Our next location, Colorado (meaning “colored red”), is referred to as the “Centennial State”. I was fortunate to have visited my parents when they resided in the Colorado mountains many years ago and Steve also visited this magnificent landscaped state with his mom in 1991. There is just something about Colorado that makes my spirit feel good. We did not travel north to the rockies this trip, but did make pit stops in Durango and Mesa Verde National Park.
For over 700 years the Ancestral Pueblo people built thriving communities on the mesas and in the cliffs of Mesa Verde, surviving on hunting, gathering, and subsistence farming. Pueblos were built on the mesas starting sometime after 650. By the end of the 12th century construction began of massive cliff dwellings. It is thought that following a period of social and environmental instability driven by a series of severe and prolonged droughts these dwellings were abandoned and the residents moved south to locations in Arizona and New Mexico.
Durango, CO was the perfect image of an old west gold mining mountain town and home to the historic Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railway. During our limited time there we explored the town’s shops, visited the Durango & Silverton Railroad Museum, and rambled along the Animas River Trail.
Our isolated boondock campsite on the way to Durango. We woke up to below freezing temperatures, the coldest so far on our adventure and beginning stretch of uncomfortably frigid nights.
Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Train
The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum offered a comprehensive and fascinating history of railroading, transportation, and mining with people from around the world.
A perfect autumn day in Durango! The Animas River Trail took us through Rotary Park, the Durango Fish Hatchery, and the Durango Botanic Gardens.
So long Colorado, we have such wonderful memories - rolling on to New Mexico. Thank you to everyone still following along as we continue our journey!
Coddiwompling “To Travel in a Purposeful Manner Towards a Vague Destination”
“You don’t need missionaries in Colorado: you got Colorado.” -Trey Parker
https://www.nps.gov/meve/index.htm - Mesa Verde National Park Information
Link to Steve’s music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4fW5lsWiZG5TcOlhukK4pu?si=2NngXMjoR7mUJLreexbIAw&utm_source=native-share-menu (Let me know if you are interested in purchasing a CD/$10)