes so that was a big stretch for me.

On our way home there was a big backup in traffic caused by a propane truck that had flipped over.  No explosion however the police managed to funnel everyone by firemen, ambulance, crane operators, EMT’s and gas people.  At home we BBQ’d chicken and packed for our zip line adventure the next day.  PRC

We woke up to a sunny day. For the first time on our trip we had breakfast outside on the picnic table.

We spent most of the day walking around Durango. It’s about 30 minutes from Bayfield. It got warmer in the afternoon. We went to a really cool bookstore, the Train Museum, galleries and French bakery where I had my favorite, a chocolate croissant; and Peter had a strawberry croissant.  A family went by the bakery, each with a boa constrictor.  We soon saw them on the street and Peter had to go see them. Next thing I know I saw him from across the street with a boa constrictor around his neck. (I guess that’s one way to confront his fear of snakes…)

This was a day that I ran out of energy in the afternoon which still happens more than I care to admit. So, we went home to rest up as we had a big day Monday.  JY

Monday July 25, 2016

WOW!  Where do I start today – at the beginning.  Woke up at 5:45 am to get ready and drive into town.  Had breakfast at McDonalds and walked to the train station for 7:30 check in.  The zip line company has three private totally restored passenger cars – two with seats and one with a glass top and open air sides.  The Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad.  Riding a steam locomotive through the mountain was amazing – the sound of the steam whistle, the smell of the cinders and smoke, the jostling of the cars and the breathtaking scenery.  I stood on the platform between the cars for almost the entire trip taking pictures – everything was picture worthy but knowing where and when do you stop presents a problem…

We arrived at Soaring Tree Top Adventures and were greeted by the entire uniformed staff of sky rangers, naturalist, cooks, maintenance people and the owner who all shook out hand as we got off the train.  You can look at a 9 minute video of this experience at – soaringcolorado.com

We have zip lined before but there is nothing that will ever compare to this experience.  There were 27 zip lines, 36 tree platforms, a gourmet meal served overlooking the Animas River and the top notch degree of professionalism and safety.  We frequently saw the owner on various platforms as we made our way from tree top to tree top – he spoke to all of us like we were family.

Our adventure finally came to an end and we were exhausted – all that excitement.  A two hour train ride back home and soup for dinner then to bed.  PRC

Exciting day ahead. We woke up at 5:45 am to get to the train station on time. We had reservations to do “Soaring Treetop Adventures.” This involved a 2 hour train ride on the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. (And 2 hours back.) We arrived about 10 am and started zip lining through the San Juan National Forest.  Our adventure included a gourmet lunch which we had about noon. About 45 minutes later we continued “soaring”, continuing to climb higher in the forest. There were 27 zip lines all together. After lunch many of the zip lines crisscrossed the Animus River. That was my favorite part…

This zip line adventure was nothing like previous zip lines   I have done. In particular, my first one in Alaska where you were responsible for breaking yourself. This time the staff did the breaking so I just got to enjoy the ride. It was not particularly scary, but exhilarating. Most anyone can do it and I strongly suggest you do.   In fact, check out the site on line to get a good idea of what it’s like.

We were exhausted by the time we returned home. Good thing I had made fideos (Mexican chicken noodle soup) the night before. Mary Kay called and we had a good conversation catching up. (It’s good to talk to friends and relatives.)  We went to bed early.   JY

Tuesday July 26, 2016

Today was mostly a day of rest, doing laundry and working on the blog. I made roast in the crock pot that we ate for dinner. After dinner we spent some time outside working on our blog. Although we have better WIFI it still has been a hassle posting the photos onto our blog. We had to move inside because it started raining. Peter managed to capture a photo of a double rainbow. It’s beautiful here…

I did get to talk to Kay today. Also had an email from Mindy, a hiking friend. She and Roxie (another hiking friend) are planning a trip to Iceland this summer. (This is on our bucket list.)  These two are hard core hikers and they will do some serious trekking in that icy country.

Mindy – in response your email message – Durango meets some of your criteria for the measure of a town.  There was a good French bakery and used book store. I didn’t look for a hardware store which was one of your criteria (but I’m sure there is one). Thanks for staying in touch. Forward our regards to Roxie.

Tomorrow we plan to go into the small town of Bayfield and do some antiquing.     JY