Saturday, September 22, 2018
Tic and I wanted to see the fall golden aspens. We considered taking the steam train from Chama, NM to Antonito, CO. The price was nearly $250 for the 2 of us. We decided that we would drive from Los Alamos, NM to Antonio, CO to Chama, NM back to Los Alamos, NM, which would be about 6 to 7 hours including a lunch stop at the Osier Train stop.
This is the road north of Espanola headed towards Antonito, Colorado.
This is the Cumbres-Toltec train getting ready to leave from Antonito, CO headed to Osier train station.
We are headed out of Antonito, CO to the Osier train station also via the roadways.
At the western edge of Antonito we saw this skeleton of a church. We stopped and learned that it was the San Isidro Catholic Church of the San Luis Valley. In 1973 it was gutted by fire and never restored.
After taking CO-7 west a certain distance we needed to follow a dirt/gravel road to the Osier train station. Not far into our drive these cattle suddenly appeared on the road.
We stopped so the cattle could pass. We finally see the cowboys driving the cattle. Below is one of the cowboys.
Above is the start of the aspens changing colors. Below are more along the same road.
Above and the 2 pics below are views we saw of the canyon below. The train from Antonito travels through this canyon. WOW gorgeous views!!!
Suddenly in an open high meadow, we saw these antelope.
This is our first view of the Osier train station. See the train track in the middle right side of the picture. The train from Chama will come from that direction.
Most of these are original buildings. The water tank is still functional and both trains refill at this tank before taking off again. Below is a close-up of the newer building in the picture.
This is the Osier train station. The train stops here and a huge buffet lunch is served to the passengers. Anyone is allowed to drive up and buy lunch. We saw several hunters come in for lunch.
This is the lunch room before everyone gets here. There is another dining room below this one.
She's coming around the mountain now.
And then he grabbed her. And then he tied her up. And then he put her on the railroad track. And then train 463 was coming. And then.....along came John - I mean Tic. Ha Ha
Look at all the people that got off the train. I'm glad we got to eat before they arrived. They were supposed to arrive between 12:15 & 12:30 pm and didn't arrive until 1:15 pm.
Above and below are more beautiful views along our way headed to Chama.
Before getting to Chama we passed through La Manga Pass. Below are 2 pictures of the gorgeous views from the pullout up there.
We had a wonderful day and saw so much fall colors! We felt blessed.
Then after dinner at our daughter & son-in-law's in White Rock, NM we were in their back yard. Our son-in-law pointed out something bright that looked like it was near the moon in the sky. We could tell it was not round and appeared oblong. Our daughter suggested it was a weather balloon. Tic zoomed in with his camera and voila …..
...it is a weather balloon. Jessica submitted the picture to one of the local TV stations for Tic. The picture was on the 10pm news. They said the weather balloon had been launched from Fort Sumner, NM.
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