Durango

Labour Day weekend meant that we had three days, so we decided to use this opportunity to travel down and see the Black's, who are her on exchange from Wollongong. They are based in Bayfield, which is just outside Durango, in the south west of Colorado.   It is a little over six hours drive, so Phil got cover for his last two classes, and we got the boys out of school early, and headed off.

On our first day there, we took it pretty easy.  Warren and Phil went down to the diner for breakfast, as Warren wanted Phil to try a breakfast burrito.  Apparently it was huge, and comes smothered in green chilli sauce - nice way to start the day.  The diner is a bit of an icon though, as it is all decked out in typical American style, and it has Towmata and an old police car sitting out the front, 'Cars' style.  Their house backs onto the Elementary school, and the boys all went over there for a game of cricket.  Quinn was not really up for it, but was happy to be chauffeured around by Astrid, in her cool girlie bike, with a trailer at the back, a perfect size for Quinn!

We went into Durango in the afternoon, and Phil and Warren took the boys to the Science Museum - they have William who is the same age as the boys, and Sue and I and the girls went and had a look around the town.  It is a really quaint little town, but there was a bikie get together for Labour Day weekend, and there were bikes everywhere, which you can see in the picture of the main street here.  We all met up again back in Bayfield, and went to the local Mexican place for dinner, where they serve massive margaritas.  Sue and I both got a mango margarita, which was OK - but it beat me!  Sue is a bit of a margarita queen, but I couldn't even get through this one.

The next day was an early start, as we had to be on the train by 7.30am, for an 8am departure - and it was a half hour drive in to Durango.  We made it and boarded the train for our trip to Durango.  It is the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railway, and was built in 1881 to haul silver and gold ore from the San Juan Mountains.   It is a steam train, and the views through the mountains are just amazing, and make it the tourist attraction that it is today.  It has some open carriages, as well as the normal closed carriage which we were in.  The kids all wanted to be in the open carriages, but they stuck their head out the window enough, that they didn't need to, though you were free to move about.  They had so much soot all over them, in their eyes, and in their hair it was pretty disgusting - not that they cared.  They had to buy sunnies on the way up to keep the soot out!  Here are some pictures of the amazing scenery.

 

 

It was a beautiful ride up through the mountains, and the kids were all really good.  It was good that they were altogether, as they kept each other entertained!  It was about 3 hours up, and once we got there, we had about two hours to have a look around the town, and get some lunch.  It is a very touristy town, but pretty.  Apparently, a number of movies have been filmed here.  Our first stop was to get a funnel cake.  We had seen them at fairs, but had never tried one.  There is a café in Silverton called Rocky Mountain Funnel cakes, and the Black's had tried them here, and recommended them!  The boys had S'mores, and Warren and I had half berries and cream cheese.  Sue and Phil were being good - but they missed out, cause they were really yummy!  They are like a cake made out of doughnut dough, and then fried (very good for you) and then you could choose your topping.

 

We had a wander around the town, and then it was time to get back on the train for the journey back.

 

It was a long day, but lots of fun and great scenery.  We were lucky to have an amazing day, with beautiful blue skies, and there were no arguments when it came to bedtime.