We stayed at Lightner Creek Campground for four nights while we explored the Durango area. After driving around town to get our bearings, we parked in an Albertson’s parking lot near the river and walked along the Animas River Trail. We decided we’d like to bring our bikes with us next time, to be able to go further on it, since it was so nice.
So the next day, we rode all along the trail, enjoying the scenery and stopping to read some of the historical placards. Later, we parked the bikes and walked up and down main street, looking at shops. We stopped at the Strater Hotel, which has been in business since 1887, and happened upon a free historical guided tour in progress. They let us join in, so we got to see one of the rooms and hear a few stories. It’s also a museum of sorts, with old west and mining artifacts displayed around the lobby area. The guide showed us a couple of secret compartments behind molding where employees hid their booze, which I thought was cool.
On our last full day, we rode the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad to Cascade Canyon. It was about a 5 hour roundtrip, with an hour in Cascade Canyon to explore and eat a picnic lunch. It was fun to be on the train while taking in the spectacular views! (Especially since Randy could look around as much as he wanted without having to pay attention to the road.) We were warned to keep our arms in the car since the train got close to rocks and trees, and they weren’t lying! Of course, we still leaned out and took pictures, but we did need to pay attention so we could lean back before getting hit.
When we got back to the railroad yard, we walked around their free museum for a while. Then we walked to Grassburger for an early dinner, then wasted time walking around town until the Durango Arts Center opened for The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged). The show was pretty funny. It probably would’ve been even funnier if I had been more familiar with more of Shakespeare’s plays, but I was able to keep up well enough.
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