Durango, Colorado

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Got up at 6am; again it was cold (at 50 degrees). Ken made coffee; I had made omlettes and bacon last night and put them in the refrigerator so all I had to do was warm things up and make toast and put them together as sandwiches. I wrapped them in foil, packed a change of clothes and we left. We arrive at Outlaw Tours in the town of Durango around 8:30. It is such a pretty town in the San Juan Mountains with the Animas River running through it. We pay, find out where to meet and run to Starbucks to use the bathroom. Again, it is a beautiful sunny day.
We take a short bus ride to the Animas River where we will launch the rafts. We are paired with a family of 4 plus our guide Jeff. He is older than Ken, but very fit. The water is beautiful and cold; Jeff said it was snow in the mountains 14 hours ago. He is informative and shares stories as he guides the boat. Ken, the father, son, daughter of the family also have oars to help Jeff when needed. The water is lower than it is in the spring but we enjoy a series of fun rapids. It actually goes through the town. Our trip was 2 hours long. We got wet a little bit but we stopped at a slow part and you could swim if you wanted; I stuck my feet in. Ken talked to our guide Jeff and the owner of the company, Keith, and they said they would hire him in a second, so I guess we are moving!! It would be nice to live here during the summer.
We road the bus back to town and then walked around the quaint town of Durango. We went to Carver Brewery for lunch. I had a Hefen weizen, Ken had a Lightner and a La Plata—both pilsners. He had a burger; me a salad and a BLT. It was a very nice outdoor area with flowers hanging from empty ½ barrels. We walked around town for awhile. We decided to explore and drive up to Silverton. On the way, we find this great RV park that sits on the Animas River: Durango Riverside RV Resort~~a place to keep in mind for the future. We also find another park: Haviland Lake Campground in the San Juan National Forest. Both very beautiful.
As we climb the mountain towards Silverton (9318 ft elevation), we stop at an overlook. It is Molas Pass Summit 10910 ft elevation and is 69 degrees.
Ken just saw a beaver on the side of the road. We round a bend and see a bunch of water running over the rocks; we both say ‘Oh, look at that’; we realize we have been in the desert too long!! We see a pine tree and say, “look at that”.
We arrive in Silverton, a very small, old town. We go to the Silverton Brewery. We ordered a beer—“What the Helles”. A Munich Helles (pale) Lager that is ultra light. It had a cloudy urine color. Ken hated it; said it was the worst beer he ever tasted. I thought it was OK. We walked around a little more, got an iced latte and headed back.

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