On March 8th I posted about the train ride my wife and I took on the Durango & Silverton RR in Durango, Colorado. So as to not have that post excessively long this is a separate thread of our dog sled tour the day after the train ride. Call it Rocky Mountain Vacation, Part II. 
When we arrived in Durango on a Friday afternoon there was minimal snow on the ground. Since I requested snow when I made our reservations and paid extra for it, I was a bit unhappy
. Fortunately, the snow gods showed up Saturday night and when we woke up early Sunday morning the view from our back patio at the hotel was really nice.
I know you Yankees see this stuff all the time, but my wife and I lived in South Florida for decades and now in Las Vegas, so it's really a treat for us to see snow.
Of course, snow on the ground means snow on the vehicles as we headed out to the dog ranch for the tour. This was the first time ever in her life my bride had to clear snow off a car, but she looked to be enjoying it.
The following pictures of the actual tour are not great. The weather conditions, while good for dog sledding, where not beneficial for good picture taking.
Here we are upon arrival all bundled up.
Our guide getting the dogs hooked up.
The dogs are now ready and my wife has taken her standing position as co-pilot on the rear of the sled. The guide would show her how to get the dogs and sled going, apply the brake, the anchor, and how to shift her body weight to keep the sled stable on the trail. My wife is adventurist and likes to learn new things. Me? I'm more the old dog who doesn't want to learn new tricks, so I sat in the "passenger compartment."
And we're off!!
This last image from the sled tour, while not the greatest, does capture what it must have been like for our ancestors many years ago. There were four sleds in our group, and this is the sled ahead of us. While this is from 2022, I could imagine it being a trapper or mountain man in 1822 as they crossed the Frontier.
After the tour we went to the historic Strater Hotel in Durango for lunch. I neglected to get a picture of the outside of the hotel, so I got this one from their website, strater.com
Everything in the hotel is old timey Western themed, such as the Diamond Belle Saloon where we ate.
The lobby and hallways of the hotel were filled with antiques. I snapped a couple of pictures of some firearms on display. There may have been more guns but we didn't walk around the entire place.
Overall we had a wonderful time. We're already planning going back at some time in the spring or summer. That way we don't have to borrow a broom from housekeeping!
When we arrived in Durango on a Friday afternoon there was minimal snow on the ground. Since I requested snow when I made our reservations and paid extra for it, I was a bit unhappy
. Fortunately, the snow gods showed up Saturday night and when we woke up early Sunday morning the view from our back patio at the hotel was really nice. I know you Yankees see this stuff all the time, but my wife and I lived in South Florida for decades and now in Las Vegas, so it's really a treat for us to see snow.
Of course, snow on the ground means snow on the vehicles as we headed out to the dog ranch for the tour. This was the first time ever in her life my bride had to clear snow off a car, but she looked to be enjoying it
.
The following pictures of the actual tour are not great. The weather conditions, while good for dog sledding, where not beneficial for good picture taking.
Here we are upon arrival all bundled up.
Our guide getting the dogs hooked up.
The dogs are now ready and my wife has taken her standing position as co-pilot on the rear of the sled. The guide would show her how to get the dogs and sled going, apply the brake, the anchor, and how to shift her body weight to keep the sled stable on the trail. My wife is adventurist and likes to learn new things. Me? I'm more the old dog who doesn't want to learn new tricks, so I sat in the "passenger compartment."
And we're off!!
This last image from the sled tour, while not the greatest, does capture what it must have been like for our ancestors many years ago. There were four sleds in our group, and this is the sled ahead of us. While this is from 2022, I could imagine it being a trapper or mountain man in 1822 as they crossed the Frontier.
After the tour we went to the historic Strater Hotel in Durango for lunch. I neglected to get a picture of the outside of the hotel, so I got this one from their website, strater.com
Everything in the hotel is old timey Western themed, such as the Diamond Belle Saloon where we ate.
The lobby and hallways of the hotel were filled with antiques. I snapped a couple of pictures of some firearms on display. There may have been more guns but we didn't walk around the entire place.
Overall we had a wonderful time. We're already planning going back at some time in the spring or summer. That way we don't have to borrow a broom from housekeeping!
