Durango
July 12, Wednesday: Great Sand Dunes, CO to Durango, CO
I woke early and got some spectacular sunrise photos of the dunes. After breakfast, we returned to the dunes to get some more photos and to use the public phone at the visitor center to make some calls about the RV.
We returned to the campground and luckily, the RV decided to start again. As we were driving through Alamosa on our way to the mechanic, we had phone service, and I called a mechanic in Durango who agreed to look at it as soon as we arrived. We decided to skip the mechanic in Alamosa and try for Durango. The drive over Wolf Pass and through Pagosa Springs was beautiful, but we couldn’t stop anywhere, fearful the RV wouldn’t start. We found the RV mechanic just west of Durango. We had to park at the curb because there was not enough space in their lot and there the RV stalled and would not restart. The mechanics came out and got it going so we could pull it into the bay. We certainly were lucky we made it all the way to Durango without problems.
While the shop worked on the RV, we took the car and explored the town of Durango – an old cowboy town and home of the Durango-Silverton railroad. The train is an old-time steam narrow-gauge line that travels through a scenic canyon and then climbs up the mountains to the historic mining town of Silverton. We stopped at the train depot to pick up our tickets for the train ride we reserved for Friday.
We returned to the shop and were upset to find no one working on the RV. Jack talked to the shop owner and finally, they started diagnosing the problem and fixed it exactly at 5pm, when they happened to be closing. Hmmmmmmm. Lots of dollars later and claims to have fixed the problem by replacing some wires, we started the RV and pulled into the campground north of Durango. The campground is nice and the Durango-Silverton train runs right through the middle of it twice a day.
July 13, Thursday: Durango, CO
Today is Golf day for Jack at the Hillcrest municipal course. He played with a millionaire who has homes in Durango, San Antonio and Vail – tough life! I did laundry, caught up on the journal and email and sorted pictures.
After Jack finished playing golf, we ran some errands and then headed out to the Bar D ranch for a chuck wagon supper and western show. They did a great job – corny jokes and great western music plus the food was good and plentiful. Many of the people we met said they went to this show every time they came to town. What could be better than a beautiful night outdoors listening to music?
July 14, Friday: Durango, CO
Train Day! A fabulous clear day, so we’re very glad we booked the open Silver Vista car. The first class car was worth the extra cost as we had fabulous views in all directions and could get up and walk around (the regular cars require folks to stay in their seats so that no one’s views are restricted). 
The scenery was fantastic – soaring mountain peeks and a beautiful river tumbling through alternating meadows and steep-walled canyons. We took loads of pictures and a couple of videos.
The train ride ends at the old preserved mining town of Silverton, where we had a great lunch and strolled around the dirt-street town and visited the shops. When we got back to Durango around 5pm, we were filthy from the soot and cinders. 
We decided to have dinner right up the street from the train depot at the Bell Saloon in the old Slater Hotel. There was a 14 year old boy playing ragtime and he was unbelievably good. This was one a fabulous day.
July 15, Saturday: Durango, CO
A very hot day is forecasted, so we tried to play golf early at a 9-hole course in Ignacio. Jack’s back is hurting and the course was barely more than a cow pasture with holes, so we quit early. We went back to the RV where I did laundry and Jack did RV work. Then we walked around Durango, checking out the shops and had a good pizza at Mama’s Boy restaurant just north of downtown.
