North to Alaska: Day 56

Welcome! Day 56/57 (Oct 03/04) of North to Alaska

Quote: Chocolate doesn’t ask silly questions, Chocolate understands. Seen on a wall in Silverton, CO.

Sometimes one just needs some chocolate.

The day of the train. Day 56 we used as a travel day from Blanding UT. Blanding to Durango takes about 2 hours, but we took a longer drive and visited Four Corners. The only place in the US were four states touch. It is on the Navajo Reservation so it did not shut down with the government. It does not take long to see, but there is a structure where Indian jewelry and other trinkets are sold as well as the marker for the four corners. Since we had time I am glad we stopped. It is on the agenda for next summer’s trip with the grandkids as is a ride on the Durango Silverton Train which we rode on Day57. We took the bus up to Silverton and rode the train back to Durango. The bus up was not crowded and the driver was a good tour guide. We passed over two summits, one just over 10,000 feet and the other 11,150 feet. We did not really feel the altitude. The highest elevation on the train is Silverton just over 9,000 feet. The night before our arrival in Silverton the temperature dropped below freezing and they had some snow. Most was gone by 11:30 when we arrived. Due to rode conditions the bus stops running around Oct 6 while the train keeps going until Oct 25. Our train was scheduled to leave at 2:30 for 3 ½ hour trip the bus makes it in 1 ½ hours. On some sections the train travels at 5 mph because of some sharp curves. Proving it is a small world, we shared a table with a couple from Euless. They live about 2 miles form us. While the train ride was long, the scenery was great, I did enjoy the trip and look forward to next year when we do it again on our grandkid trip.

We explored Silverton and ate lunch, eating lunch was the best part, exploring part was just walking thru all the shops. We ate at Natalia’s Restaurant established 1912. You could order from menu or eat from the buffet. We chose the buffet and all the food I tried was very good. It was a good choice.

It was a good day. Tomorrow we will spend the night in Las Cruces.