Day Trip to Silverton



Durango-Silverton Train on the way to Silverton

July 26 – It was a great day! We got up at 7 and on the road by 8:10. Unfortunately on the way I was trying to look up something on my cell phone and got severely nauseous on the way. I would have laid down if there was any way to in the truck. We stopped at Tarpley’s on our way through Durango and picked up our newest door window casing. Then Bill stopped at the health food store so I could get a bag of crystallized ginger to ease my really ill stomach. I haven’t felt that bad in a long time.

As we continued on our way to Silverton, I started feeling much better. We stopped at an overpass there we knew the Durango-Silverton train would pass under. We went on the train in 2010 and knew there was a place there people were stopped and watching the train, so now we were the watchers. Bill was getting impatient but I refused to give up. There was a bus driver there who said he had passengers on the train that he took to the station in Durango and was picking up at Silverton. He waited with us and we got some great photos of the train coming around the bend and then going under the overpass. We didn’t see the train again until it arrived over 2 hours later in Silverton as we were getting ready to leave.

Molas Lake from Molas Pass

The road up is curvy, steep and mostly has no guard rails. It’s call the Million Dollar Highway. It goes on passed Silverton to Ouray and on northerly. Bill was really glad we were not going any further. We stopped at Molas Pass. It was beautiful scenery and a view down of Molas Lake in the valley. On the way into Silverton we stopped from above and got some photos of Silverton down in the valley. You can see all the iron ore tailings around the mountains as it’s the stain that gives it away. We could see the tracks leading right into town. Once you get down in Silverton is doesn’t seem very big at all. As a matter of fact, most people leave in the fall. They only have 60 students in their school and they each are provided a laptop. Only a few places are open all winter. In the summer there are tons of restaurants and shops. We talked to some of the shop owners and they retreat to Mesa, AZ for the winter.

Lunch at Thee Pitts Again BBQ

After covering the main street shops we decided to have lunch at Thee Pitts Again BBQ which was on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. I went with one of Guy Fieri’s favorites, a smoked turkey open face sandwich of roll bottom, turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy stacked. It was awesome. Bill had a brisket sandwich with potato salad and a pickle. It was really a good lunch in a little hole in the wall place.

We walked over to Blair Street, which was the “brothel” street back in the day. Most of the old brothels are now restaurants and shops. The train arrives right at the corner of 12th and Blair. Silverton was a gold and silver mining town beginning in the 1870’s until the 1990’s. There is a mine tour you can go on but we didn’t have time. As it was we knew we wouldn’t get home until dinner time and we left Xena to be taken out twice by Harlen.

I did some Christmas shopping and Bill let me get a really lovely gaspeite bracelet. It was mined in Australia but is no longer so it’s getting more difficult to find pieces. I wanted a lighter shade of earrings and a bracelet to blend with a necklace I already have. So I found the bracelet but have not had any luck on earrings that I liked.

Indoor Beehive

On the slow ride back down the mountains to Durango, we stopped at Honeyville. They have a live beehive behind glass that you can watch the worker bees in action. There is a pipe from the top of the hive that runs across the ceiling and out of the building so the bees can go out and bring back the pollen. It you look long and hard to you can eventually find the queen. We didn’t do it this time but we did the last time we were here. They sell a variety of honeys, honey wine, mustards, syrups, candles and more. If it is made from honey or bees wax they must sell it.

We stopped in Durango at Walgreens to pick up my photos that were ready and then at Albertson’s. Bill just dropped me off and he went to the shoe shop to pick up his shoe to save time on getting home. I was so glad I had put some chicken in the crock pot so I only had to make a salad and cook some pasta. It was an Italian chicken dish with one of those crockpot packet mixes and I added tomato paste and a can of diced tomatoes with oregano and basil. Then before serving I kinda shredded up the chicken. Bill really liked it. Only have enough leftovers for one person.

We ended up having a couple of sites to clean but Bill went out while I was watching a show and did them. That was nice. I’ve gotten behind in my journaling, which of course puts me behind in blogging. Better get in gear tomorrow and get caught up. I did download all of my photos from today and downsized them and uploaded to Picasa so they are ready for viewing by the general public and to paste into the blog. It all just takes time!!!