Cumbres & Toltec - Enjoy the Ride!

What you are looking at is the coal burning steam engine that was fired up and waiting for Becky, Hannah and I (and maybe a few others) as we arrived at the Antonito Railroad Terminal in Antonito, Colorado.

We picked a gorgeous day for our train ride. Normally, the train carries passengers only; but on this day our train was also transporting railroad ties. After the crew checked the brakes and ties the whistle blew and it was time to board. This was the cutest girl on the train in my opinion. And this is the train car that we were assigned to. We didn't know it was the VIP car, but we discovered quickly that we were VIPs and we had our very own lavatory! I couldn't help but snap this picture of Hannah as we were pulling away from the terminal. Elevation: 7,888 ft.

I called this open car the "cattle car" because you had to stand the entire

time you were out there - just like livestock do when their being transported.

But the open car is where we spent most of our time because the

scenery was magnificent and we didn't want to miss any of it!

We could always tell when we were going up hill; the smoke

from the engine would get darker and thicker.

Hannah loved the whole experience. She would sit inside the car for awhile,

then go back out to the "cattle car".

This little house stands in Sublette, it was built for the workmen who worked on the railroad laying the lines.

Elevation: 9,276 ft.

This is one of the beautiful vistas we encountered along the way.

This was called "mud tunnel" because of the muddy conditions of the mountain

the tunnel went through. They had to built what we would now call shoring

to re-enforce the walls from caving in.

Black smoke; we were climbing again. The higher we climbed the greener, and more beautiful it became.

Below:

Calico cut.

A very narrow cut between the mountains.

Avalanches and mudslides cause problems here when the dirt and rocks are wet.

This woman was a very happy tourist.

She took pictures and video the entire distance!

Check out this rock. Do you see the old man sitting there?

These are called Telltale's.

When brakemen are on top of a car and get hit on the head by these hanging wires, they know it's time to get down because there is an approaching tunnel.

More beautiful scenery.

This is Osier. Where we stopped for lunch.

Elevation: 9,637 ft.

Becky and I had a choice of turkey dinner with all the fixings

or soup and salad bar.

Becky had the turkey dinner - I had the soup and salad bar.

Hannah's was a child's meal which consisted of:

Hot dog, corn, mashed potatoes and gravy, roll and dessert. We didn't go away hungry!

This is Cascade Trestle.

Built in 1889.

137 ft. high, 408 ft. long.

All of that to go over little Cascade Creek - seen below.

Our little reliable engine was really blowing some steam here.

These two pictures are out of order.

We stopped to drop the railroad ties when we reached Cumbres

(which means "crests" or "summits" in Spanish)

The photo below shows the cars being prepared to be disconnected.

The photo above shows the brake hose popping off and the cars

separating from one another.

The sign reads:

Cumbres

Elevation 10,015 ft.

If I remember correctly, we pulled into the Chama station around 4:00 p.m.

There was so much fanfare; bands playing, people cheering......so much noise that we could hardly hear ourselves talk.

See for yourselves!

After we made our way through these crowds we spotted the stagecoach

that we would be taking back down the mountain.

We had front row seats which we enjoyed the entire 45 minute drive back down to Antonito - we continued to enjoy beautiful scenery all the way back as well. By the way,

Chama, NM.

Elevation: 7,863 ft.

Twenty five feet LOWER than Antonito!?

P. S. Becky and I were no less for the wear after the long day of sight seeing.

On To the SLV - San Luis Valley

After touring Mesa Verde we headed down to Alamosa by way of Wolf Creek Pass. This pass is absolutely stunning and it's a must if you have never traveled that way. The majestic mountains are magnificent, and the scenic views are picturesque.

It was evening by the time we made it to Alamosa and we had to be up early for the Sanford festivities.

I won't mention who this may be, but as you can see it probably took some time to get the hair under control.

Arlene's corner is where the parade begins for Mormon Pioneer Days.

So everyone gathered outside... grabbed their camera's,

and got their chairs into a good place to view the parade.

There were cowboys with grandchildren,

Mormon missionaries on floats,

and cute little children and puppies in hand carts.

After the parade we drove to the school where mother met up with Judy and Nancy. They stood there and brought tears to my eyes as they sang one of their oh so familiar songs. It sounded almost as beautiful listening to them now as it did 40 years ago when they were at the top of the charts - in Alamosa County and Conejos County anyway.

This dear man with Natalie and me is one of our dear friends that we grew up with when we lived in Sanford. His name is Bobby Morgan and he is Nancy's son; the woman with the red hair in the above picture. We would have hours of fun with him when mother would go to Nancy's house to practice songs that they were going to be singing.

The reason we were at the school is because they were having a delicious bbq lunch . The only problem was the seating was in the direct sun so we found the most shade we could - away from the tables and enjoyed the food.

This piece of artwork is actually made from miniature photo's of all the students that have graduated from Sanford High School. They are known as the Sanford Indians, hence - the Indian.

It's found inside the school building which consists of Kindergarten through 12th grade! I wanted to show Hannah the school I used to go to so we walked inside.

This is Hannah and me sitting in my 3rd grade classroom. It was fun to share stories with her of things that I did and things that happened to me when I went to school there.

Such as working in this kitchen when I was in elementary school. This is the very sink I stood and washed dishes at....and watched sweat drip down Mrs Faucett's nose into the dish water! Yuck!

The tour of this extremely large school (not) , as well as browsing the quilt display that was in the gym must have been exhausting because everyone had to find somewhere to sit before we could venture on to the next activity.

Luckily we had a day's rest before we had to do the Manassa activities.

Here's Mother with Uncle Herman, his daughter Judy and two of his grandsons.

Here's Aunt Mary Jane and Uncle Kenneth enjoying the music that was being played by one of the bands in the park. Well, Aunt Mary Jane was enjoying it. She sat in her chair and danced her feet around as Uncle Kenneth enjoyed his zzzz's.

Hannah talked me into going on some of the carnival rides with her.

I remember as a child being so excited for the carnival to come for the 24th of July celebration. I couldn't wait to ride all of the rides; especially the scary ones! I looked at those rides this day and it scared me to get on them. How safe are carnival rides.....REALLY?

Here we are on the scrambler - my #1 choice as a child.

Here's mother and Becky on the Ferris wheel.

And me and Hannah.

She even talked me into going on this thing - TWICE!

And here's Becky and me ready to toss our cookies.

Okay Sarah, this part will freak you out so you may want to scroll down to safer territory, like maybe the end.

When I was a child Arlene would get the baby dolls out and let me play with them. At that time I had no idea that the doll I was playing with was probably an antique even then.

This is a picture of the doll Arlene's aunt sent to her a few years ago. She has a sawdust stuffed body, leather joints sewn into her cloth body, porcelain head and hands and real human hair. Does she remind you of anyone.....maybe an old movie character?

I hate to say it, but when I saw her she reminded me of the Betty Davis character in the movie Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. Does anyone agree with me or am I the only one that was permitted to see that movie as a child? Here's my baby girl holding the baby doll that Arlene use to play with as a child.

I think she's a little prettier.

On the south side of Alamosa is an Artesian Well that runs continuously. Artesian Well water is always cold and tastes so good. We had to stop and fill our empty water bottles one day as we drove by. Why buy water when you can get if for free?

The night before we left to head up to Denver, Nancy and Judy wanted to get together with mother again and do some reminiscing of old times and sing a few more songs. I love these women and I was just as excited as mother was to have them come over to the motel and visit for awhile. We loved listening to them sing some of the old songs they use to sing. And we laughed when they began singing one song and mother started singing words to another one when they were in the middle of it.

To listen to them tell stories and laugh was heart warming and touching. These women truly love each other. I had to call it quits when they started talking about how sad they were when mother moved away. I will be forever grateful that I went with mother to Colorado - if it was only to see these women together again and listen to them sing.

Thanks, Mother, Nancy and Judy....

for the memories.