Going in Circles- New Mexico and Colorado (07-20-20)

Our friends Tom and Dianne used to be full timers, like us, but now have property in Bayfield, CO. We usually try to stop by and see them either on our way out for the summer, or on our way home (or both).















This time Around we were supposed to be combining the visit with picking up our new air conditioner , but after we ordered one from two different places, and neither company actually had one to ship to us, we decided to cancel the order all together and make do with what we have until we get home. The factory that makes them was shut down for a while so there are very few to be had. On the other hand getting the truck fixed is definitely a priority, so Paul made two appointments for that.


The bigger problem is the issue with the turbo and for that, he wants to go to his absolute favorite Ford diesel technicians, who happen to be only an hour away. So, having made an appointment, we had a few days to relax.


Meantime the Ford dealership in Durango confirmed that the brake issue was a sensor- Paul was so confident he had already ordered it, and they fixed the leak in the rear differential (I absolutely know that’s not exactly what it is and what they did, but oh well, my eyes glaze over pretty quick when talking about axles and such).

We spent a fun few days social distancing with Tom, Dianne, and their son and his family, who recently bought the house next door.
We got to watch them plant the new willow tree next to their pond and got together for a full moon “party”.















On the way to Bayfield we had passed Chimney Rock National monument. We had no idea what it was, but it’s open, so we drove over to check it out.
Chimney rock is one of the northernmost settlements of Puebloans attached to the Chaco Canyon settlements. Being situated above any water source means this area was likely used for ceremonial purposes only.

It is theorized that the Ceremonial kivas were built here because every 18.5 years, the moon rises between the two rock outcroppings and seems to pause there for about 3 years. In a normal year there would be full moon parties and such but most everything except self guided tours are canceled, of course.

Stolen from the web

We were very impressed with the volunteers who were on hand (masked) and eager to answer any questions. No one really knows why the natives left the area, but it is theorized that they went to The Mesa Verde area from here.

So, after our fun few days we left for Farmington NM to bring the truck in to the dealer. The county fairgrounds has 400 sites and we were the only ones here.

They are using one of the RV lots as a drive- in for a few weeks. The interview with the owner of the theater doing it was interesting... “These drive-ins have a place in nostalgia, but they don’t really have a place in the financial world,” he said. The company isn’t doing it to make money, it’s doing it to give families somewhere to go and something to do. Kinda nice.

This particular dealership is so busy they run two shifts, and have a shuttle, so Paul could come and go to the dealership easily. We had thought about renting a car, but really there is nothing to do anyway, plus its been in the high 90s so we are just hunkered down, waiting.

After a couple of days in the shop we thought they had it fixed the turbo, and we headed back to Tom and Dianne’s to help celebrate Tom's birthday.

The 4 of us had a properly distanced dinner, and afterwards their kids came over for dessert. Dianne had made my aunt's carrot cake recipe, and did an awesome job!

Like our house, there are always projects going on at Tom and Dianne's, and usually Paul loves to jump right in, but this time we had to maintain distances, and also, it was in the 90s, so he settled for doing some weeding in the garden for a bit.








Once the festivities we done we said goodbye and headed toward Salida CO, where we had reservations for a few days. We made it about 40 miles before the check engine light came on. We drove until we could turn around, called and canceled our reservations, and told the dealership we were on our way back.



So, after another day or so at the dealership they found issues with the new turbo and some of the components so they fixed/replaced things and we were on our way.....again.

This time we made it about 30 miles before the truck threw a code indicating there is an issue. Paul took some readings with his scan tool and called the tech to tell him what he saw. And, of course, we turned around and headed back. This time the tech wanted to take a test drive with the trailer attached so Paul dropped me at the dealership and off they went.








The good news (hopefully) is that the two of them seem to have pieced together what the issue is.












So, we have now left Farmington again.

We didn’t go far, just to the nearby town of Aztec. There is a new RV park that is kind of unique, and is doing some different kinds of things. It’s on a river and on the other side they are building a zip line and a climbing wall. It was weird to watch trucks drive thru the river.









It is very family oriented place but has two places that are “kid free” zones, and that's where you found us every evening.

Actually, the Monday after the weekend, there were no kids around, so Paul and I took over the fun stuff.  We used the stand up paddle boards in the pond, and went down the 60 ft water slide several times- it was actually a lot of fun.

We ended the evening watching the river go by.














We are close enough to Durango here that we drove in to town to do some hiking.

Our first trail was Sailing Hawk, it was a short two mile loop with interesting rock formations and somewhat of a view of the city.

Our 2nd hike was supposed to be the Animas Overlook trail, which is a trail that overlooks the Animas Mountain, but after driving 7 miles up a dirt road, our plans were thwarted by the weather.  

The second we stepped out of the truck, we were subjected to the sound of nonstop thunder.

 So, no hike for us but the views were still stunning!

Our stay  in Aztec was short- we are on the move looking for cooler weather!

The Train to Silverton (07-29-17)

The Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad scenic trip was just what Paul needed after a long day behind the wheel of the truck.
These engines are still coal fired, steam operated and many of the rail cars were built in the 1800s.








  We chose to ride in Yankee Girl, a 21+ car with first class accommodations, originally built in 1880. We were constantly offered beverages, and Paul even enjoyed a Margarita.











We soon left the city of Durango behind, and followed along the Animas River.

Each car had a private viewing deck and with the morning weather being absolutely perfect, Paul and I spent a fair amount of time on the back deck.

With this as our view, it wasn’t long before we realized the benefit of being the caboose!

Mining has been going on in the Silverton area since 1873. In fact, 4 million ounces of gold and 21 million ounces of silver have been mined in just this small area.

There are so many metals in the water that the rocks have turned orange.












The train route originally opened in 1882 to transport gold and silver ore down the mountain. It has run continuously since then, although now it transports tourists.












We stopped several times along the way- sometimes to pick up backpackers, and sometimes to take on more water.  Usually the brakeman would have to stand behind the train and watch for any issues.  We were stopped in the middle of the track (but then, only this company uses the track so, I guess its unlikely that another train would come along).
When the train conductor blew the whistle to signal he was ready to leave, the brakeman would tip his hat to acknowledge it.




Traveling at an average of 16 mph for the 3.5 hour trip, many people elect to take the train in one direction and a bus in the other.  We chose to take the train both ways.



Once we arrived in Silverton we headed (again) to the Handlebar Saloon.  We had heard that unless you pick a restaurant fast, you could spend most of your time in Silverton waiting for food.  We didn’t realize that our particular trip spent less than an hour and a half in Silverton, so we didn’t get to see as much of the town as we would have liked.  Oh well.  We did each manage to find a T-shirt we liked.

Headed back down the mountain, we couldn’t dodge the raindrops and Paul and I were ecstatic that we had chosen indoor accommodations. These poor people spent a lot of their time huddled in the middle of the car .

In our car we had a guide who not only served us food and beverages, but told us a little history about the train and the area, and was also really good about letting us know when to get our cameras out, and where we should point them!








As a side note, I have identified  more varieties of hummingbirds.

These two males are Rufous-  one of the most aggressive varieties- and one of the more colorful!








This guy is a Broad-tailed Hummingbird:





This is the rarest hummingbird I have seen so far:

Just kidding, obviously-  I saw this picture on Facebook.  What is really funny though is that at our campground, most people have hummingbird feeders because there are so many birds in the area.  A woman stopped by and told me that people were bringing their feeders in at night because a mama black bear and her 3 cubs have been coming into the campground and raiding the feeders.  Unfortunately they damage anything gets in their way.

So, we took ours in at night.

Silverton, CO–The First Time (07-29-17)

We finally left New Mexico behind and settled in for a few days in the Durango area of Colorado.

We have only briefly been here before, and we are always asked if we “took the train”.  Well at long last, we can say we did.  But that’s getting ahead of myself.

The first thing we did was hike. If you haven’t figured it out yet, that’s my theme for this summer.  It’s been way too long since we did some decent hiking, and I have missed it.

This trail followed Junction Creek for quite a while before making a run up the side of a hill. Our destination was Gudy’s Rest.

Gudy Gaskill worked tirelessly for many years, trying to make her dream of a hiking trail that traversed the state of Colorado a reality.  After 25 years of persistence, the first spikes were laid for the 486 mile Colorado Trail in 1987.

This spot was one of her favorite places to come when she needed to think.  We hiked 8 miles round trip, with 1100 ft of elevation gain to reach it.  Lest we feel too proud of ourselves, we met a couple who were just finishing the last 4 miles of the entire 486 mile trail.  It took them 2 months.

Hiking done, we made plans to spend the following day exploring in the truck.  Our goal was to take the Alpine Loop, a scenic byway, drive through the town of Silverton and head on up to the small town of Ouray.

The road started out great- it was dirt, but easy to navigate.  We were rewarded with picturesque views and lots of old mining sites with relics (and actually, there are some current mining operations).

The road was quite busy, and at least 90% of the vehicles we encountered were Jeeps.  Made us wish we had ours.

Eventually the road got much rougher, and narrower, and we really wished we had our Jeep!

And then, we decided we weren’t going to make it.  Even if we could survive the road, it was taking too long, and in our huge truck, it just wasn’t fun.  So we turned around and took the paved road!

It was still quite scenic and we stopped at all the pull offs to take pictures of the views.

Just because it was paved, doesn’t mean it was easy! There are tons of tight curves, lots of traffic, and steep drop offs with no guardrails.  I kept my eyes closed a lot of the time.

Finally, surrounded by mountain peaks, the small town of Silverton came into view. 

It wasn’t long before we were seated at the Handlebar Saloon, waiting for our lunch to arrive.

Although we chose the restaurant at least in part because it wasn’t that many years ago that Paul was sporting his own handlebar mustache, the food was actually quite good!

Once lunch was finished it was time to hit the road again…you know…the one that was carved into the side of the mountain.

By this time, it was already getting late in the day, so once we got to Ouray, we didn’t have much time to do anything.

We wanted to at least stretch our legs so we paid a few bucks to take the short hike to Box Canyon. This waterfall was created when the creek eroded a narrow and deep path through the limestone.

After a mile or so of hiking, it was time to get back in the truck and head down the hill before it got dark.