Fish flunked, slow train to Silverton
So Thursday night we decided to just chill at the hotel while we did another run with the THC gummy fish, both Cindy and I ingested two fish instead of the one and a half we tried the night before. We also had less food in our stomachs this time although I don’t know that it matters or not. After eating the fish we worked out in the hotel gym, and sat in the sauna for a few minutes. Cindy appeared to have some noticeable effects as she was slurring her words now and then. She said she was feeling “loopy”.
I really could not feel anything noticeable except getting really tired again. Cindy says my speech slowed down but if it did I did not notice it. I think I will have to try the granola next. Needless to say my exposure to legal recreational marijuana has been a flop so far.
We got up with the alarm since we had to be at the train station by 7:30. We took advantage of the hotels free continental breakfast. We entered the dining area which was flooded with a sea of old people. It looked like Cindy and I were the only ones there that were not currently collecting social security benefits. Old people are very serious about their food so trying to break into the wall of them to grab a single item here and there was difficult. While Cindy and I were sitting at our table eating we were inundated by the background noise of old women complaining about various ailments. We only hung around the bare minimum amount of time required to shove food down. I don’t really enjoy seeing a fast forward of what life could be like in 25 years.
The weather yesterday morning was quite chilly, in the mid 40’s, however I ventured out in just shorts and my new USA Curling t-shirt. I figured I could deal with some cold early as I was counting on the warmer temps forecast for later in the day. Of course Cindy encouraged me to dress warmer which I declined. Of course that meant I couldn’t complain about being cold later, which I was.
We boarded the train and found our seat in coach. They had several different type of cars in the train, coach, an enclosed cab with windows, open air where there are no windows and then first class where you have more room and a full time narrator along the way. With the temps I was quite glad to be in coach and pitied those in the open air cars.
The train was very cool because it’s very old, literally more than 100 years old in fact. The bench seats had enough room for two average sized people although as in most things from 100 years ago, they weren’t all that comfortable. Our cab was pretty full, almost every seat had somebody in it. It didn’t take long to pick out the people that would be the focal point on the ride like the mini-Santa Claus looking guy who talked nearly non-stop and had a child-like sense of wonder about everything. There was also the guy with the older style digital camera who hadn’t learn how to turn off the confirmation beep for everything. As he flipped through a hundred or more pictures he had already taken it got a bit annoying. There was the all American family with two teenage girls and a teenage son who spent most of the ride with his face in a book.
So the train pulled out a few minutes late. The powerful blasts of the steam whistle were quite cool and added to the anticipation for the ride. As we started to make our way through town I thought it was odd that we were going so slow but I attributed it to being cautious in a more populated area. It turned out that I was actually seeing what was pretty much top speed.
As we were heading north a bike path ran parallel to the tracks. A biker on the path had no problem keeping up with and even pulling ahead of the train. Before we left we saw they actually have a road bike versus train race where the goal is to beat the train from Durango to Silverton on a bike. I realized that winning this race on bike would not be very difficult at all, the train was slooooow, at times the train was going at a fast walking pace. To slow things down further we had to make a couple water stops on the route where they refill the boiler on the steam engine.
The ride was also incredibly rough. There was non-stop rocking back and forth. Walking the aisles required a firm grip on something unless you wanted to end up in somebody’s lap. The noises the train made consisted of random banging, slamming, and grinding. It made me wonder how both the train and the track could hold up for all these years.
For most of the ride up I was fine. The scenery was stunning as we carved through canyons. We took advantage of the on board concessions car, I grabbed a hot chocolate to warm my chilled bones while Cindy got a warm cider which she really liked. Towards the end of the ride to Silverton my ass had reached it’s limit of sitting on the thinly padded bench, I was very glad to get off the damn train after the over three and a half hour ride.
Well Silverton made Durango look like a huge city, it was so small. In Durango there is a historic district that has a lot of old original buildings from the late 1800’s however it is nestled inside of a modern city. Silverton is just the old original buildings with no fluff. It’s very charming.
We ate lunch at a cool place called the Pickle Barrel. The owner, who was doing EVERYTHING from hosting, to waiting tables to bussing tables was very busy due to being severely understaffed. Despite being pulled a million directions at once he somehow managed to still deliver a a very friendly and warm interaction with each and every customer. He was great. Cindy and I both enjoyed our meals.
After eating we only had about 45 minutes left to walk around before the train headed out. We saw so many cool buildings. We browsed a few gift shops and snagged a piece of pecan pie that we split as we walked around. Man it was good.
As we headed back to the train I regretted my decision to take the train both to and from Silverton. There is an option where you only take the train for one leg of the trip and hop on a bus for the other. After the long ride up, a much quicker bus ride back would have been welcomed. We piled back on the train and creeped out of town.
On the ride back the train was much emptier since a lot of the smart people opted for the bus ride. As a result Cindy and I moved around and wound up out in one of the open air cars for a good portion of the ride. The temps had warmed enough at that point that I was ok. The open air cars had a big tradefoff. The windowless environment allowed for a spectacular, unobstructed view of the scenery as it slowly passed by. Unfortunately it also allowed all of the soot from the engine to coat your body. I had a thin layer of soot on me in little time.
While we were out there we talked with a lifelong Army guy. He started off in the Rangers but has been serving as a chaplain for quite awhile. He talked about various aspects of his life in the service, including some very scary recollections of the year he served in Iraq when IED destruction was at it’s highest. He had such a calm and peaceful demeanor about him.
The already slow ride was made even slower due to some mechanical issues that were described as “not being able to close a fire grate”. The way I understood it was this meant there was a risk of hot stuff falling out of the engine and possible causing a fire on the tracks. As a precaution they had an auxiliary vehicle behind the train making sure nothing was smoking. In total the problem added more than a half hour onto the return trip.
I was on the edge of losing my mind by the end of the ride. After tiring of being pelted with soot we moved back into coach. By this time I was so damn tired of sitting I couldn’t take it. When we finally, finally, FINALLY emerged from the train I was incredibly relieved. If anyone would ask my opinion of doing the train I would only recommend it if they did the bus/train hybrid trip. Going the entire loop cooped up almost 8 hours in a 100 year old train just is not my good idea of a good time. Considering we spent almost $200 to do it just adds to the annoyance factor. Despite my griping, make no mistake, the views the ride offers are some of the best I have ever seen in my life.
We stayed in town and ate dinner at the Strater Hotel, a very old Victorian style hotel. Evidently it is famous for it’s saloon style dining area complete with a full time piano player. Cindy and I were jammed into a small space by a window but it turned out to be a good seat. At 7PM each night they do a funny skit where the local sheriff takes on some bad guys. The entire staff is dressed in attire appropriate with the time period the bar is from. It was all very entertaining.
Today for our last full day in Durango we plan to hit the outdoors and try to find some hill/mountain to conquer. Should be fun.
The picture collection from the trip is getting quite large. See it here.