July 4th in Durango, Colorado

Red Mountain Pass between Ouray and Silverton, Colorado

What a breathtaking drive!

Our nation's Independence Day has been a favorite holiday of mine since childhood – summer, watermelon, ice cream, hot dogs, cooking out, parades, family, friends, fireworks – The Works!  But on the road and away from friends and family, this holiday can be less than ideal and plans must be made way in advance.  We made reservations over a month ago to be sure that we would have a place to stay for this year’s long Fourth of July weekend.   Even a month in advance we had a hard time finding a campground with openings and barely snagged the last spot at the KOA in Durango.  We don’t go camping so we can be with hundreds of others, but it is unavoidable on this particular holiday.

 

Telluride, Colorado

A really big ATV driving main street Silverton, Colorado

We rolled into the KOA in our very muddy RV and car and noticed eyes rolling from the employees.  David offered the man who escorted us to our campsite (coincidentally near the very back of the campground?) a nice tip if he would wash the RV and he just laughed at us.  He told us a story about driving cross country in rainy weather and how his RV looked almost as bad as ours.  We had to admit  that we wouldn’t have been glad to see us either.  Our car and RV had never been this filthy in all our 4-plus years of RVing.  As most campgrounds do not allow washing your RV or car in the park, finding a car wash was our first order of business.

 

The San Juan Skyway between Ouray and Silverton

It had been raining in the mountains and the road had its own waterfalls.

It took all the next day to get our vehicles, clothes and selves presentable again but we did it.  We no longer felt like the scum of the campground.  After all that hard work, we had 2 days to enjoy the holiday festivities.  On the third of July, we took a loop drive from Durango west and then north to Telluride and then back down through Ouray and Silverton.  This drive is known as the San Juan Skyway and is a spectacular drive through some of the most beautiful parts of Colorado.  From colorful rock formations to jagged mountain peaks through deserted mining areas and some very scenic old towns, the San Juan Skyway is quite a drive.  Some of it is even a little scary if you are afraid of heights.

We stopped at the Bear Falls pullover and learned about the geological

formations and how the road was engineered over the waterfall.

The San Juan Mountains consist of older Precambrian

shale and limestone and newer volcanic layers of rock.

The rippled rock on the left is the older Precambrian formation.

The bottom of the canyon at Bear Falls

Usually the water is clearer but rain runoff made things muddier.

Today we spent July 4^th in Durango.  We had breakfast at the Durango Diner, a popular local establishment located downtown, then walked to the train station to see off the 8:30 passengers on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gage Steam Train.  It is an all-day train trip from Durango to Silverton through the mountains and then back down again.  One of these days we may take the trip and the Fourth of July would be a great time to do it.

 

Our breakfast cooking at the Durango Diner

It is an old diner and you can sit at the counter and watch the cook make your food.

The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gage Train

All aboard!

Happy July 4th!

After seeing the train off, we took a walk along the Animas River Trail which runs for many miles along the river both in the city and quite a way north as well.  There was a 10-K run this morning along the trail but we waited until it was over before we took our 10-K walk.  Many rafters were out on the river and we enjoyed watching them crash into rocks and turn in circles.  A few smug kayakers glided by showing up the rafters.  It would have been a fine day for floating the river too.  But we were happily enjoying our sight-seeing and walking with Maya.  Another time and perhaps we will do a raft or train trip.

 

Rafting the Animas River that runs through Durango

Dog walker on the Animas River Trail

With all the walking, we were working up an appetite again (funny how that happens) so it was off to get some seriously Texas BBQ at Serious Texas BBQ!  The food was very good and we tried both the peach and blackberry cobbler.  David was impressed that they had Shiner Bock beer. 

 

We saw this BBQ place and thought we had to try it for the Fourth of July

It was seriously good!

Now we are back at the campground settling in for the night.  Fireworks will start soon and that will be a bit of a trial for Maya.  She does like everything else about the holiday.  Tomorrow we are going back to the forest again for several days near the Lizard Head Wilderness.  We are looking forward to getting above the timberline for the first time this summer. 

Hope you all had a very Happy Fourth of July!