7:00 PM
It has taken alllllllllllllll dayyyyyyyy to get on the road to Silverton.We had to come to Durango and get "stuff", go home and use the "stuff" to finish fixing the brackets Dan and Cotton Read made to fix a problem on the 5th wheel. Meanwhile, I did minor cleaning and got stuff together, said good byes, and we hooked up.
Then we had a couple of stops on th way out of Durango. Durango RV Park where we have been staying the past almost month is south of Durango. Silverton is north of Durango so it made sense to do the last purchases on the way through town.
We have been stocking up, mostly on non-perishables for our 3 months in Silverton.We probably won't come to "town" (Durango) often. Maybe once a month. Prices are much higher in the only store in Silverton because they have to truck things in even further than Durango trucks them in.
It was a little hard to say goodbye to the friends we made quickly in Durango. Silverton is only about 60 miles away so they might come visit us there. Bev's husband, George, works on the train. They came from California, left his business for the second summer in a row, to work on the train.He loves it. Bev does quilting for part of her living so she has been getting rea dy for fall classes; sewing most days while George is on the train. They had a good friend, Peter, who is here for the week. He is a retired gentleman, originally from England.Great fun. I'll miss Janet, Greg, Karla, Jim, and Danny as well. I do so hope that thye make it up. I've never met hardly anyone who I didn't really like in the few RV parks we've been to so far.
Everyone has a story. Don't know most of them. Some are characters. Some friendly. At one park, Dan even met a self-professed smuggler! She smuggles Bibles into China twice a year! Sad that she has to take that risk but it is great that she does.
Looks like we will get some rain on the way up. The mountains are almost smokey with the rain ahead of us. Some good lightning as well.
Almost to Coal Bank Pass.Rain is so heavy we can hardly see the nearby mountain.The lightning is incredible. Don't usually see so much during the day.Lots of repeated strikes within a second of each other. Occasionally there is one that looks like it originates in two different places and joins and then goes to the ground. Fortunately, it isn't cold so we don't have to sworry about ice and snow. They keep 550 open year round but it could be difficult in freezing weather. It is a mostly two lane road that winds up the mountain. Seldom any guardrails-that's Colorado for you. But it is a well paved road and extremely scenic.
I'm ready for the next step in our adventure on the road. Stay turned.
In the meantime, here are a few pictures I took a day or so before we left Durango.
Durango Sunset July 07 A small forest fire north of here added just enough haze to make a fantastic sunset! (See the bird flying just to the left of center?)
And flowers abound at Durango RV Park...in any old wheelbarrel, wagon, or mining cart!
Lindie Hunt