Summer Adventures

Today is unseasonably cold. Not chilly but down right cold. It even snowed last night. I'm praying that this is just a freak cold system and not an early start to my least favorite season however, I have a horrible feeling that this Winter is going to be brutal.

With today's gray skies and snow flurries floating around, I'm going to take some time to reminisce about warmer days.

This Summer my Dad and I rode the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad and it was really fun! We left his home in Pueblo at 5 a.m. and headed to Antonito, CO which is more than 150 miles or about two and a half hours away.

If you've never ridden a train, I would suggest this one. Here's what the web says about it:

Ride the Longest Highest, most Historic Narrow Gauge Railroad in North America. 64 miles of spectacular scenery through the beautiful San Juan Mountains of Northern NM and Southern Co. Enjoy riding the rails, as they did in the 1880's with modern day comforts. 

This Historic line was originally the San Juan Extension with Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, few railroads in the world climb to greater heights than the historic narrow gauge line over 10,015-foot Cumbres Pass. The trains have been chugging over Cumbres Pass since 1881. Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad was chosen one of the "Top 20 Rail Trips of the World" by the Society of International Railway Travelers.

Here's the gorgeous sunrise we saw as we drove into Alamosa, CO. For this particular train ride you can either take the train from Antonito to Chama, NM or take a bus to Chama and then ride the train back. We chose the latter.

Here's me and my Dad by the engine in Chama right before we left.

This is one of the first pics I took as we rounded a bend. Even though Dad and I had seats on the train, we chose to ride most of the trip in the open car. It was a perfect day to do so and the only drawback was the soot that we ended up being covered in when the ride was over. But it was well worth the black hands!

 I just think this is a pretty shot.

And this is the favorite shot I got all day. The San Juan Mountains look magestic in the distance and this picture really embodies everything I love about this part of the country (in the Summer of course).