Blogs from Durango, Colorado, United States, North America - page 5

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 ... read more

This was really our first official trip as a couple. We decided to drive to DURANGO for the weekend. It is about 3 1/2 hours north of Albuquerque. We really were only there for an overnight, so not much we could accomplish. Durango is a small mining-town, nestled in between the mountains in southwest Colorado. Lots of outdoor stuff to do - biking, rafting, skiing, hiking, camping, etc. Well, to our delightful surprise, Durango is a little micro-brewery haven. Our favorite place to eat and enjoy Durango's brews, is at Carver's, located on Main Street. Good food, good servive, and great beer. We were fortunate enough to be there at the right time! On Sunday the city hosted "The Taste of Durango". They close Main Street and local stores sell food and beer for cheap, cheap. ... read more

We had done a lot of hiking and wanted a change from the National Parks. The Rocky Mountains were within a one day drive reach and we checked for the snow conditions in the ski resorts. Like in Europe, the ski season runs until mid of April and there was more than 1m snow. The nice guy at the Monticello Welcome center told us about a ski resort he had visited a year ago. It was in the South part of the Rocky Mountains just 2-3 hours from Monticello. We initially wanted to ski in Aspen and Telluride, but decided to check the place named Durango out. It was a good choice since the town had a pleasant atmosphere with a historic main road, nice shops and restaurants and bars with live music and most important ... read more

After the wonders of the Grand Canyon, we continued on our journey across the country into the land of the Indian reservation. These area's are quite unique in that they dont really belong to the states that they are located in and they have their own governments and laws, one thing that we all know but might not realise. The Simpsons and other popular culture references has taught us this with that of the Indian Casinos. Gambling is illegal in all but a few states, Nevada being the most obvious, but it is also allowed on Indian Reservations. Monument Valley, the next stop is located on the Navajo (pronounced Na-va-hoe) Indian Reservation, as soon as we crossed into the reservation there was a Casino. Monument Valley is quite spectacular, huge mesas and buttes erupting out of ... read more

Let me just say that, although I grew to love the highways of central america, what with their beautiful views, potholes, insane bus drivers, roadside tamale and banana saleswomen, and the occasional military checkpoint (yes, my car is a piece of shit, thanks for reminding me AK-47 wielding 19 year old), it was damn good to be back on the most epic of highway systems, the crazy scattered grid that makes up America's great road. I ripped up highway I-94 from my hometown of Wilmette, IL and rode it up into Milwakuee, WI. If you are ever in the area and looking for porno and bongs be sure to stop into Superb Video in Kenosha just over the border. A quick jump from Milwakuee over to Madison where I-94 meets back up with its little sister ... read more