Another Time on the ALCAN - 8. Durango & Pagosa Springs, Colorado

Wednesday, October 7 - Drove 150 Miles Today. Stopped for the night in Durango, Colorado. Durango was another of those places on our dream list of retirement meccas. Its listed in many “Places to Retire” magazines, as one of the prime choices of those who are in their “Golden” years. It is an attractive city in the Animus River Valley, but has gotten too popular - probably because of the retirement magazines. The place has grown beyond its stretch limits these last ten years - prices are high - both real estate and RV parks. We paid $43 for the night at the Union RV Park - an okay place, but overpriced. The mountains are close, which really bothers Mary, and traffic is heavy, so we marked Durango off our retirement list.
The Durango-Silverton Railroad passed right by the RV park in the morning and returned toward evening. It is a narrow gauge 19th Century steam engine that passed before we could get the camera - no photos. There was a neat bar in the downtown area, The Irish Embassy, where we enjoyed a pleasant afternoon.

Thursday, Friday & Saturday, October, 8,9 &10 - Drove only 60 Miles Today. We chose to stay at the Riverside RV Park, just east of Pagosa Springs, and selected an attractive site on the river - the last place on the row, so no one was beyond our door. Will, our 76 year old camp host, was a likeable fellow who bided his time between Pagosa Springs, Colorado and his Texas Ranch. He had been hosting at the park for eight years, and said this one had been harder - more troubled and pressed people than previous years.
That night the Pagosa Springs Resort cost us $17 each, plus and additional $5 to enter the special “adult area” - not worth it on Thursdays, but maybe on weekends. The Springs establishment is big with many pools and an adjacent hotel, and worth a visit.
We explored the area on Friday and Saturday. The old part of town is mainly one street wide, without much new having been added. The new part of town stretches four or five miles to the west. That is where most of the business and housing has been added over the last few years - lots of modern-like development, fast-foods and local restaurants.
There was not much more to see, but we stayed on for another day because the hot-air balloon festival still raged in Albuquerque, not ending till Sunday. It was so popular that there was little chance of finding a place within a hundred miles, so we built a fire and roasted hotdogs and marshmallows by the riverside that evening.

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