Why, oh, why

Have I not been to Durango, CO before? It is so beautiful here!
Our drive from Albuquerque was an easy one and seemed to take no time at all. The campground is nice - we are not real happy with our spot because it is at the end of the row, therefore pretty dusty; but overall it is very nice.
On Tuesday, we rode the scooter up to Silverton. Very interesting place. It is billed as a Victorian Mining Town and many of the houses are Victorian. Most of them need a lot of work. The 2 "downtown" streets are what you would expect in a tourist town - shops and food. It is very understated though, no garish signs or neon. Of course most of the town is only open May to October.
The ride up was amazing and we stopped a couple of times for the view. Some snow still high up in the mountains. Down where we were (only 10,000 ft,) the fields are so beautiful and green. The horses and cows look healthy. All in all, a very pastoral scene. The Animas River has some rapids - it is not the Ocoee of course - and is so pretty. Saw some pretty high waterfalls also.
We came back really tired. The altitude of course; but also the wind beat us pretty hard. A couple of times TM was struggling to keep the scooter straight.
Wednesday, we went into Durango (we are about 12 miles out) to find the train station and pick up our tickets for Thursday. We walked around a little checking out the old buildings, etc. and it is nice there. On the way home we took advantage of Dairy Queen's waffle bowl Wednesday - 2 waffle bowl sundies for the price of one. MMMM, good lunch.
More tomorrow when I can tell you about the train ride
God Bless

Way Cool

The Sandia Peak Aerial Tramway! The world's longest tramway. Actually, I don't know how long it is, but I do know we climbed 4,000 ft,so that we were over 10,000 ft. up. It was a wonderful ride as the scenery was amazing. From the top, you see the entire city of Albuquerque and the surrounding peaks. This is sort of the rocky side of the mountain, as when you go to the other side of the viewing area you see the ski area. This time of year it is nice and grassy of course - I don't want to be there in the snow! We went there around 10 am and the place was not really crowded; as we got on the tram the very next run. When we came down around 12:3o, it was packed. That also meant it was not crowded at the top. There is really nothing at the top but a multi-layer viewing platform, restrooms and a restaurant.
There are several hiking trails. The tram operator said that the most popular trail takes 4 to 5 hours to climb to the top. Once a year they have a race up that trail and the shortest time to date is 1-1/2 hrs. Surely that fellow snuck in a jet pack!
On Sunday, we attended services at Avalon Rd. Church of Christ. There were 15 of us there. I did enjoy the preacher's talk. Later we meet with some friends from Orlando. How strange is that? Mike and Rita being there at the same time? Sorry that it took us 3 days to find out we were in the same town. At least we did connect and had a wonderful dinner and visit with them.
God Bless

Shreveport

was nice. We stayed at the famcamp on Barksdale AFB. We had a shady, level site and enjoyed a quiet stay. Went out once for a little shopping and that was it. Just glad we never were stationed there.
Onward to Wichita Falls TX. Longer drive than I thought it would be as there was a lot of road work going on. We found our campground easily. It is a great place - shady, large lots and right on the Wichita River. Traveling Dog was happy about a small river he could wade into; not like the Mississippi. We went to see the Kell House Museum. Too bad it was closed due to a water leak. However, we did find a Church of Christ along the way. It was so hot out that we just went back home and enjoyed the ac. Next day we went to the railroad museum. They were open! It was an ok museum, all they have is rolling stock. Most of the stock is badly in need of work. We were able to walk thru the mail car and one of the Pullmans, but they were in rough shape. We still enjoyed ourselves. In the mail/baggage car we spotted a footlocker that looks exactly like one we used to have - even had been painted red like ours. Seeing that we had given ours away - not thrown it away - it is likely that it is the one we had. Too bad it was stacked under some other things so we could not open it to check. Don't you love a mystery?
We did attend services at the church. Really enjoyed Bible Class. It was a study on John 3. Services were pretty differnt than anywhere we have been. There was nothing unscriptural as far as we could tell, mostly just a different feel. Hard to explain. Any way, people were friendly. We spent the rest of Sunday staying out of the heat a much as possible and getting ready to move. Poor TD, he just has such a problem with that.
God Bless

Natchez and Vidalia

. Horrible old bridge crossing the river there. Good thing I wasn’t driving, as I had to close my eyes all the way. It just didn’t look like the lanes were wide enough for our rig. Of course they were and they looked much wider when we went on the scooter.
We got the opportunity to visit 4 of the historic homes and so enjoyed it. As always learned a lot (now if we can retain some of it). We visited Rosalie, Longwood, Stanton Hall and Melrose. Melrose is now part of the Natchez National Park, so our tour was lead by a park ranger. He was really knowledgeable and had done research on some of the unusual things there. Most of the furniture is period, not original to the house. Nearly all of the outbuildings, called dependencies, remain.
Longwood is the largest octagonal house in the US. Unfortunately it is unfinished. Only the basement is finished and the family lived there for many years - I think 3 generations. When the War Between the States broke out, the workmen just laid down their tools and left. Of course, the war was only going to last 3 months and then they would come back and finish. Ri-i-i-ght! We really liked the tour and seeing the ingenious ways they channeled light into the house from the central gallery.
Rosalie was another one we really enjoyed. I think a lot is because our tour guide really loves the house and it shows in the way the talks about it. Nearly all of the original furnishings, etc. are still there because when the Union army occupied it, they only used the downstairs and several things went up to the second floor where the family lived. Also a Union General had nearly all of the rest of it stored so it would not be damaged or lost.
We attended church services at the Vidalia Church of Christ and enjoyed it very much. Very friendly group. One of the ladies invited me to ladies Bible class and lunch afterwards. I decided to go not only for the study (I Kings), but because I miss "girl time" when we are traveling. It was great. The teacher, Sandra, puts a lot of preparation into the lesson and presents it well. I felt very connected with these ladies and enjoyed getting to know them. It was a revitalizing time for me.
Now off to Shreveport and Barksdale AFB
God Bless

Resting

in Vidalia, LA. After 2 busy days of traveling, we are across the Mississippi river from Natchez, MS. We have a beautiful spot overlooking the river and the bridge.
We came thru a couple of heavy rainstorms getting here, but it wasn't raining when we got here - which is good since we hate setting up in the rain.
We took a long walk on the levee and enjoyed a cool breeze. Otherwise, we have vegged.
Tomorrow we plan to go over to Natchez and do some sightseeing. We are here until Tuesday, so hope tomorrow will not be our only day of sightseeing.
Anybody have restaurant recommendations?
God Bless.

CONGRATULATIONS!

To two terrific people. Sheila and Michael "walk" tonight to receive their Master's Degrees. We are so proud of them!
God Bless

Way behind

again! From Sarasota, we went to Old Town, Fl. and Suwanne River Hideaway RV Park. Easy trip and looking forward to the rest. Could not believe the wonderful park was empty! There were only 2 or 3 trailers there each night. The owner said besides their annual snowbirds, business has been very slow. They only had 13 reservations for Memorial Day.
After 2 days of rest, we headed on to Panama City and the Naval Station. Kind of a driving challenge getting on to the base and into the camp. The spaces were small, but full hook-ups. 2 employees "helped" us back into the site. Not sure why they didn't let us just pull-thru since it was possible. Guess they were trying to get trained on giving directions.
As I said the sites were small, but we were only steps from the beach. Pretty nice place in that respect. We also did a lot of riding the scooter all over the place.
On Saturday, I got hold of our friends Patti and David. They were in Panama City Beach staying with her cousin at the cousin's condo. We went over and spent a good deal of the afternoon with the 4 of them. It was good to meet Nancy and her husband. As it turns out, they have been coming basically all their lives. The land the condos are on once belonged to their grandparents. We had a delightful time with them. We also asked for their recommendation for a good seafood place to eat. They gave us several suggestions and we went to J.Michaels. It was as good as they told us it would be. Recommend it.
Then we stopped at Winn-Dixie and got a Key Lime Pie as my birthday "cake". It was so good!
On Sunday, we went to Bible class and services at the Panama City Beach Church of Christ. Very nice and friendly congregation. The sermon was "Hell is real" (and you don't want to go there). He did a good job.
Afterwards we ate at Panera using the gift card that Apryl and Jeremy sent me for my birthday. Thanks again, kids; we look forward to using it more times.
Memorial day we went shopping. New shoes for both of us. Stuff from Michael's from me (somebody will be getting new jewelry). And an unproductive stop at the Goodwill book and electronics store.
We are headed to Laurel, MS on Tues.
God Bless.