Blog #16 – March 13-20

We made it to Durango!!!  It’s beautiful! It looks like a movie with the snow-capped mountains in the distance and the low brush, desert-y conditions in the foreground. 

Just to back up a little, we still had to finish up New Mexico before we hit Colorado. Here are some photos from Route 66. All you need is to see the falling apart pick up from the movie Cars.

Route 66 Photos – Tucamcari is a relic of times gone by

The sandy, deserts morphed into mesas and mountains and you get to the glory of … Albuquerque?  Well for some of us (okay me) it was be an oasis because Albuquerque has the last Trader Joe’s we’d see for a few weeks and held the the New Mexico Trader Joe’s bags which I wanted to add to my collection. For the third time in three states, I struck out. No NM TJ bags in stock.I must write corporate.  Supply chain issues? What a lame excuse (just kidding). At least we got items we “needed” for our trip. Who can live without vegan ceasar salad dressing and gyro slices, not to mention Everything But The Bagel spice.

We left New Mexico (Hasta La Vista baby) to be greeted by the Welcome to Colorful Colorado sign. Brush dotted deserts and red sand mesas recede into the rearview mirror. We headed gradually over a hill/mountain, through a pass and were hit with the awesome view of snow-covered mountains. It is overwhelming. I kept trying to get pictures but they are never the same as what your eyes take in. We arrived at our campground well before dark and set up the trailer and truck. Here are some photos of our view from the Oasis RV Park in Durango.

The next couple of days, David had tremendous work and I caught up on emails. We’re so grateful David’s AT&T hotspot is working well. We washed the truck and Airstream in the only car wash in town with the turning radius we required. The rig is so salty from driving across the country, it probably needs two washes to get clean.  I got a lot of laundry done and thoroughly cleaned the inside of Airstream in anticipation of the arrival of (drum roll please) — Rachel and her fiancé Madison.  They came for my birthday!!!  

We ate at a really fine restaurant named after one of the 14,000-foot mountains in the area, Eolus. The restaurant decorated the table with little happy birthday foils and we had a terrific meal. It was great spending time with the kids who made the great trek from Arizona where Madison was stationed with the Nat’l Parks Department at the time.

The next day we tried a great local coffee shop, Upper East Side Coffee. It looked nothing like any coffee shop near 79^th and 3^rd.  We took the dogs to the 10-acre (!) dog park that only has a fence in one part using natural features to enclose the dogs. The Animas River borders one area and a steep slope sides the other. You HAVE to love a town with a monster dog park. We hiked with the pups and when they weren’t playing with the other canines.  It wasn’t as muddy as I thought it would be, but somehow the dogs got filthy running around with their new friends. I’m so glad I wore my rubber boots as we walked to a pet store nearby and washed the dogs in their professional grade tub. Even wearing an apron with the dogs in a stainless-steel sink, we got soaked. I want one of these in my next house!

The kids had some alone time and went to Pagosa Springs to soak in the eponymous (I love that word) baths. We’ve been to the town before. It’s about an hour away from Durango and it’s adorable. There’s another hot springs just north of Durango. It has a dozen or so individual soaking tubs and a full-sized pool. It changed ownership in the past few years and the new proprietors have really improved it.  Here are some photos from last year.

That night we went to one of Durango’s breweries, Carver. We got a little time to walk around the downtown, exploring book stores (who would have guessed!) and some of the outdoor stores. So much to see here. The downtown is so cute and has lots of varied types of stores, restaurants, independent coffee shops (we’ve only been to three so far), escape rooms, etc. Lots to see and do and basically all you need – as long as that’s not Target or Nordstroms. To keep the small town feel, the national chains are mostly outside of the town. I heard the town even rallied to keep Starbucks off Main Avenue! My kind of town!

While working out at our local Anytime Fitness is good for our health, the hikes we took this weekend are also good for our souls.  The views are breathtaking. We drove around through different areas including Ft. Lewis College, the local liberal arts university that sits on a mesa overlooking the town. 

I did get a couple of shots of the adorable small gauge railroad that runs tourists up to Silverton and Ouray (near Telluride) a couple of times a day. It is a great ride I’ve heard, especially the wine tours and Polar Express in December, and the steam whistle coming through town is a real throwback.

Durango is known for all the festivals it hosts. We found out about one at the local visitor’s center and got tickets. The finale of the Bach Festival on Saturday night was held at the local Episcopal Church. Both the concert and the church were wonderful. 

We went on another hike on Sunday. Surprisingly the trailheads are not full.  I think it may be the time of year – or it may be the fact that there is so much designated open space. SO many trails. SO many acres preserved for hiking, trail running, mountain biking and other outdoor activities. If you are outdoorsy at all, this is the place for you.  Or if you like the arts, it’s also your spot. I counted four galleries in town so far. And live music is available at multiple venues every night. Not to mention the annual independent film festival. Basically, lots of culture here. 

Bought eggs at the local natural foods coop.  I miss my chickens and bees but heard they may attract bear.  It’s a problem around the country, pretty much everywhere but Long Island.  I’ll have to work hard to make sure they are not attracted to any livestock friends I eventually raise.  Electric fences make good wildlife neighbors.

Burying the Lede/Lead (not the metal, the beginning)

I am the queen of burying the lede (the proper way of spelling it if you are referring to the beginning of an article). Maybe I’ll delve into this a little bit more in the next post but it’s the crux of our travels. People keep asking me if we want to live here. Durango is on our short list, but one of the main challenges we see is traveling to and from. There is a great regional airport, but flying to see our kids (or vice versa) will require at least one stopover. Hmmm…  And the drought is just something people deal with.  On the plus side, if we move here, it will rain much more often. Attracting precipitation is one of my super powers.

Well, that’s plenty for now.  Keep those cards and letters coming.