Monday July 23, 2012

We got up early this morning and got on the road.  It is only 47 miles to Durango, but there was some road construction and we didn’t want to be late.  We took the narrow gauge steam train from Durango to Silverton (3 ½ hours one way).  It rose from Durango at 7000 feet elevation to Silverton at 9200 feet.  It was a lot of fun, but I can certainly understand why people complained about riding the train in the old days – we were covered in soot!  We had some great views of a river (the Animas) with lots of rapids most of the way and passed mountains and canyons. We also passed through the San Juan National Forest.  We saw someone go by on a zipline and a glider in the sky.  When we got to Silverton we had two hours for lunch, which left us plenty of time after eating to look around this small Western town.  There was a 10-year-old boy near the station who was selling rock samples out of a wheelbarrow.  Dave bought a piece of polished agate.  Back on the train, we saw views from the other side of the train.  Everyone had a good time, but we did hit some rain on the way back to town.  We drove a few blocks to our hotel and then went to the restaurant next door for a light dinner.  Alex and Dan had buffalo wings and it was worth the price of admission to watch them eat them!  They were very spicy and the boys had watery eyes and sweaty brows as they ate their full.  They each went through lemonade, a couple glasses of water and a glass of milk.  Dan said they should use the sauce instead of Novocain when having dental work done!  Alex said they were the spiciest things he has ever had and he ate twice as many as Dan!  We walked back to the room and we are cycling everyone through the shower.  Theo will be last as he wore flip-flops on the train and his feet are BLACK!  I will read a chapter of our book tonight and then we will all go to sleep.  We are heading back east tomorrow.