Wednesday - breakfast with John and Ann, said our good byes and big thanks for their warm hospitality!
Ann, McGregor, John
We drove 2.5 hours to Antonito stopping in Pueblo for a Starbucks fix and few things at WalMart. Had lunch at Lu's Diner in Blanca, CO and onto our friends' Kathy and Dave's gorgeous home in the mountains 20 miles outside Antonito. We have not seen them in many years (Dave and Mark worked together at State Farm). Such a surprise to find that they live just 3 miles from Rainbow Trout Ranch where we'll be next week with our family. So much to catch up on......and a great dinner of elk burgers, corn-on-the-cob, broccoli salad, wine and all topped off with delicious small fried pies (raspberry, cherry, apple and strawberry-rhubarb) from the Amish.
More visiting and then off to dreamland as we have an early rising tomorrow and big day ahead.
Thursday - Kathy fixed Mark a coffee-to-go and we were on our way before 7 AM driving to Chama, New Mexico (28 miles thru many twisty roads climbing higher and higher).. Arrived, checked in at the Chama train station and then boarded a bus for a 1 hour ride to Antonito. We boarded the parlor car of the Cumbres/Toltec Scenic Railway and ready for the 64-mile ride thru this glorious countryside. The weather was perfect, we had a fresh fruit plate and pastry (not as good as the Amish from night before but still quite tasty), coffee, etc. So much oohing and aahing at every twist and bend on the tracks.
At 12:45 we stopped in Osier, CO for lunch and oh my what a feast. Our choices were meatloaf or turkey with all the trimmings. We both chose turkey and it was "Thanksgiving in July". Absolutely delicious and so much. We passed on all the salads and desserts and thorough;y enjoyed the turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes/gravy, cranberries, green beans and warm rolls. This stop lasted 1 hour and we were on our way again.....Mark was just snapping away with the camera and ended up with 460 pics. We saw deer, antelope, elk, beef cattle and yaks.
Arrived back in Chama where our car was and Kathy and Dave were waiting for us at the train station. We walked to the Box Car for appetizers (we were still stuffed from lunch) and drinks. Then on back to their home...lots more chatter and at 9, we were oh-so-ready to call it a day! But what a wonderful experience and so glad we did this memorable train trip.
Our train car (parlor)
Our train coming 'round the bend
Sooo beautiful!
Lots of pretty wildflowers along the way.....Mark is not into flowers like me! This is pretty much it!
But pretty orange ones, lupine (blue) and yellow?
Ahhhh - our highest elevation we reached was at the Cumbres Summit Pass
10,015'
Awesome!
On the open-air car
Lo and behold, here I am in Sublette, New Mexico where we had a 5-minute stop for water to run the steam engine. Nothing else here!
My hometown is Sublette, Illinois
Friday - woke up to deep blue sunny skies and all this incredible beauty surrounding us. Breakfast with Kathy and Dave, packed up the car, hugs and big thanks for a wonderful time!
Kathy and Dave
View from their deck - the Conejos River flows just 100' from their home!
Off to Alamosa (1 hour northeast) where we'll stay the next 2 days. Nice little town and first stop was "The Roast", (a Kathy recommended coffee shop - at least 3 good ones in town). Very cute and of course, delicious coffee/latte. Mark and his I-pad hung out while I got a manicure by Randie ("Seafood, Eat It" ) who comes up with these crazy names of polish? We've had so much yummy Mexican fare lately, so decided to try some Chinese which Randie had said was really good for lunch. Well, just might be the best Chinese we've had! The name of the place is "May-Wa" Chinese and Vietnamese! Walked around a bit and then stopped for some piddlies at Walgreens, got our dusty rental car washed, stopped at Kristi's Mountain Gear (recommended by Kathy) - fun place but just browsed. Checked into out hotel, unpacked and repacked organizing all our stuff.
Walked to Wal-Mart across the street to get some water and have our sunglasses adjusted (tighten the screws) at their vision center. Back to hotel.....catching up with the blog, reading and watching the weather channel and updates on "Barry". Had a little rain shower and strong winds blow thru.
Had that big Chinese lunch so just enjoyed some complimentary cookies here at hotel for supper. We went for a nice walk in the evening - so pleasant after the rain! Such a pretty little town (8,700) surrounded by mountains!
Nice ending to this day watching the 1975 movie "Rooster Cogburn" starring John Wayne and Katharine Hepburn. Beautiful western scenery - filmed in Oregon.
Look who arrived in Colorado this afternoon - boots and all! We'll see these cowgirls and cowboys tomorrow!!!
NC kiddoes
Meanwhile back in IL this Dude is ready for some fun on the ranch!
Enjoy your weekend! We are going to check out the Great Sand Dunes tomorrow!
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