It has taken me a while to get back to my blog of adventures. Since our trip in January, I've had surgery to repair damage on the shoulder that I dislocated in August. That plus my commitments with my church, the Aurora Corps of the Salvation Army, have kept my husband and me pretty close to home. If you would have asked me about getting involved with a women's group before I retired, I would have said it wouldn't be likely and definitely not in a leadership role. Not only am I involved with our women's ministries at the Aurora Corps, I am the sometimes reluctant leader. I took over from a dear lady that has since been "promoted to glory" (That is the Army's way of saying she passed away). Once the yearly conference and a Mother/Daughter tea at my house were over, we could finally get on the road May 17 th for at least a short trip here in Colorado.

We headed south and stopped in Pueblo to visit my housebound cousin and her son. Then we headed off on Highway 50 for Durango. We were told it was the longer route, but we wanted to see the scenery. It was a beautiful drive but took us close to ten hours with stops for lunch, scenery on Red Mountain Pass, and so on. Our first excursion in Durango was on the Durango/Silverton train. We rode in the "newest" addition to the train, the Silver Vista car. It was open on the sides but had a glass top to be able to see the high mountains. It was a bit chilly in the morning but warmed up as we headed to Silverton. We were pampered with hot drinks & pastries as we wound our way up the mountain along the Animas River. There were many heavily flowing side tributaries. We had lunch at the Handle Bar Restaurant. It was verily crowded because a lot of places were still closed until Memorial Day weekend. The way back threatened to be a bit unpleasant as it started to spit rain. However, the rain held off and the return ride was a relaxing way to end the day. The railway hostess treated us to Rocky Mountain chocolate & souvenir caps. It was a great day in the mountains.

Sunday, we had a more leisurely schedule. After attending Christ the King Lutheran Church, we had a picnic in a park along the Animas and then took a walk on one of the many paths in the area. We had to cross the Animas on a suspension bridge, which was a bit different. It bounced around as we walked on it. Then we headed back to the hotel to read during the thunderstorm.

We headed off to Mesa Verde the next day. I was anxious to see all the damage the fires had done. Large areas were burned a couple of years ago, there is already new growth coming along, similar to what we saw in the aftermath of the Yellowstone fires. We visited the Spruce House first. It was a bit of a challenge for my arthritic knee, but we made it and even had lunch along the trail. We enjoyed the beautiful spring flowers and cool breezes. It still amazes me what the Anastazi were able to build in such remote areas and how quickly they disappeared. We visited various sites on the Loop Drive. Several of the tourists along the route could be heard speaking German. Unfortunately an opportunity to speak with any of them did not arise. We were all too enthralled with our surroundings. Late in the afternoon we went back for a dip in the hotel pool and an early supper. I had a great piece of trout at the Ore House and Bob had salmon. I had been hoping for elk, but maybe next time.

We headed back on Tuesday in rainy weather that changed over to snow on WolfCreek pass. Driving wasn't too bad, but it was just too cold to get out and explore the sights along the way back to Pueblo. The return trip via Wolf Creek and Alamosa took much less time than the way out over Monarch and through Montrose. It was so nice to be able to take the time to see some of the beautiful sights here in our own state of Colorado. I already have some ideas for future trips, like maybe to LakeCity and Creede.