Category Archives: trains

Durango Colorado

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Where’s Durango Colorado?

Durango’s on my places to visit in Colorado but where is it? 

Durango is a small city in southwestern Colorado, near the New Mexico border.

In Durango you can hop a ride on the 19th-century Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad steam train that passes mountains and canyons.  Nothing like a ride on a federally designated National Historic Landmark! The train from Durango to Silverton has run continuously since 1881, although it is now a tourist and heritage line hauling passengers, it is one of the few places in the US which has seen continuous use of steam locomotives.

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Already I’m liking this. I love taking rides on vintage trains. Sandy and I had a great time taking an 1880’s train ride through the Black Mountains of South Dakota. 

Mesa Verde National Park

If taking a scenic and historic train ride doesn’t get you excited maybe exploring ancient ruins in Mesa Verde National Park will catch your interest. The entrance to Mesa Verde National Park is located about 35 miles west of Durango. Once you enter the park, the first view of a cliff dwelling is 21 miles along a steep, narrow, and winding road.  Ranger led tours  are recommended for some of the ruins. You can purchase tickets in person  at the Durango Welcome Center as well as in the park.  Today the park protects nearly 5,000 known archaeological sites, including 600 cliff dwellings.

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Rafting on the Animas

Maybe a rafting trip down the Animus river would be more to our liking. I went white water rafting in Canada on the Rive Rouge (Red River) when I was much younger. It was great fun but these days I’d be afraid of getting my camera wet. Even if we didn’t flip a raft the water splashing in the rapids would make it hard to keep equipment dry. Still maybe the rafting company provides souvenir photos? 

The Animus River offers class 3 rapids so they aren’t too bad. Maybe I’ll give this some more thought.

 

Wild West?

I also ran across a tour that might be interesting. Horsefly History Tours tells the tales of the Wild West and the characters and events that have shaped this town since it was founded in 1880. You’ll hear stories of gunfights, ghosts, “soiled doves” and madams, outlaws, and the town’s one and only legal hanging. That sounds like fun. After all, why go to the west if you don’t learn about the history?

The Great White North

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North to Denali

The farther north we went the easier it was to see that spring hadn’t really sprung yet. The scenery was spectacular but it was snow and ice. As the Denali Express rumbled over a trestle bridge we could look down into the steep chasm below. This was pretty rugged country.Trestle bridge shadow

raindeerA pair of caribou raced across a frozen river as we passed by. At one stop some mushers came on to talk to us about dog sledding. About that time someone spotted a coupled of grizzly bears fresh out of hibernation. They were just tiny dots in the distance. After the first excitement of the train ride wore off it began to get a bit long. Lots of people used the time to nap. The 9 1/2 hour trip seemed endless. Probably because it stretched to 11 hours before we pulled into the station in Denali.

 

Off the train and onto a bus

We all tumbled off the train and were immediately loaded onto a bus for the short trip to the Denali Princess Wilderness lodge.  The accommodations weren’t bad. And even if the weather was cold we had the warm Alaskan welcome to shake off the chill.

We didn’t have long to linger in the room because dinner was being served along with a stage show. The waitstaff were also the performers and they were amazing. After the show it was time to head to bed. The sun was just setting this far north but we had an early morning tour. We were going into the National Park. Hopefully we’d finally see some animals. Our park adventure was a half day tour. Turns out the best tour would have been the all day trip but once again we relied on our travel agent when selecting the excursion. 

Into Denali National Park

Our Tour Bus Awaits

In the morning after a huge breakfast at one of the resort restaurants (which were not included in the package) we climbed aboard another bus for our trip into Denali National Park. We began to see a little more animal life. There were a couple of moose and some caribou but no bears. We really wanted to see bears. When the all day tour returned they said they has bears surround their bus. Clearly we should have taken the longer trip. 

 

The Land Part of our CruiseTour

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Exploring the Land

Land and sea cruise tours are popular for Alaska. It’s such a big state. Loads of coastline for the “sea” but all that amazing interior. Some of it is really the last frontier. Look at all the TV shows. There’s Alaskan Bush People, Edge of Alaska, Life Below Zero, Alaska State Troopers, Wild West Alaska and the list goes on. Proof that Alaska is a fascinating place that has captured our imaginations. There was even a show about the Alaska Railroad. That’s how we planned to travel to Denali National Park, by train.

All Aboard the Princess Alaska Railroad

When you watch the Shows about Alaska, even the documentaries, the rail passengers are all seated in spacious rail cars, smiling and having a great time. On our itinerary we were arriving in Whittier in the morning but not boarding the train until the afternoon. There’d be time to explore this little town where everyone lives in one big building! Much of the ride would be at night since it was a 9 1/2 hour trip. That wasn’t what happened. We arrived in Whittier in the morning but we were sent immediately to the train. The seating was bench seats that faced each other with a table in between. Everything was bolted down so you couldn’t push back or move the table to get comfortable. With our carry-on luggage and bulky coats the seating was cramped. But it only got worse. Turns out that the seating wasn’t for 2 people. It was for 4!

The long and crowded ride

Our 9 1/2 hour trip actually turned into 11 hours. I did get a few photos and crawled over our seatmates a few times for bathroom breaks, a visit to the dining car and just to stretch my legs. The scenery was magnificent but it was hard to enjoy it when there was no room to turn around for a look. We had dome windows but it didn’t take too long to dampen any enthusiasm for looking out. This was very disappointing. Nothing like the experience we were told to expect. I found out after the fact that there is a commercial passenger train that goes to Denali but we weren’t on it. This train is owned and operated by Princess Cruise Lines. They packed us in like sardines so they could make a bigger profit. I can’t recommend this part of the journey.

Ports of Call

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Ports of Call on our Alaska Itinerary

If Vancouver is the first port of call, then we have 4 additional stops on our journey to the Big Land. There’s Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway and Anchorage. Three other locations of interest, although not ports, were Glacier Bay, Prince Williams Sound and College Fjord.

Port of Call, Ketchikan

It was raining in Ketchikan as we embarked on our shore excursion to Saxman Native Village. Here we witnessed a Native  American Ceremonial Dance and watched experienced totem pole builders carve their next creation. We learned that being on the bottom of the totem pole is not necessarily a bad thing! It’s the most honored position. We spotted out first bald eagle too.

 

 

 

Then there was Juneau

Juneau is the capital of Alaska but conducting business can be a challenge. There are no roads. Juneau can only be accessed by boat or plane! I have fond memories of Juneau. Although it was cold and still raining off and on, we did get a glimpse of blue sky. We took a very chilly boat ride looking for whales but the Stellar Sea Lions were the stars of the day. We saw a lot more Bald Eagles too!

While in Juneau we also hiked up to Mendenhall Glacier. It was an easy walk and the the glacier is beautiful. It’s well worth the hike.

Skagway, Alaska

Skagway, Gateway to the Yukon! Our excursion in Skagway was the White Pass and Yukon Railway. Seated in vintage train cars we followed in the steps of the Klondike Gold Miners. We were allowed to stand on the platforms between cars so we could look down into deep mountain gullies as we crossed trestle bridges and clung to the side of mountains. It was still raining and cold and it got colder the higher the train climbed.

At the end of the line a bus was waiting to take us across the Canadian border in the Yukon territory.

The “least” Favorite Vacation

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If I have a favorite vacation then I guess I should have a least favorite. Doesn’t mean it was bad, just not one I care to repeat.

That one would be the Amtrak vacation Sandy and I took that covered San Antonio and New Orleans.

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Yellow roses of Texas

 San Antonio was great. I loved the River Walk and the tour of the old Spanish Missions.

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Seeing the Alamo was interesting too.

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It wasn’t what I expected but then I’m, not sure what I did expect. There is so much written about the Alamo. It’s been immortalized and romanticized in so many movies, books and folk lore. I was disappointed that they were repairing the façade so there was no way to take a photo for myself without the crane in front but I do understand the need to maintain the building to keep it from crumbling. I could have bought a post card.

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The train ride from San Antonio to New Orleans was pleasant. We met some nice people in the dining car and the motion of the train and the clickity clack made it easy to nap along the way. There was a nice observation car with a dome and comfy seating if you wanted to sight see.

Once in New Orleans we had some minor issues with the room. That was fixed quickly but it was late (after 10 pm) so it was a bit annoying.

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We didn’t have a car so we walked to the tour bus stop on the waterfront. We had to be there early and I found myself watching over my shoulder. The street was pretty messy and with the garbage pickup still sometime in the future it was pretty smelly.

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Not too many people were out walking and although we did pass a jogger or two, I still couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling. I was very happy to see the ticket booth come into sight.

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I got the same feeling when we were out in the evening. We passed obvious “ladies of the night” and were accosted by hawkers and street vendors. Some even continuing to follow us after we said no thank you. I was just very uncomfortable.  In all my travels I have never felt this way anywhere else.

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On the plus side we had a nice time riding the steam boat up the Muddy Mississippi and the aquarium was great. Our trip into the bayou got rained out. That was disappointing but even with the pouring rain we got to the Court of 3 Sisters for an amazing, elegant dinner. So I can’t say New Orleans was a total loss, just not someplace I’m anxious to return to anytime soon. I’m sure that comes as a surprise to many. I know all my friends said I would love it. Maybe once I’ve seen all of the other states I’ll go back for that missed trip into the bayou.

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Rain Forest Exhibit, New Orleans Aquarium