Day 8

 This may be my shortest blog ever. My wonder spouse and I spent most of today driving south east across New Mexico. We left Grant's at about 10 am as planned and arrived at Carlsbad about 4 pm. The scenery was nice, much the same as yesterday and the drive was uneventful which is the way we like it. I did get a delicious frozen coffee drink at one of our stops and we had very good French dip sandwiches at McAlister's Deli. Just a driving day in other words. Tomorrow we will explore Carlsbad caverns which should be much more exciting. Thanks for checking in. 

Day 7

 Today was a good day with a drive to Chaco Canyon to view rocks and ruins, and that was a good experience. But the most amazing part of the day started at 4:00am. 

My wonder spouse had reserved a hogan in a dark place for us to stay in last night, hoping that we would see stars.  Since we live in a city, with lots of ambient light, we seldom see any stars at all.  We arrived after dark and it really was very, very dark. Sadly, it was also overcast and spitting rain. So we went to bed, happy to be staying there but disappointed at the lack of stars.  Then the most amazing thing happened. I woke up at 4:00am, looked out the window, and discovered that the sky had cleared and was ablaze with stars. I woke my wonder spouse and we rushed outside to stand in awe, absorbing the silent splendor of the infinity of stars shining down on us. My spouse even saw a meteor. It was a night we will always remember. 

Day 6

 Today was a long day of train riding, and being tourists in a small town. We boarded the Durango to Silverton narrow gauge train, pulled by a genuine steam engine, at 8:30am for the three and a half hour train ride to the small, historic, tourist friendly town of Silverton, high in the mountains. The train ride was lumpy and bumpy, and our car swayed from side to side,  but the scenery was magnificent, also a bit scary at times because of the steep dropoffs on both sides. Silverton was a bit of a disappointment because it is the end of their season and many shops were already closed. On the positive side this probably saved me some money. We did manage to find a good place for lunch, and some excellent ice cream. We boarded the train again at 2:30pm and made it back to Durango by 6:15. At which time my wonder spouse and I got in our car (so much more comfortable than the train) and headed south. After an hour and a half of driving we came to a hogan where we are spending the night. This is in a very dark isolated place where we hoped to see a sky full of stars. Alas, it's raining. Ah well, the best laid plans and all that. Tomorrow is another day.

Day 5

 Today was an almost but not quite kind of day. Our goal was to go to Mesa Verde which we did. We drove the twisting climbing road into Mesa Verde National Park, which was an adventure all on its own, with glorious views and steep drop offs. We were told that it would take 75 minutes to drive the 20 miles from the park entrance to the overlook and it did. We made it in plenty of time to take the 45 minute guided tour but when we arrived at the overlook which had a fantastic view of the remains, my wonder spouse and I looked at the steep walk down, considered the four ladders needed to climb out again and decided not to make the descent. We spoke to the ranger, who had just arrived, about our decision, and, when she told us that the 45 minute tour didn't include the climb back out, we decided that our decision to just admire from afar was the right one for us. It was still a beautiful day and I will have some great pictures to post when I get back to my computer. 

By the way, a great supper at a little restaurant called Millie's on the way back to our hotel in Durango afded to the fun of the day. 

Day 4

 Today we left Walsenberg and drove to Durango Colorado. We drove the whole distance on highway 160, which was scenic all the way. It was a beautiful sunny day and the golden Aspens shone vibrantly against the dark green pines and gray rock faces. It was a picture perfect drive especially with snow capped peaks showing up on every side. We arrived in Durango about 3:00pm and spent the rest of the day exploring the old city, eating at a local bar and watching an old steam engine puff into view. All in all a lovely relaxing day, topped off with gin and tonics at our hotel bar. A free welcome treat from the establishment. Tomorrow it's back to sight seeing. We must be up early so heading to bed now. 

Day 3

 Today was a study in contrasts. We left Salina Kansas this morning about 10am. During the first three hours of the drive it was very, very windy with trucks and cars struggling to stay in their lanes on the interstate as the wind blew straight across the highway over the flat lands of Kansas. Giant windmills dotted the countryside for miles. After we got off the interstate we decided we needed a break so we stopped at an IHOP for a late brunch, so delicious. Soon after that we got off the interstate and proceeded on regular roads southwest into Colorado. The afternoon drive was so different from the morning drive. We drove, well my wonder spouse drove and I navigated, into Colorado on the quietist roads you can imagine. We drove for hours with hardly anyone else on the road, through occasional small towns with towering grain elevators, and watched in awe as the scenery changed from the flat lands of Kansas to our first views of the mountains. Still lots of giant windmills and about an equal number of oil wells, but flanked by mountains. This evening we are staying in Walsenberg Colorado and celebrated our safe and serene arrival here by going to a local pizza place called Gub Gub. It was delicious pizza, the final contrast of the day. IHOP crepes and Gub Gub classic pizza, so different, yet both so good. 

Day 2

 Today was a travel day from St. Louis, MO to Selina, Kansas, about 6 hours of actual driving time.  No real tourist activities although we did have a delicious lunch at a Steak & Shake along the way.  We tried their new tallow fried potatoes, every bit as good as advertised, and the burgers were great too. At a stop for gas we bought a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle, an appropriate souvenir for us. In the evening we ate supper at Schlotzky's Deli. That was a new experience for me so I guess it was a kind of touristy day after all. More driving tomorrow, then we will get into the really exciting parts of the trip. Stay tuned.