Day 3-4: Colorado Springs to Durango

Yesterday, we took off from Colorado Springs, headed to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.  On the way, we stopped at this great local restaurant in Gunnison called the Ol' Miner Steakhouse. They had a great soup and salad bar.

Ol' Miner in front of the bikes, Gunnison, CO.

 The next stop was about 60 miles away at the Black Canyon National Park.

The pictures don't even get close to giving this area justice. It is enormous and makes does a great job of letting you know how small you truly are!

This area was called the painted cliffs. 

 We didn't get a ton of time at the canyon, because it was another 3 hours to Durango. We arrived at about 7:00 pm, just in time to get our room and something to eat. Luckily for us, the Durango Brewing Company was right next to our hotel! We had a taste of their specialized Amber Ale, and pork sandwiches.

 This morning, we got up to ride the Durango and Silverton Train. The trip up to Silverton was about 3.5 hours. Great scenery, but if we were to do it again, we would have taken the bus on our way back instead of the train again. All together it was about 7 hours on an open narrow gauge train car at about 20 miles per hour, with real coal and steam in your face! It was a once in a life time experience. Ironically, we sat right next to a couple from Eden Prairie. Small world.

Tomorrow, we head out on a route called the San Juan Highway. It's about a 250 mile loop around the area. We are anxious to get back on the bikes.

Talk with you soon.