Durango Colorado

Saturday, June 19th, we loaded up our stuff and headed to Durango, Colorado. When we got into town it was still too early to go to the campground, so we went into town. It turned out they were having a street fair. The boys got to try riding unicycles, make their own bouncy balls, and I got a fine neck massage. We ate lunch while listening to a gypsy band. Then we headed out to our campground. We stayed in a nice RV park called Riverside RV Park. It was right on the Animas River. The only issue with that place was the mosquitoes! We set up camp and played a bit in the VERY cold river. The boys went to the outdoor movie, while Marcus and I got reorganized. The next day was Father's Day. We took a bus to Silverton, Colorado. Our guide was quite a kick. He was very enthusiastic about his topic. He gave us many comparisons to consider about the height of the mountains in Colorado. The bus took the high route over two passes to get to Silverton. The views were great! Once in Silverton, we piled into a jeep and headed for Old 100 gold mine. They had sluce boxes set up for panning and the boys got gold fever enough to put their hands in that freezing water to find their flecks of gold. I was the photographer and baggy holder. They did indeed get some. Next we suited up in hard hats and bright yellow waterproof coats and piled into an ore car to head deep into the mountain to the mine itself. Our guide was an old crusty man with a dry sense of humor. He demonstrated how the equipment worked from hammer and steel all the way to hydraulics... He showed us the techniques of placing the dynamite to get the most effective blast. It was great.

After the tour we went back into Silverton where we had lunch and did a bit of sightseeing. Then we boarded the train for the ride back. The train took the lower route back, right next to the Animas River. It was such beautiful country!! It was a 3 1/2 hour trip back. When the train got into town, we were amazed that pretty much everyone stopped to wave at the train. We would have thought that they would have gotten tired of doing that long ago, but it made it quite fun for us!

Quote from Derek about the mosquitoes during the outdoor movie night: "The mosquitoes were lined up on my leg like a free buffet!"