Durango to Silverton scenic train ride

Yesterday was the big rain ride. We chose to ride both the up and return rides in the open car which happened to be the third car behind the engine. If you have never ridden one of these, you need to know you do not want to wear white, or any light colors for that matter. By the end of the day we had cinders and soot everywhere: shoes, shirts, bras (mine!), jackets, ears, eyes...etc. It is the only way to truly experience the old steam engines!!

It starts out in downtown Durango and heads through a couple of neighborhoods, and eventually hits the more wooded part of the ride. It slowly makes it way for 31/2 hours up to Durango. Along the way it picks up and drops off families and groups of hikers. It winds along the beautiful Animas River and stops every now and then for water. At times it comes incredibly close to rock walls and over very narrow bridges.

Once at Silverton everyone gets off and spends time shopping and eating. It is a very small town with one paved main strip and the rest on dirt roads, but is very tourist friendly. In fact all along the train route people wave at those on the train. I don't think it ever gets old, even to those from the area.

We are now in Garden City, Kansas and heading back home. We stopped at Great Sand Dunes National Park on Colorado on the trip. We started at 7:30 with a temperature of 55 and hit 104 degrees in Kansas- hot!!

At the Dunes, people came with cardboard, sandboards and saucers to slide down the sand. It is a 11/2 mile hike to the top and a long slide to the bottom. We weren't dressed for the occasion as you can see,but would loved to have hiked to the top and slide down. The Medino Creek flows through the bottom making a great place for little ones to play in the sand. It was only about and inch or two at the deepest point.