Jett's Day 10: All Aboard!

Another beautiful Colorado morning. We had to get up bright and early in order to drive to Durango and catch the 9:45 am train to Cascade Canyon. It was about a 5 1/4 hour train ride that starts and ends in Durango. It follows the Animas River, through a valley then a gorge! 

During the trip, we stopped at a waterfall (they were filling up from a tank for the steam engine), so Jett got a good view of the waterfall.

But more of these tempting sights later! In fact, I took so many videos, I will have to create an iMovie and post it to YouTube, then post the link under the FB link. 

Mocha was making sure we enjoyed our breakfast.

This isn't our room, but it's a good example of their rooms.

Yikes! Ice on the windshield!

Our  train. Our car was the first yellow one.

Jett on the vintage car.

I was assigned the seat next to them, but they politely asked me if I could sit with Boppa. It was a tight squeeze. Fortunately there were several empty seats around us so we had our own seats. They were quite small for two.

Our conductor giving us the spiel.

Wildflowers.

The train ran next to a golf course while in the valley.

Stopped under a trestle to check the brakes before the climb.

First glimpse of the Animas River in the gorge.

If you sit near the front or the back of the train, you can take a picture of the rest of the train going around this curve.

Crossing a bridge, the engine let out steam and created a rainbow!

Dare you to jump off this rock!

We stopped for lunch and I finally got a good pic of the engine.

Lunch area

Pavilion for those who weren't lucky enough to find a table next to the river...

Like us.

Not today!

Someone has a great view!

"Silver Falls"

Columbine

Lots of wildflowers along the track.

Rock slide

Here's the curve again. This time I was able to get the engine.

More columbine

What is this creature sitting behind me?

A little stone critter a home owner put out.

See the skeleton?

Back to the valley

Looks what's on top of this vintage truck.

One of the put-ins for rafting. At the previous one, several guys MOONED us! It was hilarious. I wish I'd had my camera ready!

Back in town!!

Famous Stater Hotel. Paul's parents once stayed there.

And we're headed back home.

The city of Silverton!

This street was originally all saloons and brothels.

Natalia's 1912 Restaurant, where we ate dinner. It used to be a bordello. Their web page says, "We no longer provide those services."

Decor

Jett finishes the day with another ribeye and eschews the veggies!

We were exhausted. After dinner, we spent an hour in the parlor where I was able to upload these photos but waited until morning to finish. 

Hope you enjoyed the train trip with us!