While looking down in the gorge from the middle of the bridge, along with a bus load of touristas, there were four hot air balloons coming up to the gorge and then they would dip down inside the gorge.JPG)
, out of sight. When we got back to the car, the balloons were emerging and climbing into the blue sapphire sky, colors glistening in the brilliant sun.Our drive started out in rolling hills and then mountains, beautiful, big valleys with large ranches and lots of horses and cattle. Some of foliage has begun to change to autumn colors, so there were bright yellow and gold patches along the way. At one point a cow wandered onto the road about 30 yards ahead of us and Opal covered her face and yelled “elk!” and then noticed it was a cow, ……. Then tried to convince me it looked a lot like an angus. (Well, what would you expect from a local girl whose familiarity with animals on the road is limited to mongooses. Yeah, that’s what she yelled at one point, swore it was not a squirrel but a mongoose, right!)
About half way thru the day we stopped at a place called Chama.....very rural and one end of a train ride. There were several neat shops with train memorabilia and lots of Indian crafts.
Chama is also a hub for back country hunting and fishing expeditions and hiking...it was very beautiful and relatively primitive area in the mountains.
A little later we passed thru Pagosa Springs - the main draw being the hot springs. It, too, is a jump off locale for fishing and hunting, hiking and horse trips, canoe and kayak trips on the river. Not as rugged as Chama, it was still a very beautiful and mountainous area.
Durango is a neat place to visit with its historic district. However, we were pooped so for dinner we went into the restaurant that was in our hotel, an Applebee’s. Surprise of surprises, the cowboy cheeseburger I had was excellent and the onion rings very good. Sitting at the bar, watching the late Sunday nite football, a very good meal indeed.
SLIDE SHOW
2007 SW 9-30
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