Durango & Mesa Verde

My sister Carla spent the past week with me while working on business in Denver. We had a blast and it was so nice to catch up with her since we never get any one on one time anymore. She kept me laughing the whole time with her crazy stories. I literally cried one evening at dinner from getting tickled at what she was telling me. The girl can spin a story for sure. She was able to work in a few extra days after her work was completed and I suggested Durango since I had never been there. I have yet to travel to southern Colorado since living here. It was beautiful just like the rest of the state, but oh so far away.


All aboard!!!!! We took the steam powered locomotive from Durango to Silverton. We missed being able to make it to Silverton by one week since the train only goes to Cascade Canyon for the winter route. The full line will open up on May 2nd. It was a great experience and some of the prettiest scenery."She'll be coming around the mountain when she comes." Here is the front of the train as it heads around one of the many cliffs in the San Juan Mountains.Smile!!!!! So we got tickled with just how slow this train moves. They said it travels at 18 mph. Carla said no wonder all the trains were robbed by horseback during the old west. It felt like we could run faster than the train at some points.




Here is a great video of the train as we are going through the San Juan Mountains. Talk about a huge drop off down to the river. Durango was founded by Denver and the Rio Grande Railway in 1879. The train started service in 1882 to Silverton after taking only 9 months to lay the tracks from Durango to Silverton..Here is Carla as we made it back to Durango. It was a full day being on the train. Loaded up at 10 & were back in Durango by 3.
My sister is a sucker for some Whoa Whoa's. Horses that is in case you weren't able to put it together. She and I are absolute nuts when it comes to horses. We were hoping to do a trail ride while she was here, but just didn't have enough time.
Here I am overlooking one of the many Cliff Dwellings in Mesa Verde National Park. The park was created in 1906 to preserve the archeological heritage of the Puebloans. You can see one of the cliff dwellings to the left of my shoulder.
Carla in front of the Spruce Tree House which is the best preserved cliff dwelling.
Here I am in a reconstructed Kiva which is a ceremonial room. Pilasters supported a beam and mud roof. The entry was by ladder through a hole in the center of the roof.
Here is out tour guide and group in the Cliff Palace which is the largest cliff dwelling in Mesa Verde. It is a short hike down into it, but the payoff is grand.


Here is a video inside the Cliff Palace which will give you an idea of just how big this place is. It is amazing to think that these people survived this many years ago (600 to 1200 AD) with such primitive tools.
Here I am sitting at the exit of the Cliff Palace. The trip was a lot of fun, especially since I was able to share it with my sister.

Maui

I traveled to Maui with my good friend Steve. He was headed over there to visit his uncle & asked if I would like to go. I didn't hesitate & told him hell yes. Some of his other friends made the trip as well. One of his good friends Joanne who was celebrating her 70th birthday was also there with all of her children & grandchildren. This was an unbelievable trip. I did so many things while there & hope you enjoy this latest entry to my blog. One other thing. My buddy Steve does not like to be photographed so that is why you will notice no pictures with him in it. ALOHA!!!!! Great shot of Maui as I'm headed back in after a whale watching excursion.
I took a helicopter ride around Maui & over to Molokai. Molokai is where they filmed a lot of the movie Jurassic Park. It is a beautiful island and does not have much development.
Here is a shot of Molokai's coastline. Absolutely beautiful.
Nervous self portrait I took of myself in the helicopter. I had never ridden in a helicopter and was surprised at how rough it was. I thought it would be really smooth & you would feel like you were floating. That was not the case. Very rough, but a fun experience.
Great shot looking back towards Maui.



Here is a short video of the helicopter ride around the coastline of Molokai.
On the dock after the whale watching tour.Robert and I catching some rays by the pool. The weather was perfect. About 82 degrees every day. Sweet!!!!One of the many beautiful sunsets on Maui.Joanne's birthday dinner with all of her family & friends. What a great family Joanne has and I felt priviledged to be a part of such a wonderful celebration. Happy 70th Joanne.
Myself, Joanne, Robert & Luis over at the Four Seasons having brunch. This resort is awesome.View of the beach over at Wailea.I went snorkeling one day off the coast of Lanai & the tour guide brought up this pencil urchin. This was the neatest thing. You could feel him moving slowly across the palm of your hand.Up close shot of the pencil urchin.Some of the many fish that I took pictures of. The marine life was beautiful.Thanks to one of the nice people I was snorkeling with that took this picture of me underwater.



Here is a cool video of the spinner dolphins. The guide told us that they spin like this to get the sucker fish off of them that are swimming with them. It was pretty cool to see since there would be these huge pods of dolphins jumping out of the water and spinning.The highlight of my trip. You have no idea how incredible seeing these huge humpback whales was for me. I felt like a kid in the candy store I was so giddy. After we finished with the snorkeling tour we came upon these 4 whales. A mother & her calve, plus 2 huge males.I swear these pictures weren't taken in some aquarium :) So we saw the whales off in the distance & I noticed that they were heading our way. We kept waiting for them to surface. I was talking to one of the people on the boat when we looked straight down & saw the mother and calf directly under the boat about 10 feet. I couldn't believe it. I immediately grabbed my underwater disposable camera that I bought that day to snorkel with & luckily had a few shots left. I put it in the water & started snapping pictures and this is what I got. You should have seen the look on my face yesterday as I got these pictures back from the drugstore. Awesome!!!!!!!These are the 2 males and were within 10 feet of the boat. Breathtaking.
My favorite shot as you can see these 2 huge males close up. Incredible wouldn't you say??? :O) I was one happy guy this day. Unbelievable experience. I was telling Joanne about it that evening & she asked if I was scared that they might tip the boat over. That thought never crossed my mind. haha


Great video of the whales coming up from air. Geez, I hate the sound of my voice.
Haleakala Crater. I did a horseback ride down into the crater & it was so cool. This was formed 40,000 years ago they said.Good shot of us as we embark into the crater.Back in the saddle again :). It felt great to be riding again. I was hoping for a horseback ride when I went on this trip so I took my riding boots just in case. This was a 4 hour round trip ride into the crater. At the base we had a picnic lunch & were amazed at the vast expanse of this whole crater.
Great shot that shows all of the colors.


Video as we are coming out of the crater.So this is my last picture of Maui & I thought I would end it with a sunset that was taken on my last day. Thanks to my buddy Steve for asking me to go with him. It was an incredible trip and one that I will remember for a lifetime.
Mahalo- which means "may you be in Divine breath".