Sam And Saundra's Year Long Adventure - Part 90

Sam and Saundra’s Year Long Adventure – Part 90

Mid-West
4/24/09 –Durango, Colorado

Happy birthday Lori!  We plan to celebrate it every day that we are here.  We wake the first morning to brisk weather, with the sun is shining and big fluffy clouds overhead.  There are stunning snow-capped mountains peeking out from behind beautiful green-topped ones.  Lori and Ray live on about four acres in a nice four-bedroom home, with big ‘Ray-filled’ garage, located a goodly distance from downtown Durango. They have additional room for two motorcycle helmets  (cow and leopard coverings) and all the accessories that go with them. They display a sign “Yes, guest rooms available”. I believe the sign. Koda, a blue-eyed dog from the far north, captured our affection and attention from the first.  Lori takes us for a tour – even though it is her birthday.  First to Old Town, Down Town, Durango for breakfast with Ray and his friend, Leo (visiting from Washington State).  Durango is big enough to provide all the amenities that malls and ‘super stores’ can provide, but is small enough that you can run into friends almost everywhere you go.  Lori proves this during our tour.  When breakfast is done, we walk to the railroad station down the street.  This is another narrow gauge track train, only this train’s destination is Silverton, way, way up in the white mountains. 

Koda

As we are leaving the restored, Old Western Durango down town area, we get Lori to turn around so we… um, I can take a picture of the statue in front of the train station. Unfortunately it was a one-way street and a policeman was right on hand to point that fact out.  He must have watched us ‘Out-of-towners’ pull her attention back to the station, because he only asked her to turn around “right now (!!!!)” and all was ok. (Good use of the ‘command’ voice.) Whew... again!  We try to go on the river walk on the Anima River, but the pathway was under construction.  This walk way/park is obviously a popular and well-used park system and the improvements should make it easier to use. We shop, take a look at the hospital where Lori works and return home. 

Durango

Sam and I decide to go on a walk while the weather was being so nice to us.  We get Koda to come with us and start down the gravel road (treated with some kind of new-fangled gunk to keep the dust down).  Things are going well as Sam is guiding both Koda and I (I am taking pictures), when a nice, big, huge, pit bull decided to make us the focus of his barking practice.  The gigantic dark brown pit bull with a white, mean-grinning face ran up to us, dancing and barking and being a not very nice dog- I panic and Sam is hard put to keep me under control – as Koda totally ignores the toothy monster and happily bounds in the direction we were going in the first place.  I think Koda was the smart one, but Sam, after dislodging my imbedded fingers from his arm, decides to walk back to Lori and Ray’s by himself to get Brutus and return to save Koda and me from having to return in front of the giant’s house.  I think he took a little too long…but I spend the time taking pictures of ground squirrel-type critters, birds, bobbing oil/natural gas pumper bobber, a teepee skeleton and everything else I could see. We finally all make it back safely – and Sam and I decide to take the other, more traveled road. This time without Koda.  This time, we see rabbits, blue flowers, cactus (I did not bring them with me), downed electric poles with copper bottoms (don’t know why) and watched in awe as one deer, turns into two, then four and final count was 20.  We watched as they bounded across the road one-by-one – so fast that I could not click the camera’s clicker fast enough to get all of them – but I got most. Wonderful walks, little to no cost to me or Koda - Sam’s arm takes only a few days to lose the bruises. Thanks again Sam and Brutus!! 

A Few Of Many

 We ate a dinner Lori prepared (on her birthday) for us and Troy, Tracey and their two girls, Harley and Alex. We had a wonderful time!  We were lucky to have the two girls stay in our trailer for the night.  They watched a movie and we hardly even knew they were there.  Alex played Sam’s drum, and was oh so good!!  We will keep an eye out for one.  She really liked it, especially after hearing a little Mayan music.  Lori’s first day of her birthday came to a well-celebrated end.  Thanks Lori – we loved the stroganoff and were amazed at the $200 travel trailer.