25. Apr, 2016

SUNDAY 18-05-08 

I couldn’t be bothered to get out of bed for the first train that passes but had to make the effort for the second. I put the wide angle lens on the video camera, mounted it on my mini tripod then placed it on the ground about 4ft away from the railway line. As the train approached I pressed the ‘record’ button and stood well back. Fortunately my previous observations of the train’s width paid off and the camera was still intact after the train had passed. 

After another lovely hot shower and breakfast we rode our bikes up the road one stop to the start of the trolley bus route at the Iron Horse Hotel. When the bus arrived it was empty and the driver very kindly showed us how to mount the bikes on the bus front mounting bracket. This is a really neat idea which we’ve seen in a lot of cities in the states. It’s a folding bike rack which takes two bikes on the front of the vehicle. Fortunately our folding design of bike fitted on the rack ok which saved us the hassle of folding them up again to take them onboard as ‘luggage’. 

After being dropped off at 32nd Street, and releasing our bikes, we headed off to the start of the Animas River Trail. We took a nice slow ride along it, stopping frequently. En-route we came across a trout fish hatchery. Reading the information it seems they breed something like 2 million fish a year which are then released in to rivers and lakes. The best part was the complex was open to the public with no security whatsoever, though there was a large gate which could be shut at night. The trail allowed us to bypass the town along the river before deciding to turn back as the sun by now was really quite hot and I could feel it burning my face and the back of my neck. We stopped off in town for a beer before catching the trolley bus back to the campground. 

I’m not doing too well today, I missed the passing of the first returning train at about 17:00 as I was having a quick nap on the sofa, I heard it coming, you can’t miss it, as it always sounds its whistle as it approaches due to the unguarded crossing here, but I just wouldn’t have had time to set the camera up. I did better 45 minutes later for the second train, and had the camera set up beside the track. As the train approached I again hit the ‘Record’ button and stood back. To my horror as the train approached I noticed it was draining off boiling hot water down beside the track where the camera would be. I could just imagine picking up the camera, totally ruined by boiling water. Luckily my distance calculations were ok and the camera survived, the water missed it but I don’t think I’ll be doing that again. 

Having had our evening meal The Chef is working through receipts for the expenditure spreadsheet whilst I type this. I think afterwards we’ll be getting everything ready for tomorrow’s ride on the Durango to Silverton Railway. 

LOCATION TONIGHT: United Campground, 1322 Animas View Drive, Durango, CO 81301

25. Apr, 2016

25. Apr, 2016

25. Apr, 2016

SATURDAY 17-05-08 

I couldn’t be bothered to get out of bed to photograph the Durango & Silverton trains this morning; I’ll make up for it tomorrow. The weather today has been very pleasant, plenty of sunshine and not too much cloud. 

We caught the Transit Trolley in to town this morning with our newly purchased Black & Decker kettle under my arm – it doesn’t work. I double checked it this morning by fully filling it, but even then it would not automatically shut off once boiled. We went straight to the store we’d bought it from, told them the problem and got a refund no problem, in addition they pulled the only other one of that model they had off display rather than sell it. The assistant concluded that this was a manufacturer’s malfunction. The shop had only two more kettles on display, for some reason electric kettles are really hard to find. There are coffee makers coming out of your ears, as well as kettles that sit on a gas ring, but electric kettles – difficult. 

We decided to make our way to ‘Linen & Things’ a chain store we’ve shopped at elsewhere before, and who are just on the outskirts of town. They tend to have a good selection of kitchen electrical items. We’d go there later in the day rather than carry a replacement around with us. We decided to take a walk down Main Street again. All the way down both sides of the road were stars & stripes flags flying. I thought how nice they looked; can you imagine anything like it happening in the UK? Somebody would ban them for fear they would offend some minority group or other. We Brits have certainly allowed our liberal, deceitful, greedy, spineless politicians to betray us and everything we once proudly stood for.

Before setting out from the UK I had my hair cut. No matter what I ask for, I always seem to get a short back and sides. I knew that as sharp as that last cut was, it wouldn’t last me 13 weeks and I’d need to get it cut just once whilst in the USA. Well today turned out to be that day. Walking down Main Street we came across a barbers shop with an empty chair and so I took advantage of the situation and popped in for a trim. 

The guy cutting it did most of the job with a pair of electric clippers; there was very little cutting done with scissors. I paid up and left pleased that it had cost me half as much as it would have done back home. After leaving I remembered that I intended to ask the barber which road ‘Linen & Things’ was on, so I popped back to ask. Having asked the question he referred me to somebody else in the shop who asked me what we wanted to buy there, I said “A kettle” – blank look – “An electric kettle” – blank, then he asked “Is that the name of a restaurant or something?” At the end of the day we may speak a similar language but this is still a foreign country. 

We ended up making our way out of town to ‘Linen & Things’ on a Transit Trolley. On arrival we found that they only sold one or two models and they were a bit pricey. We decided to return to Kroegers the shop where we had bought the first kettle as The Chef was sure they were cheaper. Back on the bus to town where we bought another model of kettle there. On returning to the RV I caught sight at my hair in the bathroom mirror. It was good to know that if ever I lost my sense of sight and touch I could still get a job as a barber in Durango. 

We’ve decided against white-water rafting here. Realistically it’s probably something we’ll only ever do once and so thought we’d wait until we get to Jackson, Wyoming and then seriously scare ourselves. 

I got in to a discussion with a retired couple from Texas; they approached me thinking that’s where we’re from as the RV carries Texas registration plates. They were telling me they’d had a pretty unpleasant journey down from Grand Junction and through Ouray. There had been snow up there and the road surface was pretty potholed in places with lots of hairpin bends without safety barriers. This is the route I was planning to take to Moab when we left here because it’s supposed to be very scenic. We will get to see part of the route Monday when we travel back from Silverton on the coach having travelled there on the train from Durango. 

This evening we had a barbecue and a few glasses of wine. The Chef is enduring cable TV whilst I type this. Tomorrow we plan to take our folding bikes on to the Transit Trolley towards town and then cycle an area down by the river. It now seems that the trolley buses do in fact run on a Sunday. 

In the morning I’m going to try and set up the video camera on a six-inch tripod right next to the railway line then let the train run right past it, so fingers crossed. 

LOCATION TONIGHT: United Campground, 1322 Animas View Drive, Durango, CO

25. Apr, 2016