Oh I forgot to mention that while I was checking out the mini-RV park last night, a hobo wandered by and directed me to an old railroad box car where I could sleep that was clean and warm and dry; he knew because he had spent a few nights there himself! I went over to check it out and was planning on sleeping there, until Justin’s much better offer materialized. Serendipity (I told Basti that’s my favorite English world, although I don’t think it translates easily into German) is the one thing I like best about traveling by bike – you never know when your luck is gonna change…from headwind to tailwind…from cold-and-lonely to fat-and-happy…from freezing downpours to sunshine and lemon drops!
The steam train ride was great – something very different and unique and definitely worth the detour of the Great Divide Route. The huffing, snorting, steaming locomotive was impressive – massive and fearful up close, yet dwarfed when approaching full-growth Ponderosa pine trees and while snaking it’s way around the bottomless Toltec George. I cannot do the trip justice in this post and you can get a better feel for the grandeur by visiting the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad’s website: http://www.cumbrestoltec.com Also there are some good videos on YouTube.
