Green River to Durango

We planned to go to Arches National Park but when we saw the prices of accommodation in nearby Moab, we looked further afield. There was not much in the way of Airbnb available so we looked for motels. We found a place in Green River where the reviews were not too terrible.

The main street of Green River.

The hotel. Let's just say it was old but adequate.

Some of these western towns are not as vibrant as they once were.

The best restaurant reviews were for this place just round the corner, With a name like this, how could I go wrong.

Notice the lack of prices on the beer menu. Ok, this is Utah but we noticed the same thing in Nevada. Presumably there is some point to this but it escapes me. Each beer cost $4.50.

The menu. After considerable thought, weighing the delicious options, I chose the Teriyaki chicken which turned out to be fine.

It was quite hot and very dry.

We went to the local supermarket to buy milk for breakfast.

Another architectural gem. I suspect other parts of Green River closer to the river itself were better than the outskirts where out hotel was.

I was hoping for some rain to cool things off a bit, but no luck.

The next morning, we left Green River about 6:30 am so that we could get to Arches National Park early before the hordes. The blog for the Arches is here.

Even miles away from the National Park, you come across other arches.

We entered Colorado.

It seemed like the world changed. We were back to farms and brown soil.

Huge silo.

Irrigation was common.

Lots of water for irrigation.

Green. Such a change from brown.

We drove into Durango about 2:30 pm and parked and went for a walk.

It's a touristy town but still pleasant.

The main street is lined with nice old buildings and it is a pleasure to stroll along to see them.

The big attraction in town is the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad.

Some of the carriages.

Empty platform. The trains leave in the morning and return late in the afternoon.

When we arrived there was quite a queue for people buying tickets. At $89 each we were reminded of one of house exchange families where the husband complained of tour operators, hotel, restaurants as 'charging like a wounded bull'. Even though I love trains, we decided our money could be spent better elsewhere.

The timetable. We would have had to stay in Durango two nights to effectively take the train ride there and back.

We continued our walk down the main street.

Durango is really a nice place to visit. Hopefully we will return some time, especially since we subsequently realize it is only a short distance from Mesa Verde in New Mexico.

We then drove a few miles out of town to our bnb. It was a wonderful evening. The hosts were very friendly and interesting. Another guest who was staying for a few nights was preparing pizza for dinner and we were invited. It was just wonderful sitting out on the deck eating pizza, drinking wine, gazing at the hillside across the valley that was covered with pine trees and talking about all kinds of subjects.