What a wonderful day for a train ride. We left the campground and drove the 12 miles back to Antonito to catch the train at 10am. We had tickets for the middle-class car which consisted of armchairs facing forward with huge windows which we all opened. The locomotive is a coal-driven one, and sometimes the smoke was a little over-whelming, but the ride was awesome.
We started out on flat land and ended up at Cumbres Pass at 10,000 ‘. We passed back and forth between Colorado and New Mexico. The aspen trees were the most gorgeous shade of yellow which were impressive because they were mixed in with dark green conifers. The mountainsides looked almost fake. There was an open cattle-car type car directly in front of us where people stood to watch the scenery and a docent talked about a variety of things.
At 12:30 we pulled into Osier where we had lunch with another train-load of people coming from the other direction. We had a choice of turkey dinner, or meatloaf, or a soup and salad line. Bill, Ken, and I took the turkey dinner. We had a buffet line and ate in a large hall. The food was really quite good considering we were in the middle of nowhere. The turkey was real, the stuffing was good, mashed potatoes were real, and the green beans not bad.
We continued on to Cumbres Pass where we disembarked and took a lovely bus on a 45 minute bus ride back to Antonito. It truly was a beautiful trip. Today’s photo is of the other train continuing the way we had just come with the beautiful aspens on the hillside.
We all rested at the campground until 6 when we drove down the road to the only restaurant in 10 miles. The four of us were the only ones there until a group of 11 came in were rather noisy. The food was okay. Nancy and I had fajitas which weren’t bad.
Tomorrow we head out for the mad trip back to Raleigh. It will be I 40 all the way home – drive and rest, drive and rest.
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