A Cross-Country Driving Trip in Our Morgan

Journal Pages
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Preparation

The Caboose Run

Boise and Park City

Bryce and Zion

Antelope Canyon

Grand Canyon

Cumbres & Toltek R'way

Getting to Nachez

Nachez Trace

Franklin & Athens

Blue Ridge Parkway

Concours

Autocross

Virginia

Annapolis

Finger Lakes

Niagara Falls

Iowa

The Home Stretch

The Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad

Sunday, June 11 - Grand Canyon to Durango, Colorado by way of Monument Valley

It was a beautiful day - clear, sunny, a little brisk, but not uncomfortable.  We left Tusayan reasonably early for the drive through Monument Valley (some of it is in Arizona, the rest in Utah) with destination Durango, Colorado.  For some reason, Antonella decided that she didn't want to work, so we navigated the old-fashioned way - with AAA maps.

Monument Valley is stunning in a stark sort of way.  Great red sandstone projections thrust their way into the desert sky.  In between, the land is flat and inhospitable.  I amused myself trying to figure out what animals or people I saw in the various formations. 

Once past Monument Valley, we entered the southeast corner of Utah into what has to be the most depressing and ugly place we have ever been.  It was hot, dusty and featureless, except for the few settlements here and there, comprised primarily of trailers, fences, derelict buildings and oil wells.   Once in Colorado, things eventually improved, but not for 20-30 miles.  How depressing.  I didn't take any pictures - I didn't want to remember this place.

Colorado redeemed itself once we got past a town called Cortez.  We began a climb into the mountains, and the scenery improved significantly.

We had booked a room for a couple of nights in Durango - we knew that the trip from the Grand Canyon would be long (and it was!) and we wanted to devote a whole day to one of America's great drives - the San Juan Skyway.  We checked into our hotel, showered (we were so dusty from our drive across the desert), then went into the historic center of the town, where we found a very good Italian restaurant and had a very nice meal, including a starter of roasted asparagus drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil, served with a slice of goat cheese and some shaved parmesan and fresh chives.  It was really good!

Monday, June 12 - The San Juan Skyway

Another beautiful day - clear and very blue skies, a bit cool and crisp early on (later it became very warm).  Our trusty National Geographic Best Driving Trips book in hand (and Antonella - Tom found a reset button on her, so she became functional again) we headed off.  This is what I had imagined Colorado would be like - craggy mountains, alpine forests, clear skies, a few lakes, tidy ranches.  It reminded me so much of Switzerland, except the distances between settlements are much greater.  It was absolutely spectacular.

We stopped for 'elevenses' in the little resort town of Telluride.  While we were enjoying our coffee and sweet, a man asked us 'is that your Morgan?'  He actually knew enough that he didn't ask if Moggie was a kit car.  We talked with him a bit - his wife owned the bakery where we were eating - it was very pleasant, because he was well informed about the area.  He told us about the gondola, which is free, and takes visitors to the top of the nearest mountain for a spectacular view of the valley below.  We had enough time on our parking meter, that we walked the few blocks and took the gondola to the top.  My goodness.  - what a view.

Upon returning to the car, we continued our drive through the beautiful mountainous area, going through a couple of former mining towns.  This area was once very rich with silver and the towns are the legacy of that era.  The historic centers usually have a lot of Victorian era buildings, as well as modern buildings that are supposed to look like they are Victorians.  We stopped in Ouray for lunch.  Then the real climbing began.

Now, Moggie is not happy with idling at these high elevations, so we knew there would be some challenges if we had to slow down at all.  This being summer, there was a fair amount of road repair/construction in progress, so whenever we came across a work site, Tom just let her die (the most merciful thing to do).  Eventually we reached the highest point on the trip - 11,018 ft. above sea level.  Thin air, yes, but it was so beautiful.

We had several other very high passes to cross, none quite so high as this one.  All along, we thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful scenery,  It more than made up for the terrible scenery yesterday (note that Tom and TTS drove through a different part of Colorado in 2004 and it was also very ugly, so the John Denver Colorado I was expecting is apparently just a portion of the state).

Tuesday , June 13 - Chama, New Mexico

    This hot air balloon was seen early on our drive to Chama

What is it that makes old steam driven trains so fascinating?  Do we allow our minds to wander to a time when this was the primary way of moving about this country?  Do we picture women in shirtwaisted dresses, somehow always looking fresh and clean (at least in the movies) as they journey out West to meet the man to whom they've been pledged?  Or the teacher, venturing into unknown territory to begin teaching in a one-room school house?  I don't know, but I do know that the fascination seems to be universal.  So, today, we drove to Chama, New Mexico, to travel on one of the best known narrow-gauge railways in the US, the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad.

Chama, the point from which the journey began, is very small and relies almost exclusively on tourism.  It is about 15 miles over the border into New Mexico from Colorado.  We had to be at the train depot by 9:30 am, so we left Durango around 7:30.  The drive was pleasant, with a clear, bright day.  Fortunately, we didn't encounter much by the way of traffic or road congestion, so we arrived in Chama in plenty of time to check into our hotel (the Chama Station Inn), stow our luggage and walk across the street to the station.

It was a busy day at the railroad, so we were a bit late departing - they had to put on an extra car.  Once started, what a thrill - there were two engines, because of the combination of the steep climb and the extra car.  It happened that we were in Chama for one of the semi-annual gatherings of volunteers, who descend on the town to work on the train - repair, paint, brush control, general clean-up.  As we pulled out of the station, many of the volunteers waved 'good journey' to us.  We were really surprised to see what a big deal this railroad is - wherever there was roadway, there were people off to the side to take pictures and to wave.

The journey to Osier, our mid-point, was punctuated with beautiful scenery of the high mountains - lovely alpine meadows with spring flowers, a few elk, lots of trees and rivers.  There are a couple of bridges over rivers that are spectacular.  Below are some of the photos we took.

    A water tower along the route

    The extra engine and tender had to uncouple and go across this trestle separately

        A couple of views of the train

        When we are way up here we will have come from way down there

    One of the many railroad people taking photos of the train as we passed

        Signs at the Cumbres station

    A lovely valley along the route

    Darn, I was expecting to see them pumping a hand car

    Another of the water towers

    This is the highest trestle along the route

    Another lovely valley on the way to Osier

Once at Osier, we all disembarked and went into the station (not original, constructed recently for the purpose of feeding the tourists).  It was a large lunch, quite good, considering how many people they were feeding.

    These wild Irises could be seen in many places along the way

    That's our engine and tender waiting to take us back to Chama

Back on the train to return to Chama.  The docent assigned to our car was from Mississippi - he comes to Chama six weeks a year just to be a docent on the train.  He was very good, with lots of interesting tales about the days when this railroad was the mainline from the silver mines in Colorado to the lower country.

    That is the train to Antonito, further along in Colorado

        We were told that the maintenance supervisor, Max Pacheco, found a hat along the tracks and put it in a tree. That started a tradition and many hats are now in the trees. Max also carved his name in many of the trees along the way.

    It appears that there are beavers in this area

    The engine is venting steam and contaminants that would impair operation

        Some of the wild flowers along the way

    And finally back to Chama Station

The web-site warns you to wear clothes you don't mind getting dirty - and it is a good thing.  Steam trains product a lot of soot and smoke.  We were glad to be back to our hotel to shower and wash our hair - I'm surprised we didn't have white circles where our glasses were, our faces were so dirty!

When we returned to the hotel the hummingbirds were at the feeders along the walkway.  They seemed to almost ignore humans, so I took several photos attempting to get a good shot of one hovering.

            The Hummingbirds didn't seem to care that I was there

We had dinner at a new restaurant next to our inn.  The waitress told us that last year the railroad shut down because business wasn't very good - the town of Chama really relies on the train.  We saw evidence of last year's down turn - several businesses were closed.

What an adventure - we both took a lot of photos, talked to a lot of people from many places in the US (no international travelers that I could tell), saw some incredible sites and were once again reminded that this is an immense, diverse country with a lot to see, and we've just begun!