Durango and Purgatory, Co

On our way to Durango we drove by Chimney Rock. Unfortunately we couldn’t get into see the National Monument, but we were still able to see it. That night we walked around downtown Durango. It has that small town feel, definitely one of my favorite places we have been to so far.

Mesa Verde

While we were in Durango we drove to Mesa Verde, about a 40 minute drive. The name Mesa Verde means green table in Spanish. Which makes sense since it is a high plateau, the top being covered in trees and shrubs. Mesa Verde is most famous for its cliff dwellings. While these cliff dwellings were inhabited for only thirty years there are more than four different sets of dwellings in the cliff sides. They were very remarkable, definitely one of the best places to see cliff dwellings.

Four Corners

The next place we visited was not technically in Durango either. But it worth the long drive and was definitely one that had been high on my bucket list. We went to Four Corners!!! Four Corners is where the states Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado meet, in a literal shape of four right angles. We had a lot of fun taking photos.

Durango, Colorado

One day when we were in Durango my dad, my brother and I went fishing with a guide. We spent the whole day fishing. While I only caught two fish, a rainbow trout and a brown trout, we still had fun.

To conclude our time in Durango we took a train ride on the Durango and Silverton railroad. This train has been operational since 1882! The train ride was an out and back ride, a total of 5 hours. We even got a souvenir ticket. There was a seating car, a food car and an open air car, where you could stand outside. At the turn around point we were able to get out and walk around before heading back. We had lots of fun!!

Purgatory, Colorado

The next place we went was Purgatory, Colorado. Purgatory is a ski resort and probably one of my favorites that we have been to so far on this trip. We skied for a total of three days. On the second day we woke up to a foot of powder and it was still snowing!! We did a run but when we got to the bottom the lift was off. They told us that there had been a lightning strike somewhere on the mountain. The lift were closed for around 40 minutes before they deemed it safe to resume skiing.

On the fourth day of skiing we headed out to the base of the mountain. Only to find out that while we had been sleeping last night the governor of Colorado had closed all the ski resorts due to the Coronavirus. We were very sad.