On to Colorado

Late summer 2018.  As we leave the Texas August heat behind us (it was 100+ degrees when our Alaska flight landed yesterday) and head toward Colorado, we make a couple of stops along the way to avoid driving straight through and to mark some things off the bucket list.  We met back up with our Alaska traveling companions in Amarillo.  They are heading to the next TBM (Texas Baptist Men) Camp Builder project with us in Durango, Colorado.

One thing about a bucket list I have observed is that it seems to grow instead of shrink.  As you go about exploring and going on adventures to check off things on the list, you invariably find more things to add to the list.  There just doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day or even enough days to see and do everything.

David and I do not like to drive too long at a time; and now that we are retired, try to plan our trips with some built in recovery time.  So we spent a few days in Amarillo after a couple of days driving.  We took in the outdoor drama, "Texas Our Texas", in Palo Duro Canyon along with the BBQ dinner available prior to showtime.  It was quite the production with live animals, laser lighting features, water features, set changes and fireworks during the finale.  Everyone enjoyed the whole evening immensely.

The outdoor amphitheatre at Palo Duro Canyon

Two lovelies at the Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo

The next stop was in Albuquerque, NM.  We have been here before for the hot air balloon fiesta and wanted to revisit some favorite spots plus do some additional exploring.  One trip was to ride the tram to Sandia Peak.  Sandia is a ski resort adjacent to Albuquerque and the temperature difference between the base of the tram (6,500 feet) and the peak (10,700 feet) is quite remarkable.

What a view of Albuquerque in the distance.

After our adventure up the mountain, some good ‘ole red chili sauce or if you prefer green chili sauce is in order to warm us back up.  El Pinto restaurant is a great place to sample the New Mexico version of Mexican food.  Each weekday there is a lunch buffet which allows a diner to sample the various types of cuisine and sauces available.  Oh yeah, there is a nap in your future if you indulge.

Those are chilis hanging in the entrance

On another day, we visited the Unser Racing Museum.  The Unser family is well known in racing circles and in particular the NASCAR folks.  I did not know they had lived in the area and called Albuquerque home.  We also did not realize the Pike’s Peak run was where they first tested their racing abilities, both driving and building the cars used for the run.  Even non-racing fans would enjoy the museum and history shared with the exhibits and cars on display.

Even the girls enjoyed these cars and exhibits

Here's David trying his skills at racing - it's harder than it looks!

Having exhausted our free time, it is now time to move onto our ultimate location in Durango, CO.  We are volunteering for a few weeks to help rebuild some unsafe stairs on a bunkhouse and build a freestanding bathroom facility.  When we show up for these jobs, all materials and tools are at the job site.  We merely provide the labor to accomplish the desired renovation or complete a building project.  It is always great fun to reconnect with our peeps and have something to show for our efforts.

View from our vantage point

Some neighbors that dropped by frequently

The rest of the neighbor family - they are a little stand offish

Before demolition

During demolition

After rebuild and the end result

Our crew for the two jobs at Durango

The Siding Crew for the free standing bathroom - not too bad guys!

We were blessed with this double rainbow complete from end to end on final days in Durango

While at the camp, we had time to visit a Texas (yes in CO) BBQ joint, a home cooking café with great chicken fried steak (yes in CO too), the Bar D Chuckwagon Show, ride the Durango and Silverton train and visit Mesa Verde National Park.  So you see, it is not all work.  There is a lot of play involved too.

The Bar D Chuckwagon Show is an outdoor dinner theatre (located at the old Dalton gang hideout) with old west cowboy music as the entertainment.  We really enjoyed the food and the show.  It is an amazing feat to feed the number of folks that show up and in such an orderly, efficient manner.  The musicians are some of the finest on their instruments I have heard with a wonderful mix of comedy and singing.

Mesa Verde National Park is where some of the best preserved cliff dwellings are located.  The vistas and views are spectacular.  We only spent a day there but easily could have spent several days exploring in detail the various areas located in the park.  It is amazing to learn about the daily lives of the humans using their skills to survive and prosper in seemingly hostile terrain.

One of the cave dwelling sites

A close up view of the dwellings, notice the multi story aspect too

The train ride to Silverton and back was filled with rugged mountain scenery.  We chose to ride in an open car so we could take pictures and hang out the windows to get a full view of everything we passed.

What vistas and scenery we saw

So happy to be alive and blessed to see what I am seeing

Our traveling buddies needed to repair the slide mechanism on their rig so we spent an extra week in Durango after the building project to make sure the slide was operating smoothly before moving on.  Our next route is westward.  We were within 60 miles of seeing the Grand Canyon the last time we were in Arizona but an emergency family situation interrupted that trip.  Since we are so close, we decided to go back.  More on that adventure in the next posting.