Arrival Day (Amarillo to Durango) day 2

We left the hotel about 7:00 and headed to Denny’s for breakfast but they were so slow!! They kids weren’t really hungry anyway. We ended up leaving and going over to McDonalds – cheaper and faster. Not any healthier really but oh well. So we had a quick bite and then hit the road. Oh, and it was 66 degrees when we left!

It took us about an hour to get to the state line. The land was totally flat and we were hoping for a new view. We did see lots of windmills – turbines or whatever they are called. I don’t know why but they are very fascinating to me.

About 16 miles out side of New Mexico we saw our first plateau. A little on but it was cool. As soon as we crossed into New Mexico we stopped at the Visitor’s Center. No free WiFi but I logged onto their computer there for a second – no I am not addicted to Facebook.

We are a good little ways into New Mexico and the mountains (hills really) are starting to come up. We stopped to grab a snack out of the back and we couldn’t believe how cool it felt. 77 degrees with no humidity – oh it was wonderful.

We finally saw real mountains – maybe I’ll say that again when we get to Colorado. The scenery has been nice and we are just waiting to get over those mountains and into Albuquerque.

Why does it seem the 2nd half of the day is so much longer than the first? We got to Albuquerque around 11:40. It is now 2:00 and we are finally leaving. We drove around for 20 minutes looking for some place to eat right inside town and ended up at a Subway in downtown. We even had to pay for parking! We were just too lazy to park down the block and walk.

We also spent time looking for the REI of course. We finally found it and did a little bit of shopping and looking around. Their store is huge compared to Willowbrook. It was busy too!

The kids are sleeping and we are climbing mountains. We just left Cuba, New Mexico and the elevation is 7000 feet. David was excited to see trees again. Tall pine trees. It might have just been a fluke because now we are back to the smalled trees and large brush. We’ll see what is up ahead.

The drive seems to be taking forever! We just keep seeing the same thing – flat land with some plateaus and lots of shrubs and small trees.

We finally crossed the Colorado border and it was amazing how fast the scenery changed!!!!!! It was just unbelievable. The mountains were gorgeous! David was complaining because I wasn’t paying attention to the road – I was too busy looking around!

The resort is beautiful. Durango Mountain Resort is about ½ way up the mountain between Durango and Silverton. The main resort area is full of things to do, a restaurant, shopping and everything. Our condo is actually 2 miles up the road. It is nice, older but still nice. The kids have their own room and we are upstairs. It is great.

Tomorrow is a big day – Durango Silverton Train. I will have tons of pictures tomorrow!