DURANGO TRIP PART 2

The trip to Durango was beautiful.  It was wonderful to familiarize ourselves with the Colorado mountains again.  Up narrow roads, lined with golden aspens, and steep cliffs, through tunnels, then up past pines frosted with snow and finally to the top of the pass with snowcapped mountains peaks and then back down again.  We must have gone over a dozen passes to get there.  The scenery kept us captivated.

Colorado is a great place for train lovers and we have a few in our family.  One of the highlights of the trip was the Durango-Silverton steam train.  We have ridden it several times in years past.  This time we decided to drive up to Silverton and watch the steam train roll into to town.  It is quite a sight, chugging into town, wheels screeching, steam bellowing and whistle blowing.  

E.J. has been fascinated with trains since he was tiny.  We have watched hours of I Love Toy Trains video, and built Thomas train layouts that stretch from room to room.  At age 2, when we were potty training, he would sit on the toilet making chugging noises.  The biggest attraction at the zoo wasn't the animals but the train that slowly made it's way around the park.  For years his favorite ride at Disneyworld was the Tomorrowland People Mover train.  We have been fortunate enough to ride several actual trains over the years and the fascination never wanes.

We spent quite a bit of time in the Durango Train Museum.  This part of the country has a past filled with adventure.  The road from Durango to Silverton and then further up to Ouray  was called the Million Dollar Highway because of the gold and silver mining in the area.  Tim met a man on a recent sales call that grew up working in the gold mines.  His father was a sheep farmer above Silverton.  He provided us with the photo below.  It is the same road we took in our SUV only slightly wider.  Amazing!