Durango, CO - A Drive to Silverton & Fun at the Slater

Durango, CO
La Plata County Fairgrounds


We had a pretty nice week weather wise so we were able to do some small hikes, bike rides and sampling the town.  We had a great Italian meal with real authentic food and my favorite Spritz cocktail that I loved in Italy.  Steve sampled quite a few micro brews. We really had a great time in Durango.

 

With a few days left, we thought we'd take a drive up to Silverton to check out the road and possible boondocking spots.  It was a cold rainy/snowy day.

 

Just outside of Durango you pass this large, blob on the side of the road.  It is a real hot springs, but the blob was built by the Department of Transportation several years ago to keep the discharge of water from destroying vegetation on nearby private property.

 

We also found a geocache hidden nearby.

We were hunting for a special cache and found that a pine tree it was hidden near had fallen down.  You can see the lid of the cache in the picture.  It was in memory of a beloved dog and had lots of doggie goodies inside as well as a picture of the dog.

As you get ready to wind down the road into Silverton, you see some colorful mountains.  No doubt due to mining. We will be spending a couple of weeks or more here later in the summer so we'll find out more info then.  And hopefully it will be much warmer than the 30s and NOT snowing!

The cute town of Silverton down below and surrounded by beautiful mountains.

Colorful buildings on Main St.

Teeny tiny sized church

 

Silverton sits at 9,318-ft. elevation.  It is a wonderfully preserved mining town set in a high mountain valley surrounded by 13,000-ft. peaks.

We decided to stop in the Brown Bear Café and get a bowl of soup and warm up before heading back to Durango.

I just love the architecture and details of these old bars.  The woodwork is beautiful as is all the crystal and tiffany lights and tin ceilings.

On the drive we saw many little waterfalls coming down the mountain sides from the snow melt.

The Aspen are just starting to leaf out.

 

Before we leave I found out that fellow bloggers, Jim & Judy of The Meandering Maddox's were work camping nearby.  I contacted them and we had a nice meet up.  First they showed us all around the nice RV park they work at,  The Alpen Rose.

Then we went to a nice BBQ place down the street.  The food was really good.  They were planning on going out to the Historic Strater Hotel for drinks, munchies and entertainment and invited us to come along.

 

 

We met some of Jim & Judy's friends.  There was Donna, Ken, Gina, Mike and Mark.  Sorry, I can't match up the names with the correct face.  We all had a great time though!

The old saloon bar, The Diamond Belle.

Lots of appetizers.

This was a sundae served on a pancake (or something similar).  Again, I'm not a sweets fan, but I had a few bites :-)

Next, on to Pagosa Springs for a soak.