This is a photo we took at White Sands and we think it needs to be titled. Do you have any suggestions?
Pam: Thanks for the Easter greetings!
Ann: Welcome to our blog! What do you prefer……your top up or your top down?
MARCH 22, 2008
Before leaving Bernalillo NM, we restocked our food supply and left for Aztec MN on Rt. 550 N. We drove along the edge of the Santa Fe National Forest through multi-colored mesas, sparse vegetation on more arid lands, at an altitude of 7000 feet. We passed through Cuba (did Marilyn lead us astray?) NM, a small town with a busy McDonald’s but otherwise run-down. Rt. 550 is like most of the roads we’ve taken this trip…..good road, 65-70 speed limits, where you have to slow down to go through all the small towns but where you can really see rural America. The shame is that these towns, with few exceptions, seem to be dying out. The interstate roads have bypassed these towns and all of the fast-food chains and economy motel chains that are clustered along the interstates are slowly squeezing out the local businesses. That’s why we see many abandoned and dilapidated houses and buildings.
We crossed the Continental Divide and encountered moon-like lava fields and then more desert dotted with oil and gas wells. When we arrived in Aztec NM, we went to the Aztec Ruins National Park (which is a misnomer because it was not the Aztecs who built the pueblo!) which was settled as far back as 500 AD by Native Americans. It is small and not nearly as grand as the other National Parks we’ve seen but it was interesting to see how these people lived.
We crossed into Colorado, still on Rt. 550, and the scenery changed immediately. In the distance we could see snow-topped mountains and as we climbed these mountains in the Ute Reservation everything was much greener. We passed many farms and cattle ranches. We had another wild life encounter as two very husky deer crossed in front of us!
We arrived in Durango mid-afternoon, walked around the historic part of the town, liked the feel of it and decided to stay two nights so we take the single gauge railroad tour of the mountains in the morning. We booked a hotel by phone and checked the map to see what sites were nearby. It was about 60 degrees so we put the top down and headed to Mesa Verde National Park about 30 miles away. Again we were amazed as we climbed to almost 9000 feet to the top of a beautiful mesa. Along the way we saw that ubiquitous road sign, “Beware of falling rock,” came around a hair-pin turn and barely missed a three foot boulder that had just fallen. We’ll pay more attention to those signs in the future!
At the top of the mesa, all of a sudden the beautiful forest turned into miles and miles of charred dead trees as far as you could see. There was a massive forest fire in 2004 that burned half of the park. A lot of the park is closed this time of year but we wanted to see the ancient cliff side pueblos so we stopped at the lookout only to find the road closed. A few others had parked there to hike down the closed road so we decided to follow. When we encountered a couple who had hiked for half an hour and seen nothing, we decided to forego the venture. Good thing! Peter had left his wallet on the roof of the car so, obviously, we weren’t meant to go on this hike! We did drive the 6 mile loop at the top of the mesa and were ecstatic to learn that it had lookouts from which we could see the pueblos built into the crevices of the canyon walls across the gorge. It was again remarkable to see how these people lived and to imagine them climbing to the top of the mesa each day to hunt, farm and then climb back down to home. And we complain about our commutes!
Back in Durango, we checked into our room and we found a funky local pizza place, Home Slice Pizza. Peter was in his glory and I had a great toasted eggplant parmesan sandwich.
MARCH 23, 2008
Happy Easter! We treated ourselves to a day when someone else did the “driving!” Stopped at Starbuck’s for an Easter coffee and proceeded to board the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Train consisting of antique cars and an antique steam engine in remarkable condition. As we left town, all of the crossings had people there watching the train and waving. We felt like we were on a float in a parade! One of the cars was open and, because it was another beautiful but cool day, we spent quite bit of the five hour roundtrip in the open air. The train went through the outskirts of Durango along the Animus River and then climbed into the San Juan Mountains into an area where there is no other access except on the train. The railroad was originally built in the 1800s to support the gold being mined in the area. At many points along the ride, the canyon walls were only inches from the train and in other places the track ran along the edge of the canyon wall with a 400-500 foot drop down to the river. It is not a ride for the faint of heart!
As we have throughout our trip, we met an interesting couple and their 4 year old son from Albuquerque. They were fun to talk to and gave us lots of travel tips for the northwest part of our trip. We may even look them up if we’re ever in Albuquerque again. Another couple gave us a recommendation for a restaurant in Durango, Ken and Sue’s, where we enjoyed our Easter dinner. Tomorrow the Million Dollar Highway and on into Utah! Durango CO is another addition to our “Don’t Miss List!”
Pam: Thanks for the Easter greetings!
Ann: Welcome to our blog! What do you prefer……your top up or your top down?
MARCH 22, 2008
Before leaving Bernalillo NM, we restocked our food supply and left for Aztec MN on Rt. 550 N. We drove along the edge of the Santa Fe National Forest through multi-colored mesas, sparse vegetation on more arid lands, at an altitude of 7000 feet. We passed through Cuba (did Marilyn lead us astray?) NM, a small town with a busy McDonald’s but otherwise run-down. Rt. 550 is like most of the roads we’ve taken this trip…..good road, 65-70 speed limits, where you have to slow down to go through all the small towns but where you can really see rural America. The shame is that these towns, with few exceptions, seem to be dying out. The interstate roads have bypassed these towns and all of the fast-food chains and economy motel chains that are clustered along the interstates are slowly squeezing out the local businesses. That’s why we see many abandoned and dilapidated houses and buildings.
We crossed the Continental Divide and encountered moon-like lava fields and then more desert dotted with oil and gas wells. When we arrived in Aztec NM, we went to the Aztec Ruins National Park (which is a misnomer because it was not the Aztecs who built the pueblo!) which was settled as far back as 500 AD by Native Americans. It is small and not nearly as grand as the other National Parks we’ve seen but it was interesting to see how these people lived.
We crossed into Colorado, still on Rt. 550, and the scenery changed immediately. In the distance we could see snow-topped mountains and as we climbed these mountains in the Ute Reservation everything was much greener. We passed many farms and cattle ranches. We had another wild life encounter as two very husky deer crossed in front of us!
We arrived in Durango mid-afternoon, walked around the historic part of the town, liked the feel of it and decided to stay two nights so we take the single gauge railroad tour of the mountains in the morning. We booked a hotel by phone and checked the map to see what sites were nearby. It was about 60 degrees so we put the top down and headed to Mesa Verde National Park about 30 miles away. Again we were amazed as we climbed to almost 9000 feet to the top of a beautiful mesa. Along the way we saw that ubiquitous road sign, “Beware of falling rock,” came around a hair-pin turn and barely missed a three foot boulder that had just fallen. We’ll pay more attention to those signs in the future!
At the top of the mesa, all of a sudden the beautiful forest turned into miles and miles of charred dead trees as far as you could see. There was a massive forest fire in 2004 that burned half of the park. A lot of the park is closed this time of year but we wanted to see the ancient cliff side pueblos so we stopped at the lookout only to find the road closed. A few others had parked there to hike down the closed road so we decided to follow. When we encountered a couple who had hiked for half an hour and seen nothing, we decided to forego the venture. Good thing! Peter had left his wallet on the roof of the car so, obviously, we weren’t meant to go on this hike! We did drive the 6 mile loop at the top of the mesa and were ecstatic to learn that it had lookouts from which we could see the pueblos built into the crevices of the canyon walls across the gorge. It was again remarkable to see how these people lived and to imagine them climbing to the top of the mesa each day to hunt, farm and then climb back down to home. And we complain about our commutes!
Back in Durango, we checked into our room and we found a funky local pizza place, Home Slice Pizza. Peter was in his glory and I had a great toasted eggplant parmesan sandwich.
MARCH 23, 2008
Happy Easter! We treated ourselves to a day when someone else did the “driving!” Stopped at Starbuck’s for an Easter coffee and proceeded to board the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Train consisting of antique cars and an antique steam engine in remarkable condition. As we left town, all of the crossings had people there watching the train and waving. We felt like we were on a float in a parade! One of the cars was open and, because it was another beautiful but cool day, we spent quite bit of the five hour roundtrip in the open air. The train went through the outskirts of Durango along the Animus River and then climbed into the San Juan Mountains into an area where there is no other access except on the train. The railroad was originally built in the 1800s to support the gold being mined in the area. At many points along the ride, the canyon walls were only inches from the train and in other places the track ran along the edge of the canyon wall with a 400-500 foot drop down to the river. It is not a ride for the faint of heart!
As we have throughout our trip, we met an interesting couple and their 4 year old son from Albuquerque. They were fun to talk to and gave us lots of travel tips for the northwest part of our trip. We may even look them up if we’re ever in Albuquerque again. Another couple gave us a recommendation for a restaurant in Durango, Ken and Sue’s, where we enjoyed our Easter dinner. Tomorrow the Million Dollar Highway and on into Utah! Durango CO is another addition to our “Don’t Miss List!”
2 comments:
You need to see Nick's favorite movie, "Cars". It's all about the towns along Route 66 that are dying out because they are being bypassed my the interstates...I bet Nick will let you borrow the movie when you get home!
You could name the photo "The Styx"...and the pun IS intended!
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