Cliff Palace |
National Forest Boondocking |
After a few days at the park we moved a few miles along the road as we wanted to check out the town of Durango. We decided to try out boondocking for the first time. Having solar panels installed has given us much more freedom as to where we can park, but so far we hadn't ventured truly off grid. Thanks to Watsons Wander, a blog we have been following for a while, we didn't have to tread new ground and went to a location they had visited in the past. We loved being out in the middle of nowhere and only had cows for company. Those cows were truly fascinated by us and spent a lot of time staring as only cows can, as well as wiping their noses along our trailer. We had to remove slimy cow snot from both the Airstream and the truck after we left.
Downtown Durango |
Durango is a very pretty town, just the kind of place we love to visit. Pretty houses with lots of character, and a cute, albeit touristy, downtown area. The main attraction here is a steam railway that runs between Durango and Silverton. Not being that into trains, we didn't partake but did visit the free museum. I am normally reluctant to visit museums as Iain likes to spend at least twice as long as me at each exhibit. Depending on how you look at it, either my limited attention span or his obsessive need to read everything inevitably leads to tension! Similar to visiting Best Buy!! The museum was cute and not too big, so marital relations were maintained!
We visited two breweries in Durango, Steamworks seems to be the popular choice in downtown, but we really loved Ska Brewing a little out of town. So many reasons to love this brewery. First it's Ska themed. Iain and I were both big Two Tone fans in our youth, so the presence of rude boy imagery and "Lip Up Fatty" references were right up our street. Second the facility is very cool and 100% wind-powered. Oh and finally they had good beer too.
A major storm was forecast for our planned last night in Durango, so we decided to head south a day early towards our next stop in Santa Fe to get clear of it. We pulled off an hour or two north of Santa Fe in a Corps of Engineers campground at Abiquiu Lake. It was a pretty lakeside spot, perfect for dinner and a sleep before heading into Santa Fe proper the next day.
We enjoy traveling with no fixed schedule but have a couple of "places to be" in the next month or so. In this case the Balloon Fiesta at Albuquerque is just a few days away so we didn't have any more time to spend in Colorado. We definitely want to get to know this beautiful state better and plan to be back next year to really get a feel for it.
Next summer we hope to spend more time along Colorado's western slope including Durango. The balloon fiesta should be great fun :-)
ReplyDeleteThe Balloon Fiesta was amazing! We definitely need more time in Colorado.
DeleteDo you have to be Military or ex-Military to stay at Corps of Engineers campgrounds?
ReplyDeleteNo, corps of engineers campgrounds are open to everyone.
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