Globus Tours Historic Trains of the Old West. Day 1 Denver – August 14, 2023 We arrived in Denver nonstop from Tampa on Southwest Airlines. We were taking the A Train from the airport to Union Station and it is about a 3/4 mile walk to the hotel. Denver was a pretty cosmopolitan town with good restaurants and an area called the 16th Street Mall that is fully under construction at this point as they are building a tram system to replace the bus that currently takes people for free from one end of 16th street to the other. We stopped to see the blue bear at the convention center and walked a couple of other neighborhoods. On an escorted tour, you traditionally meet the tour director or TD the first night of the tour to learn about where you are going and some FAQs that people have about the tour. Some tours have a welcome dinner but this particular tour had an open bar for the orientation and then we were on our own for dinner. This tour is primarily a train tour with three old west trains but we also have a mix of shopping with 2 nights in Santa Fe New Mexico, stops in Durango, Glenwood Springs and finally back to Denver. This trip and trains were not on either of our bucket lists but we were invited on a “familiarization trip” to see one of Globus Tours “Off the beaten path” trips and we had never been to Colorado or New Mexico so off we go. Day 2 – August 15, 2023 Denver to Colorado Springs with Royal Gorge Railroad Globus includes a hotel breakfast each morning so breakfast starts at 6:30 AM, Bags are out of your room at 7 AM and the bus departed at 8AM. The bus turns south of Denver and we head towards Colorado Springs where we can see the Air Force Academy so as we drive past, we see gliders, jets and parachutes all practicing. Then we head further Southwest around the foot hills of the Rocky Mountains and we can see Pikes Peak off in the distance from Colorado Springs towards the Canyon City Historic District. The claim to fame for this area is there are five prisons including the Supermax Federal prison that holds El Chapo and the Shoe Bomber from 9/11, The Unibomber Ted Kazinsky recently died at this Supermax prison. Our server on the train said all of her neighbors were prison guards. The purpose of heading to Canyon City was to take the Royal Gorge Route Railroad. At this point this is a tourist attraction that takes you into a steep gorge that has been cut by the Arkansas River that is barely wide enough for the railroad and the river. It is a two hour trip up into the gorge and back down with air conditioned cars and open cars for viewing platforms. At one spot, there are gondolas and ziplines across the canyon so we stop for a view. This is the Upper Arkansas Valley of Colorado and the Arkansas River runs through the Canyon. Originally silver brought people to this area and started the railroad activity. There was actually a war that went on over two years over these tracks in the 1870 between two railroad companies which ended in a lawsuit over the right of way. In 1905 President Roosevelt rode the rails and designated the area a parkland. The Royal Gorge Train has a nice menu, craft beers and even a good wine list so we all shared a bottle of cabernet franc from the Winery at Holy Cross Abbey. This is our first of three Trains of the Old West and the trip did not disappoint as the scenery was beautiful and it was a magical afternoon in Colorado. We had perfect sunny weather and an afternoon temp of 85 degrees. After a two hour train ride and half an hour in the station gift shop, we were off to Colorado Springs past Fort Carson for an overnight stay at the Embassy Suites Colorado Springs. When you check into hotels, the TD gets all the keys and has them in the lobby to pass out as we get off the bus. Tonight a dinner is included and we have a “tour menu” at a German restaurant called Edelweiss. The TD passes around menus from the restaurant as a tour menu is limited with 4 or 5 items to make it easy to feed a busload of 40 passengers. This is a good group of mixed ages. Many are train enthusiasts but others just wanted to tour Colorado and the American Southwest. We will arrive at the hotel around 4:15 PM and head out to the restaurant at 5:30 PM. As I look around the bus on the way home, people are enjoying the scenery. If you read my Norway blog you will remember this is touring where somebody else drives and you can stare out the window aimlessly as you drive through beautiful countryside. People are napping in the comfortable seats and here on day two people are making new friends on the coach. Dinner was very good at the German restaurant so we are home early to catch up on our lost sleep. Day 3 – August 16, 2023 Colorado Springs to Santa Fe via Trinidad Today we are covering almost 300 miles as it is a transition day from Colorado Springs, Colorado to Santa Fe, New Mexico. We are up before 6A as bags are out at 7A. We are at the Embassy Suites Colorado Springs which had clean rooms and a very good breakfast bar with an omelet station. We are rolling at 8A and our first stop is the Garden of the Gods Park in Manitou Springs (a suburb of Colorado Springs which has owned the park since 1909 when it was deeded from one of the railroad men). This was characteristic for this part of the world with sedimentary red rock formations. From this stop, we are able to see Pike’s Peak but we do not actually go to Pike’s Peak. We make a couple of 15 to 20 minute picture stops with a driving tour of the park and a 45 minute stop at the gift/shop café. It is called the Garden of the Gods Trading Post and it has a very nice selection of t-shirts, jewelry and other gift shop merchandise plus a café and fresh fudge. We are rolling again as we are about a 5 hour drive to Santa Fe. Every tour has a day where you have to transition and cover more ground in the bus and today is that day. We are breaking it with about 2 hours of driving to Trinidad, Colorado for a lunch stop. When touring, they try not to go more than 90 minutes except for a few occasions without a bathroom stop as the bus bathroom is mostly for emergencies since it is unable to be serviced until we get back to Denver. The tour directors scout these towns so they can make restaurant recommendations so Trinidad has multiple choices of little restaurants and a good bakery. I don’t always eat three meals per day but with the long days we are up for a good breakfast and also eat lunch with all the activity. After Trinidad, we are another 3 hours to Santa Fe, New Mexico but we break at a bus stop 2 hours into the drive. The TD apologized as he usually tries to stop at 90 minutes but we are pretty much in the middle of no where. We are staying at the Hilton Sante Fe which is right in the old town. We have two nights in Santa Fe so it will be good to have a morning with no “bags out” time. As we did the group dinner in Colorado Springs we have two nights off from the group so Gina and I are looking for some time alone without the group. I will break at this point to speak about touring in General. This itinerary has two stops that are two-night stays. You still load on the bus on the off day to go see sights but you are at the same hotel for two nights. It is a slower paced tour so we will have two nights in Santa Fe and then two nights in Durango. We have two nights in Denver but it is broken into one at the beginning and one at the end. All tours have a pace and our Norway tour last year was a faster pace than this one. We are not morning people but we are adjusting to the early mornings by day 3. We have seen very pretty countryside as you are staring out the large bus windows as we go along and the TD periodically does commentary where important about what we are seeing. Trinidad was a delightful lunch stop with plenty of choices and even some shopping that was more local. We ate at a recently opened food court and had a great lunch that included turkey sandwiches with avocado, mac n cheese and homemade potato chips. I am not driving so yes we will have the local craft brew. The bus was parked next to the bakery so we took chocolate brownies and truffles for the road. Santa Fe is a great little town with Adobe architecture and legend has it as the best shopping of the trip. As the schedule had been changed to move an included dinner to Colorado Springs we took time for Garden of the Gods in the morning so we are into Santa Fe late after 5 hours drive time. Tours have a written plan but sometimes the TD has to change the tour to adjust for conditions/changes on the ground. After a little business in the hotel, we get to walk Old Town Santa Fe without too many tourists. Midweek, Santa Fe seems to roll up the streets around 9PM. Some restaurants served only until 8P and and most others besides bar food seemed to stop at 9A. 80% of the places we see are mostly SW Mexican which we are scheduled to do tomorrow so we settle on Herve which was very unique. Herve only sold wines from the winemaker that owned the restaurant. He grew grapes in Southern New Mexico and we have never heard of New Mexico wines but we always try to drink local. We had a glass of cabernet and a glass of reserve petite syrah. Both were excellent with a charcuterie Platter for two and a caprice salad that could have been from Italy with fresh New Mexico tomatoes and high end balsamic. Cheeses were local including a cheddar with green chilis and we finished with home made chocolate with sea salt. Day 4 – August 17, 2023 Santa Fe New Mexico We are staying two nights in Santa Fe so we have a 9A bus and no “bags out” time. After a good hotel breakfast (Globus always includes hotel breakfasts daily) we head off the Loretto Chapel. According to legend this sanctuary church was a place where a miracle occurred. The nuns prayed for a staircase to go up to a new choir loft that had been built and a carpenter showed up with simple tools and wood that has been analyzed by scientists that is not from the area of Santa Fe in the USA. The story goes that Saint Joseph the carpenter came and built the staircase but disappeared before anybody could find out who he was. After that, we head over to the International Folk Art Museum which I could only characterize as the biggest collection of tchotchkes I have ever seen. There were toys, dolls, miniature carnivals and thousands of small neat displays from all over the world. It will be easier to describe with pictures as it is such an exotic collection. (slider) After the museum we head further into the desert as are heading to Rancho de Chimayo for an included lunch. This is a James Beard Award winning restaurateur (2016) named Florence Jaramillo “Mrs J” that is still working and operating the restaurant at ninety years old. Rancho de Chimayo started in 1965 at a restored ancestral home of Arturo (her husband). Gina had fajitas and I had the combination plate which were served with fresh local honey. Everything has red and green chilis and the most interesting aspect was my tamale which was basically boiled whole corn with pork. It was all excellent including dessert which was a good custard with whipped cream. After lunch, we go to another Santuario de Chimayo which is a pilgrimage site with sacred healing dirt. Around Good Friday in 1810 a cross was found in the Valley of Chimayo in the desert. It was ordered taken to the closest church in Santa Cruz but disappeared and ended up at the original site. Once this happened two more times it was decided to build Santuario de Chimayo on the spot. It is about 45 minutes back to Santa Fe for a few hours of exploration on a Friday afternoon as this tour is basically trains for the train people and shopping for the companions. Santa Fe had great shopping and Gina got cool antique earrings from a lady in front of the Loretto Chapel (flea market). In the morning. Most of the shopping was high end clothes and outdoor clothing, cowboy hats, silver and turquoise, standard SW tourist goods including the Old Trading post with wooden floors that dated back to the 1800s. It has been operated by the Atkinson Family since 1984 and specialized in Native American Artistry, crafts and jewelry with authenticity certificates. They also had a great selection of typical American SW souvenirs. Rancho de Chimayo was a big lunch so that night we head behind the hotel to a vinoteca for a bottle of wine and some tapas including a dish with duck prosciutto. Sleep comes early with our early mornings. Day 5 – August 18, 2023 Santa Fe to Durango, Colorado Including Bandolier National Monument & Taos New Mexico This is our longest day from Santa Fe to Durango with about 6 hours of drive time. As we depart Santa Fe, we make our way to the Bandolier National Monument in New Mexico which is a hike of about a mile with some steps to climb to see the cave dwelling houses carved from volcanic tuff of the Ancestral Pueblo People from the period between 1150 AD and 1550 AD. This is a nice 33,000 acre park and we see a deer roaming around right on the path below. About 2/3 of the bus makes the walk up to the cliffs where you can actually climb up into one of the cave dwellings and walk the base of the cliffs to see where the ancient indigenous people lived their lives. It is about 1 hour walk and the entire stop is budgeted for 1 hour and fifteen minutes. We make a lunch stop at Taos which was a neat little town that was home to Kit Carlson. Taos still has a Southwestern flavor so we stopped for an upscale Southwestern lunch at Azteca Mexican Grill which was recommended by the TD. It is a beautiful day for tacos and margaritas on the patio. We get a lunch break that is 1 hour 15 minutes so we hustle back to the bus without any shopping in Taos. Some of the other ladies indicated Taos had some bargains over Santa Fe that was more-pricey. After lunch in Taos, the TD shows a documentary on the bus for about 1.5 hours about Kit Carson and the effort to tame the west as certain Indian tribes like the Navajo were attacking settlers. It was a sad process as they had to send the Indians to reservations and many died as thousands of settlers made their way west to “settle the west”. I already knew some of the history including the long walk and it was interesting that Kit Carson was friends to some Indian tribes but decimated the Navajo to try to settle problems and they were fierce fighters. We make a bathroom stop at a welcome center Chama NM Welcome Center and we see there is another historic train ride that is not on our list because of scheduling conflicts named the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad if you are exploring trains in these parts. When we arrive in Durango at the Doubletree by Hilton, it is a pleasant surprise that we have drawn a river view room for two nights on the Animas River. Bags are taking a while, as there are two bus groups in the house but we are told they will be put into the room, so we head out to check out Durango which is a nice town in the southern foothills of the Rocky Mountains. We do a little shopping but we are in late and many of the stores are closed so we stop for a glass of wine and later a wood fired pizza and more wine. The wood fired pizza is pretty good with a Caesar salad and sleep comes easily again. As we live at sea level, we are careful to continue hydrating (with water) to keep from getting altitude sickness as Durango is about 9000’ above sea level. Gina is out as soon as she hits the pillow so I work for a while backing up my video and pictures so far. As we are two nights in Durango. Day 6 – August 19, 2023 Durango Colorado No bags out but we start the morning at 8A on the bus as we are heading about an hour out of Durango to the Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado’s 4 corners area, which is all up top a huge mesa outside of Durango. This was a spectacular National Park that had more cave dwellings and artifacts plus views of the surrounding valley. These are much more extensive than the cave dwellings we saw at Bandelier National Monument. We spend a few hours and make a few stops up top the mesa at the Spruce Tree House that was probably constructed around the end of this era to see the cliff dwellings and stop to see some overlooks and other artifact sights. Mesa Verde was inhabited between 550 AD and about 1300 AD probably with different Pueblo peoples than constructed Bandelier we had seen the day prior. The crown jewel of this park is the Cliff Palaces which are a large well preserved Pueblo site that was probably a social or administrative site with ceremonial usage. We are back to Durango for lunch and a visit to the Durango and Silverton museum after lunch. Again we get about an hour and half for lunch. Gina and I head off to an outdoor food court we saw the previous evening so we order a chicken and rice bowl from one vendor with avocado toast and veggie eggrolls from another. The hotel where they are parked in the yard seems to be the house running the bar so we get a couple of local craft brews on a hot day. Southwest Colorado and New Mexico have a great craft beer scene so we are drinking local craft brews throughout the trip. We get back to the station for the train museum which is out back of the tracks. We are broken into two groups based on the side of the bus we are on so we get to do the museum first while the rest of the group goes outside and into the actual shop where they fix and rebuild trains. This is the day for the train aficionados on the trip as the train museum is very interesting with antique cars, antique trains, a huge model train setup and period costumes and other items. We then switch and we go into the shop which smells like diesel and welding sticks. They actually rebuild railroad engines and railroad cars including modernization of their old steam engines to burn bio-fuel instead of coal. Durango and Silverton is a narrow gauge railroad and they have bought 3 “new” engines from the White Pass RR in Alaska who is buying new cars. They have one diesel engine ready to go with a shiny new paint job in the DSRR colors that has been completely rebuilt. They are taking it out for a spin so we are lucky enough to be in the yard when they pull it out and put it on a turntable to join the main tracks. I have a video of this and the old train guys are simply in awe about this whole part of the afternoon. The tour director is suggesting we bring lunch on the train the next day so we stop at the French bakery for a baguette and Albertsons next to the hotel and pick up sandwich goods so we make a hotel stop to store everything. After that we head back into Durango as our hotel is two short blocks to Main Street. Trains are coming back into the station at an appointed time so we go shoot pictures and video of the Durango and Silverton coming home and we make a dinner reservation at 636 a nice bar/restaurant near our hotel. We sit out back of the hotel for an hour in the beer garden, see a wayward deer wandering up the river bank right across from the hotel and then we are off to dinner. As we have been passing cows on the way to Sante Fe and again all along the road to Durango I am insistent on steak for dinner which 636 is known for. The Saturday night special is an 8 oz. filet mignon with shrimp, mashed and spinach which did not disappoint. Gina has the Angus beef tips done with thyme which is also excellent. The wine list is organized into “cabernets and anything but cabernet” so we opt for the cheap bottle of cab figuring the guy is not going to have a bad bottle at the top of his wine list. Again we are not disappointed. We skip desert as we have candy from the French bakery in our room and we sit on the porch for a while listening to the Animas river. Day 7 – August 20, 2023 Colorado - Durango to Glenwood Springs via Silverton Bags are out at 7A and on the bus time is 7:45A which is moved up as we are assigned to an earlier train which the TD found out about last night. He is given 10 pairs of tickets on the outside cars and 7 pairs on the inside cars so he puts slips of paper in his hat and we draw lots for the tickets. Seats are not assigned except for the car but we are lucky enough to draw the outside car for the 3 hour and 45 minute train ride to Silverton. Both trains today are operated with the actual steam engines so with a whistle and a chug, chug, chug we are running down the narrow gauge rails towards Silverton. Narrow gauge helped to save money when they built this run but the cars rock from side to side more than a normal train because of the narrow wheels. This is all original equipment from the 1800s except it has all been redone to run on biofuel instead of coal. Mark (our bus driver) headed out from Durango this morning and will meet us in Silverton with the bus and our luggage. We don’t know yet that this will be the most interesting day even though this is the highlight of the trip. As you leave Durango about 9 miles out of town the grade changes from 1% to about 2.5% as you head into the hills above town. The scenery in the San Juan National Forest is very pretty as we are following a river bed that is on both sides of the train and hikers have a special ticket where they can flag down the train so we stop a few times to let off or pick up hikers. We stop to water the steam engine so we are parked by a beautiful river scene and rock outcroppings and sheer walls in the valley. We head out but begin to slow before we make the descent into Silverton and then come to a stop in the middle of no-where. We see that the engineer has dismounted the engine and apparently has a problem with “old 476” as the conductor calls her. We are so deep in the forest that there is no cellular service but we soon see the engineer is a very pretty female with long braided hair under her railroad engineer cap. She is communicating with Durango by a walkie talkie that must be on short wave radio service and she is huddled with the brakeman and a couple of the old conductors who look like lifetime train men. After speaking with Durango by radio she tells the conductors to find her a certain sized stick and heads back to the back of the train with the brakeman. She returns with a tube of white grease we surmise is usually used on stuck breaks and rejects all the sticks they found so far. She tells them “more looking and less talking” until one guy comes back with a stick about half in inch in diameter that is pretty straight and out 2 feet long. I am traveling with at least 20 train experts so everybody is surmising about what is wrong with “old 476” while the conductor stops in the car and confirms what our problem is. There is some type of part that converts energy from the piston to the wheels that is getting stuck and throwing sparks. The train guys in our group nod approvingly with big smiles. It has been explained to us that if she cannot get it working we’ll have to use the other engine (behind us) to back down the mountain slowly to Durango which will mess up our whole day since mark is already in Silverton and there is no cellular service to reach him about the problem. We think she is using the stick to spread white grease into a tight spot so after another consultation by walkie talkie she blows three long whistles so the conductors scurry back to the train as they were half a mile back with flares as we can see train number 2 coming up the valley behind us since we have been stuck for about half an hour so one conductor is hanging off the train letting the flare burn off. I kid with the TD that this will mess up the plan and he says he will feel comfortable when we actually get to Silverton in about 11 miles. We get another mile or two down the rails and she stops again but it appears she just wants to grease this part a little more so we can get to Silverton. About 10 minutes later again three more long whistles and off we go. We joke about “girl power” since she just literally fixed the train with a tube of grease and a stick. We expect they will be pretty proud of her when she returns to the yard in Durango tonight. They explain they will have a repair crew in Silverton when we arrive with a fresh part so they can make the return trip. Some people like us ride one way and take a return bus to Durango. Others will start in Silverton and go back for an afternoon ride to Durango while our seatmates (a 25 year old that loves trains who is speculating on the breakdown along with the old guys in our group), are doing a round trip where they get 2 hours in Silverton before the return trip. Silverton is interesting but a very small western looking town. There is no depot (per se) but a lot to park the busses and the tracks simply stop in the middle of Main Street so we can get off as we all salute the engineer. We head into a saloon for a beer since we ate a sandwich on the train while it was getting fixed. Some of our group is in restaurants eating and some of the group is shopping in the boutiques and general stores. Once we depart Silverton on the bus, we climb into the mountains immediately for some of the prettiest mountain views of the trip as we have to climb through a mountain pass to go on our way. I for one am real glad Mark is driving the coach instead of doing a fly/drive of any of this territory. There are spots where we are on two lanes with sheer cliffs right below the bus. Our driver is the consummate professional so he carefully negotiates the hairpin turns and switch-backs. The TD says you will get some really great views unless you are afraid of heights then look at the floor for the next few miles until we get to Ouray. This is kind of a long day but we are not on the bus for the first half. It is about three hours to Glenwood Springs which is our overnight stay at the Hotel Colorado. Hotel Colorado is a grand old hotel that is still grand but with historic landmark status so they cannot run air conditioning ducts so each room has a tiny room AC which is adequate. Before we depart the bus the TD speaks of the hotel using cute euphemisms about the hotel as this is not going to be like the hotels we have used along the way like Hiltons, Doubltree’s and Embassy Suites. We walk around the block while we are waiting for luggage to see the area and then head out across the pedestrian bridge to downtown. This is the same town where they overnight the USA route of Rocky Mountaineer called “Rockies to the Red Rocks” which is a 2 day daytime crossing of the Rocky Mountains. Every night when we arrive in a new town the TD has a list of restaurants as only a few dinners are included with the escorted tour. We have not had Italian on this trip except for the wood fired pizza so we head out immediately as it is a Sunday night and the restaurant only serves until 9P. We did not get into Glenwood Springs until 6:15P because of the train delay and we ate lunch early. The restaurant has the most expensive wine list of the trip so we pick a Super Tuscan which is delightful and inhale a plate of calamari which is served with sliced green pepperoncini’s which we have never had before but it was delicious as it went with the lemon you squeeze over calamari. Gina had a carbonara and I opted for the vongole (clam) pasta and both were good. We made it back to the hotel and sat on the lawn in the Adirondack chairs scattered around the grass in the courtyard. With the white Christmas lights on the trees it is a magical experience as a friend of mine likes to say. The hotel is supposedly haunted, so we sit for a while with the spirits in the courtyard. Sleep comes easily at the end of this long day as we have bags out at 7 and are onto the bus at 8A. Day 8 - August 21, 2023 Glenwood Springs to Denver - via Georgetown Loop Railroad and Vail We depart Glenwood Springs on time as this has been a good group with everybody following directions. We make a 1 hour stop in Vail which seems like a fake town built as a ski resort. As it is only 9A none of the shopping is open so we take a walk around and have a cappuccino. It is a very pretty town with expensive condos everywhere and ski slopes above. The lifts start up as the mountain bikers and hikers take them up to do the ski runs in the summertime. We are back on the bus at 10A and make a 1 hour run to Georgetown. Mark seems to be taking his time as the Rocky Mountain scenery is beautiful. We end up in Georgetown, Colorado which is the smallest of our towns visited but has neat little shops and restaurants. We pick up two sandwiches for later as it is too early to eat but a long time until dinner. We are taking our last train ride, today, which is the Georgetown Loop Railroad. Georgetown Loop Railroad originally opened the Colorado Rockies to tourists in 1877. The second section is kind of an engineering marvel as the gradient is 6% so they use switchbacks and split rails to get down to 3% grade which is reasonable for a steam engine. This is only about 1.5 hours but it is also a neat tourist attraction where some people opt to get off and visit the silver mine. The Silver Mine is not included in the Globus trip as we need to get into Denver for a farewell dinner. This attraction is only about 45 minutes from Denver and a nice stop if you are heading up to a Rocky Mountain vacation. The TD plays a game where we guess the mileage and we all have fun with that as Gina guessed low and won a prize. He starts to talk about the morning but makes a joke that he doesn’t care what we do with luggage in the AM. The actual mileage was about 1500 miles that we have traveled this week. Dinner includes wine or beer and it is always nice to visit one last time with the people who rode the bus with you, ate lunch and dinner with you and toured through Colorado and New Mexico with you for eight nights. The farewell dinner is 6P so we walk the 16th street mall one last time in Denver before turning in early. Many of these people we did not know a week ago but we are new friends by this point in time. Our group of agents bonded along with my Business Development Manager from Globus. Day 9 – August 22, 2023 Denver to Home As I write this last paragraph I am on Southwest Airlines back to Tampa. We were up early as breakfast was included and we walked to the Union Station for the A train to the airport. Overall we have enjoyed our week and our three included train rides. We explored a part of the USA we have never seen before and as always Globus provided a top notch tour with great hotels, a knowledgeable tour director, clean modern motor coach and professional driver. 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Silverton Colorado