Durango~The Drive and Day 1

Our trip was a blast! I'm not going to share all the pictures at once because we took nearly 500, and I need to sift through and edit them. I thought I'd share each day in a separate post. Okay, I started off lying because this post technically includes three days but... oh well...here goes!

We had to take care of some errands before leaving town so it was nearly 11:00 a.m by the time we hit the road. Our first fun event was stopping at The Big Texan in Amarillo for dinner. It's well known for it's 72 oz. free steak. If you can eat the entire steak in an hour, it's free!

NO, we didn't attempt it!

As one might expect, it's full of

rootin' tootin' rustic, western decor.

Did you notice I was using

my Yosemite Sam voice there?

I thought so.

Don't you wonder who's

wearing the other boot?

Pretend you do.

Perhaps it's the

Jolly Green One-Legged Giant?

The Big Texan was so very, very

BIG

that

it made us feel very, very

small.

See what I mean?

After climbing out of The Big Texan, we drove to Tucumcari, NM where we spent the night in a seedy, cheap, tawdry motel on legendary Route 66. Okay, it wasn't that bad but I made you wonder, huh?

While driving on I-40 in New Mexico the next day, I realized that I am not a fan of any shade of BROWN. There was a little too much of it in the landscape for me! Anybody who knows me knows that I love COLOR! In fact, at one point, I went into a panic when I realized that I had a brown shirt on!

What in the heck is wrong with me?!

For a brief moment, I feared that if I stepped outside the car I would blend into the dusty landscape and never ever be seen again! YIKES! Fortunately, I was saved by my white shorts and even whiter legs!

Now, I certainly don't mean to offend anyone who loves (or even likes) brown New Mexico. I'm sure it's much more colorful inside the cities, and even if it isn't, I'm sure that New Mexico is a very nice place. After all, people actually do live there! To each his own I say! Just because something doesn't appeal to me, doesn't mean it's not quite lovely, and to be honest, there was some dark green mixed in here and there which I'm sure spruced the place up a bit.

We arrived in Durango a

little after 4:00 in the afternoon.

There was no parade to greet us, not even a welcoming committee but we barely noticed.

We explored the downtown shops that evening, and were lured into dinner at the Irish Embassy Restaurant and Pub below by two waitresses who greeted us on the street as we lurked outside the door reading the menu. They didn't have a huge selection of items but according to the sign it's a "full" menu. The sign also advises that you can have 39 beers! I guess most other places must cut you off and 38-3/4 beers. Nevertheless, I had a Mediterranean Panini that was quite good!

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Day 1

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The next day, we went back downtown to shop some more and take a stroll through the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum.

Inside the depot.

Here's George looking all

steam-engine dreamy eyed!

Guess what this is?

A train but that's all I know.

All he needs is one of those

big & tall conductor's hats.

Do you buy those at the Big & Tall store?

I was trying to start a

new trend--wearing a hoodie with

another hoodie tied around your waist.

It never caught on.

Guess what this is?

A wooden train but that's all I know.

He's completely mesmerized!

I love, love, love this snowy picture

that's hanging in the museum!

It was a very cool museum

and we both enjoyed it!

Our Soaring Tree Top Adventure trip (zip lining) was the next day. I will post pictures of that hopefully tomorrow but don't hold me to it because as we discovered earlier in this post, I lie sometimes.

With Durango Smiles,

D~~~~