Day 20 - Road Trip - Durango to N-X Ranch

Today was another great day in beautiful Colorado.  We started the morning very early (sadly leaving our amazing accommodations!), to meet cousin Troy at the train.  He is the head mechanic for the Durango Silverton railway and provided us with free tickets to ride up to Silverton.  It's a 3.5 hour ride up, crossing rivers, through canyons, and winding up and up with one breathtaking view after another.  Troy drove our van up to meet us so that we could drive back down more quickly.  We enjoyed lunch in Silverton, then headed back to Durango before heading on east.

We are so thankful for the memories made over the last 24 hours.  It was indeed a couple of days filled with treats that we wouldn't have dreamed of.  It was especially nice to reconnect with my cousin and spend time with him.  What an amazing testimony he has, and how God has blessed him since turning his life around. 

Yep, we stayed in Purgatory!  But oh, it was incredible!

The 50th anniversary couple, celebrating with yet another special event.

The steam engine created quite a bit of soot.  We got to ride in the open gondola car, but you had to be especially careful not to rub up against anything or rub your face!

Thank you, Troy!  You treated us so graciously and we had an incredible time.

We left Durango to head to our friend's ranch located farther east in Colorado.  Their ranch is situated on a mile square piece of property at the end of the Rocky mountains.  They are under Mt. Blanca, which we had beautiful views of as we headed that way this evening.  

Johanna spotted these bear cubs on the side of the road feasting on a deer carcass.  We turned around to go get a better view and saw more.

 
Mama bear and her third cub were watching carefully from up the slope.  So cute!

We also saw plenty of mule eared deer on our way through the back dirt roads to N-X Ranch.  

An old Indian home:

Sunset as we arrived at N-X Ranch.  What a welcome!

We're all getting tired, but still enjoying the trip.  We're looking forward to the next couple of days of being out in the "boonies" of the Rockies totally away from civilization (well, except for wi fi!).  

Thanks for your comments and for sharing our vacation with us!