And now for "Part 2":
Day 5
This morning Noah and Paul did a little more hunting. But this time there was an accident. Noah got swatted in the eye with a tree branch as it sprung back into place after his Daddy had walked past it. Having been through the whole eye-scratch thing before, we weren't TOO worried, but we decided to take him to a doctor in case there were any particles left in there that might cause infection.
It's always an adventure with us Davidsons.
We then had a fun breakfast at a local diner.
And we also had another little stop to make. If you'll remember at the end of Day 4, there was a picture of the kiddos with a pair of gunslingers, in which Atticus held his beloved Silkie. Turns out he dropped his Silkie in the candy store that night. Probably because that cool airplane grabbed his attention. Needless to say, it was a sad night in the cabin when we discovered it was missing and were too far from town to go back to the store. We did call as they were closing--they found it and put it behind the counter for us. But it was rough on our little guy. He was one happy fella when we recovered it.
Then we did a little browsing. A little trying Durango on for size.
I thought we fit right in. ;)
After gathering a few necessary supplies, we opted to hang out a bit more around the cabin.
It was such a nice day.
Day 6
Today we woke up at the literal crack of dawn, dragged sleepy kiddos into their very cold car seats, and drove into Durango to catch an early-morning train to Silverton. It was handy that there was a bagel shop right next to the station, because we were in need of a quick and portable breakfast.
Did I mention we woke up early?
This was a most gorgeous, scenic trip, and I highly recommend it!! It's one of those "bucket list" kind of things. Do it. Bring your camera. Gasp and wonder. And be grateful.
For us this trip was, perhaps, most memorable for its freezing rainy weather. It was pretty crazy cold when we left Durango, and it just got worse as the rain came on and we slowly winded up the mountain to a higher altitude. And, sadly, we had opted for tickets in the open-air car. (Yes, we did.) They were cheaper, they were all together, and they provided the best opportunity for great photos. But we nearly froze our tiny toes off.
We stopped a few times to take on water.
We certainly cuddled a lot.
Thanks to the frigid conditions, there's a lot of this trip I did not photograph, though it was over three hours going TO Silverton and three hours coming back. Because I was busy shivering. And wrapping little ones in blankets.
Can't you just look at that water and imagine our teeth chattering?
But we made it to Silverton, nonetheless. Alive. And we warmed up in an odd little restaurant for lunch, finishing just in the nick of time to reboard our "polar express." If you can believe it, the ride back actually started out much worse, as the rain was driving in by now and our seats had all gotten wet while we dined. Oh, dear.
Thankfully, many people had opted to pay a little more and take the bus back to Silverton. And the brakeman (Paul had to tell me that was his position) found us seats in the private (enclosed) car. (He did this entirely out of the goodness of his heart.) The kids and I took advantage! We just needed to thaw a bit. Never has the back of a door looked so beautiful...
I had a few precious moments in here, as I reflected on God's goodness through others.
He had such a good time!
And I had such a good time watching him...
The last thirty minutes or so were quite pleasant, as the sun decided to come out and raise the temp to something a little more bearable!
Stripes!
Half-'n-half.
Our hero, the brakeman. :)
We also did a quick tour of a little railroad museum, where they had a rather large model train display.
Among other interesting things.
Three kiddos in the "dog house." Literally.
And then we got to see our engine turned on the giant turntable and put into the roundhouse.
That was way cool. And of course, we had to "let off a little steam" in the shop.
And Gabriel flattened and embossed himself a penny.
All in all, it was a fun, memorable day. Noah is really the only one who remembers how blasted cold it was! My advice? Don't pin yourself down to only ONE possible date on which to ride the train. That way you can have the freedom to let the weather forecast influence your decision. ;) Still. I'd do it again.
Stay tuned for the next installment in these vacation chronicles...
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