Durango!

Since we're coming upon our last week here at the Alpine Guard Station, and we knew we would be working extremely long hours to wrap up as much as we could- we geared up by taking a day off. We were hoping to build up some reserves and relax just a little so that we could start the week running and not stop until we're done.

As usual, when I'm given a day off I hit the road. There is so much to see here in Colorado and so many places I want to go, so off to Durango I went. I really wanted to go to Mesa Verde, but I didn't want to have only one day to take it all in, so I'm saving that trip for later when I can do it right. I figured Durango was a good compromise; and how right I was!

Durango very well could be Cathy heaven. First of all, it's surrounded by the most beautiful landscape. And there is a river than runs right through town- I could hear the constant laughter and "woo-hoo's!" from all the college kids tubing down it. OH I was dying to go jump in that river!
Then there was quaint little Historic District. I decided to go to Durango because I learned about it in one of my Historic Preservation classes. It was supposed to have a pretty good historic area, including the fabulous Strater Hotel. Like most small Colorado towns, Durango was populated largely due to it's mining potential. The town was organized in 1880 by the Railroad of course. And it also had to have a first rate hotel, which is soooo cool!
Durango also had some fabulous houses that I would just love to either live in, or work on. They had quaint neighborhood streets lined with big old trees and large green yards- just my kind of town.

In addition to the lovely neighborhoods and historic feel; this town really took advantage of it's local resources. I found so many locally made items, from arts and crafts to food and herbs. Buying locally and in season is very important to me, so this was a real treat. I was so impressed with the local herb shop, I just wanted to live inside this store! Last week I had the unfortunate experience of a table saw kick-back. If you've never worked with a table saw before, imagine a projectile piece of wood flying back at you at unbelievable speed. Ya, it hurt, and bad. Kick-backs are very serious and can be life threatening. Luckily I had on a good thick pair of Dickies work pants so that softened the blow a bit. I still got a large laceration on my pelvic bone and one extremely big bruise and bump. However, the Durango herb shop definitely saved the day. I bought a locally made, natural, healing salve that worked like magic. Nearly a week later and the laceration is completely healed. Amazing! I have a nasty scar of course, but wow that was effective!
After the herb shop I just happened to drive past the local food co-op. I'm a huge fan of natural food stores, and a community food co-op just can't be beat. So much of the food in the store was locally made by Durango residents, and they had a lot of freshly made raw cuisine which looked so fabulous. What a fantastic place!
I also just happened to be there during a Durango Rail Fest celebration. There were reenactments of Durango life in the 1880's, and a pretty cool shoot out that I got to watch for a while.
I just loved it here, and I haven't even mentioned the impressively sized farmer's market where I bought some local peaches, or the very authentic Mediterranean restaurant where I ate lunch. Durango is just so awesome. My one and only concern, and this is a big one, is that I'm not sure I saw anyone that wasn't white. I mean, nothing against white people of course, but I think cultural diversity is important, and I'm not sure I could live in such a homogeneous environment. Still though, Durango is a very special place and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a nice road trip through the spectacular Colorado mountains!