Robert's Birthday Trip

On Feb. 12, Robert turned 60! We decided to celebrate by taking a trip to somewhere we had not been before. He had always wanted to ride the Durango-Silverton train, so I gave him tickets for his birthday. We started out on Thurs., Feb. 10 in the morning and drove to the Four Corners Monument Navajo Nation State Park. It was freezing and the wind was blowing, but at least the sun was shining. We met the LDS Missionaries there quite by accident, and one of them just happened to be from Salt Lake City. He was so excited when we told him where we were from!

Here is a picture of Robert standing in 4 states at once. I'll bet NOBODY has a picture like this!

We drove on to Durango where we had reservations at the 120 year old Strater Hotel. It was so beautiful inside. 93 rooms, 10 floors, and one tiny elevator. But this hotel has been beautifully restored to its original decor. We loved staying there.

Friday morning we got up, had breakfast at the hotel and then walked a couple of blocks to the train station. While we were sitting in the station waiting to board, a class of about 30 noisy little first graders walked in. Fortunately, they had a car of their own. I daresay our car was much quieter. We rode the train about 15 miles up to Cascade Canyon where it was all snowy and cold. The top speed of this narrow guage rail train is about 15 mph and going uphill, I think even I could out-distance it. But this was such a fun ride. We had a car attendant that was very informative and entertaining and friendly. She was great. And, we got hot chocolate and pastries on the way.

Robert, inside the train car.

The canyon gets pretty narrow in places. This picture shows how close the train gets to the canyon wall.

Comin' around the mountain.

The scenery was sooooo beautiful! We could walk through the cars, into other cars. The one in front of ours was an open car. We would go out and get photos and then come back into our car where it was warm.

Look at that happy, handsome face!

Another shot of the close canyon wall. Our attendant told us that there are a couple of places where the train gets within 1 inch of the rocks. You kind of need to keep your hands inside the car.



I LOVE SILVERTON!

Oh my gosh, I fell in love with this tiny, quirky town! Can you see it neslted there at the base of the 14,000 foot mountains?? Silverton is home to about 1500 people in the summer time and about 500 in the winter. We spent Friday night at the Teller House Hotel. Another 100+ yr. old building. The people we met in Silverton were...... let's just say colorful. The 22 yr. old guy that served us our dinner was afraid of Mormons, that was kind of funny. I think he thought we might steal him away and force him into worship. He was reading a Glen Beck book, but I don't think he knew that Beck is a Mormon.

Ya, interesting folks, but look at these views!

Saturday, we drove to Mesa Verde National Park to see the ancient cliff dwellings of the Anasazi and Pueblo Indians.

Now, this was something Robert was pretty excited about, but I really didn't care if we saw them or not. But, it was his birthday, so I decided we would do whatever he wanted to do. This turned out to be one of the most awesome things I have ever seen! These dwellings are incredible. I didn't want to leave. Most of the dwellings were closed because it was winter, but we got some great pictures. And, we got to walk right to one of them with a guide.

After a yummy dinner at Lotsa Pasta, we spent Sat. night in Cortez and then on Sunday, made our way slowly home by way of Shiprock, AZ. It's just a big rock. Not really worthy of a picture, but here you go.

Anyway, it was a fantastic trip. We had so much fun! We would recommend this trip to everyone.