The Kids are Off on their Own

Big day today, as Ma and Pa set out all by themselves to find the Grand Canyon. They hear it’s fairly big, so hope to find it without getting lost too many times. In truth, they got lost the first time one corner away from home when offline Google Maps would not work offline. How they laughed. With only 400 more miles to go.

Today’s destination was Durango, in the south of Colorado. But an early start left Ma and Pa peckish by the excellently named Fairplay. Population 679. And home to the Dream Stream Cafe. If Ma has finally worked out how to add a video to this blog, here is Pa waiting for his breakfast, to the soundtrack of his youth...



And look who was spotted at one of the stops on the way. This must be the equivalent of a bloke in a kilt on Princes Street, because none of the locals batted an eye.


The rest of the journey was just as spectacular as all other journeys have been on this holiday, surrounded by the immense Rockies and actually going over them at one point on a white-knuckle road beside sheer cliff drops with no barriers. Extra frissons provided by road signs screaming ‘Damaged Road!’, ‘Wildlife!’, ‘Loose Gravel!’, ‘Falling Rocks!’ Yes, FallING. A bit tense, it’s fair to say. Speed limit down to 10mph at one point. And that was still FAR too fast.






But now safely in a nice Best Western in Durango, which is a stylish town with a very attractive historic centre. Ma and Pa enjoyed a tasty dinner then strolled, though not for too long as temperatures have jumped to 30 degrees! But the vintage shop caught our eye - this is exactly how we dressed in the 70s. Uncanny to see it here.



Tomorrow is the big rail trip so hope to see exciting pics of that. Till then, reruns of the Golden Girls are on tv so there’s chuckling.

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