Durango

The Holiday Inn in Santa Fe treated us very well, with the desk staff playing with and petting Georgie after we checked in.  With only 4 hours to Durango, we slept in!  Gary's stomach was unsettled as we left the hotel, and so we toured Santa Fe by car... and with the windows DOWN - no air-conditioning!  WooHOO!!

Neither of us had seen Santa Fe before, and found it very charming - and touristy.  We headed for Durango just after Noon and found gas for the car soon after.  The price had gone from $3.38/gallon in Houston to $3.55 in Wichita Falls, to $3.57 in Santa Fe.

We arrived at Wayne & Sue's beatuful house in the mountains just West of Durango about 4:30pm.  What a great visit!  I accompanied Sue to her choral practice that night.  The Durango Chorale has built quite a reputation, and I found 90 strong voices belonging to experienced singers.  In short, I was impressed.  Their director knew her stuff and guided them with a sophistication I've seen only once or twice.  I had sung in the Naval Academy's Glee Club, and the Santa Clara Chorus.  This group was every bit as capable!

Wayne and Sue are raising a guide dog, named Enrique.  He's a 4 month-old Golden Lab who has already learned to sit, lay, stay, come, and a number of other tasks.  He more than doubled Georgie's size and we imagined scared George effectively with his rambunctious puppy playfulness.  After almost landing on George's back (just had back surgery) we kept them apart.  Enrique is a handsome, loving dog, who is learning quickly.  We wish Wayne, Sue and him well!

Our second day in Durango took us through the town center to the terminal of the Silverton & Durango narrow guage railway.  We were taken by the little town and the railroad museum and have vowed to return to visit Wayne and Sue for a longer time in the future.