Denver through Four corners loop.

[Southwest Dave]

Silverton to Pagosa Springs.

What another great town ! We park the RV in the main street and start to wander into town admiring the colorful buildings that are surrounded by snow covered peaks.



A snow mobile, Silverton styleeee !!



As we turn off the main street the road is unpaved [as mentioned by Lifey] and there are some fantastic old buildings with boardwalks. Without trying to hard it really does represent the "Wild west" to us folks from across the sea and I half expected a cowboy to come flying out through the window of the "Shady lady Saloon" with ensuing gunfight.
[Yep been watching to many Westerns !]

To add to the atmosphere the Silverton to Durango Steam train leaves town as the Mountains mimic the 'puff' of the engine and the 'cry' of the whistle and the only visual clue is the funnel and trail of steam left in the sky, I love this town !







We have a nice lunch in the "Pickle and Barrel" before strolling back through town to the RV and start to head for our destination for tonight, Pagosa springs. Continuing on the San Juan skyway to Durango we witness more great mountain scenery along the way.

Looking back on Silverton.


The road continues over Molas pass @ 10,970 ft and Coal bank pass @ 10,640ft and down past Electra and Haviland lake.





It took longer than expected to arrive in Durango as we were caught behind a slow moving escorted wide load, we eventually passed it only to be caught behind another 5 minutes down the road, still more time to enjoy the scenery.

So it was only a brief stop in Durango to get gas and some provisions and we were off on US 160 and arrived in Pagosa just as the light was fading. There was a small RV park behind "The Spa" that we had hopes of staying at and enjoying a dip in a hot tub but unfortunately there were no vacancies. The friendly lady behind the counter phoned another campground a mile or so out of town to see if they had vacancies and they did, great news but no dip in the hot tub.

Louise was the "Food Guru" for this trip, carefully noting places of interest to eat along our chosen route. So far she had done a great job and tonight was no exception. We had a wonderful meal in "Kips grill and cantina". It was only small but very vibrant, a place the locals come, yet everyone is welcome. The Apple pie is delicious and after enquiring in my best possible "Deep South" American accent [WHICH ISN'T GOOD !] "Is this real Home made American apple pie ?" I discovered it was made just across the road.
Note It should be noted at this point that my companions had sunk in their chairs with embarrassment and the poor waitress was momentarily lost for words Lol !

We head back to the campground and turn in for the night, Tomorrow we head to Taos and hope to be in the Sand dunes NP for the night.