The "Joint" part of the Joint Expedition West has nothing to do with funny hand-rolled cigarettes.
After visiting Mesa Verde, we headed for nearby Durango, Colorado. There we checked into our motel and anxiously awaited the arrival
of Becki and Randy Crowell, who would overlap the first part of their vacation out west with the last part of our vacation out west.
Durango is an old railroad town, so its a good thing they have an old railroad still running. The Durango & Silverton
Narrow Gauge Railroad has been running since 1879. It's a great ride, sitting in an open gondola car, hearing the train
whistles and the chugging of the steam engine, watching the fantastic scenery roll by, and occasionally wiping a cinder
from your eye. Mom and Dad rode the train a couple of times, and it was one of Dad's most favorite vacation memories.
http://www.durangotrain.com
The train runs through the valley of the Animas River.
The train sometimes gets kinda close to the rocks and the edge of Animas Canyon.
We stopped in Silverton for about a hour, just long enough to grab some lunch and maybe hit a couple
of the shops. Not surprisingly, Linda managed to find a yarn shop. She had to be dragged back to the train.
The steam engine is the embodiment of raw power. These photos do not do it
justice. You have to smell the smoke, hear the chugging and touch the metal.
Randy and I are just close friends. "42!"
Next...To Hell You Ride
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