Durango Colorado

Farewell Monument Valley and Four Corners - it's been around about 90F at both - we head for exotic-sounding Cortez. It's not very exotic at all actually, but a bar called Blondies - yes our waitress was blonde (she was happy, all smiles and genuine with it, none of this fake 'have a nice day' stuff) - served good fish 'n' chips. The pub grub and a couple of Coronas (not the pop, but the Mexican beer) hit the spot.
Refreshed, it's off to Durango and a two-night stopover. Quaint little town on the banks of Animas River and famous for the Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, which is regarded as one of the most scenic train rides in the US. After travelling on it, who are we to disagree.
We board coal-fired steam train (think the one in Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid) from Silverton - a 19th century mining town not only well-known in its heyday for its silver, but saloons, gambling and brothels too. Boom days long gone, now it's as all as nice as apple pie - and probably half (no make that about one-eighth) of the fun.
ST is set high in the Colorado peaks and fine to wander around for a couple of hours - but it's the three-and-half hour journey back to Durango that proves the highlight. We ride the open 'gondola' cars which offer spectacular but 'hairy' views as train turns, twists and loops its way up and down 7,000-ft of mountains, making its way over impossibly steep gorges with sheer drops either side and river hundreds of feet below. Those of a nervous disposition look away now!
Summer turning to autumn here and the aspen from yellow to gold. It covers the mountains (picture postcard fare). Beautiful days, but nights much cooler as The Fall starts to kick in. Sad to leave Durango - have met some nice people, 'Cowboy Bruce', Tom, who knows a thing or two about Welsh sheepdogs (border collies), and bartender Ryan, among them.
South to New Mexico next - where the sun always shines. So where did we go wrong? Watch this space.