That's what we did - take a day-long ride on a narrow gauge railroad. First, we took a bus from Chama to Antonito, where we boarded our "Tourist Class" car, with our own tiny table for two, our complimentary sippy cup and a bag of pretzels - each. When we get rolling, it's off to the gondola car, where we can experience the view unobstructed, the soot and cinders, and the fun of standing up & trying to take pictures on a rocking platform. And we took a LOT of pictures!
One glitch with the train caused us a significant delay, when they had to clear a clogged brakeline on our way up to Toltec Gorge. That got us into Osier and lunch about an hour late, but the turkey dinner was marvelous to our starved and not-particularly-discriminating taste. Then the train was off, for a late arrival in Chama, where tired and still-stuffed we headed back to The Hotel.Supper at Sonny's Cafe - split a cheese enchilada plate (green) and planning on crashing soon. A few high points - meeting some train buffs (20th ride on the C&T), several other Missourians, a geologist taking pictures of the rocks as well as the scenery, some people learning how to be engineers and the gondola car docent from Texas.
Tomorrow it's the scenic route to Taos, via Echo Amphitheater, the Monastery of Christ in the Desert (to buy a bottle of wine), a stop at Ghost Ranch, bumming* around Abiquiu, a mountain route that comes out near Ojo Caliente (a famous spa), a trip thru the Rio Grande gorge, and arrival late & tired in Taos. Of course, this all depends on whether it rains - heavy rain and all bets are off.
* means hunting for Forrest Fenn's Treasure Trove.
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