Durango, Colorado
Durango is the most populous city in the area coming in with a total population of 16, 887. While there are different areas of the city, the most famous part is the Historic Downtown District. Billed as the place "Where Old West meets Southwest", downtown Durango is a nationally registered historic district. It is an area where you will find boutique hotels, shops, award winning restaurants, laid back saloons, museums and art galleries.
If you have ever been to Jackson Hole, Wyoming....this downtown district will remind you a little bit of that!
We were fighting the raindrops a bit by the time we arrived in downtown and found a place to park so we didn't get to see as much as I would have liked but what we did see, was really interesting.
Even if you don't have much time, I would encourage you to visit the downtown area. Spend some time just walking around and taking in the feel of it. People are very friendly and the shops are inviting. It really is like a step back in time. Even the Starbucks looks Old West!
Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum (Free)
The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad runs right through Durango literally! You can even take a ride on the narrow gauge tracks on a 45 mile (each way) journey. Packages are available and you can purchase tickets in town at the Railroad Station. http://www.durangotrain.com/ride-us/-route#.Va-gK3jpkaU
We didn't have the time built into our schedule to do the train ride but we did have time to take a look through the Museum. This was a really interesting place to visit...made more so by the fact that my father worked on the railroad most of his life so many of the things were familiar to me. There is no cost to visit the museum and you can spend as little or as much time there as you want at your own pace. We spent about half and hour or so looking around just to give you an idea. 
Back to the Homewood Suites
After spending some time exploring downtown, we grabbed a bite to eat and headed back to the Homewood Suites for our last night in Durango. We were watching the weather closely and were seeing that a springtime snow storm was forecast for the area for the next day. Thunderstorms had already begun in the evening. We wanted to get a good night's sleep so we could be up early and get out of town ahead of the major snows being forecast. Well.....
The Best Laid Plans.....
The PLAN was to get up early and get started on the next leg of our trip. The next leg involved traveling north through the San Juan Mountains and heading to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park for a visit and ending up in Glenwood Springs (near Aspen) for the evening.
The first part of the plan was good....we got up early! As we were getting gas in Durango before heading into the mountains, the store attendant asked if we were going to be traveling. When I responded that we were, he told me to make sure we were really careful. Ok...that sounded a bit ominous but we grabbed a few waters to take along the way and we were off. The heavy snow was forecast for above 7500 feet. We had no idea how the road traversed this area so we were cautious but hopeful that we wouldn't get into the heaviest of the snow. Mind you this was May 9th!! 
Well let me tell you we got into some snow that was pretty bad. The roads were covered...no signs of a plow and only a few cars on the roadways. We tried following the tracks of the cars that had gone before us but they were quickly filled in by the snow coming down! So here we were in a snowstorm to beat all snowstorms on an unfamiliar roadway on a mountain!! Personally I would NOT recommend this! We spent several hours trying to figure out where the road was and hanging on for dear life hoping we didn't misjudge the edge of the mountain. Luckily we did rent a 4WD vehicle and this was very helpful!
When we finally got off the mountain areas and down below the 7500 feet mark, the weather got much better. Since it was springtime, the snow melt was in full force and there were some amazing waterfalls that made the already beautiful scenery even more beautiful! It was nice to be able to get of the vehicle and take some pictures of the area!
Black Canyon of the Gunnison
Once we headed into Montrose, Colorado we were in an all rain situation. Montrose is one of the closest cities to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. We stopped to grab a bite to eat at the local Subway and decided to give our visit to the Park the old college try. As soon as we headed out of town, the weather continued to worsen but it was still rain. The radar showed snow in the mountains near the park so we were leary about actually being able to get there. Once we made the turn onto the road to the park, the snows hit and kept coming down harder and harder. After our experience earlier in the day, we had no desire to head into another massive snow storm. We also decided that the viewing conditions of the park on a day like that were less than ideal. We didn't want to go just to say we had been there...we wanted to go when we could see what there was to see...so we decided to turn around and just head to our hotel in Glenwood Springs. While this was a rather disappointing turn of events it is always a good to have a reason to go back to Colorado!
Traveling to Glenwood Springs
Luckily the roadway to Glenwood Springs, while remote was at a lower elevation than the snows around us so while we did have rain most of the way, we did not hit any more of the major snows. This was a pretty remote area of Colorado that we were traversing with little phone or data signal but there were many beautiful sights to see and enjoy along the way.
Hampton Inn Glenwood Springs
Once we arrived in Glenwood Springs we were still a little early to check into the hotel so we headed to a shopping plaza nearby, looked around a bit and made a stop at the local Starbucks. By the time we finished up it was time to check in so we headed back to the hotel. The rains came again (no snow) so we decided to just chill at the hotel and call for some Domino's pizza delivery! The room was nice, clean...warm and dry! The breakfast the next morning was really good. Has to be the best Hampton Inn Breakfast I have seen! Lots of selection and the food was very tasty too! After a good night's sleep we were ready for the last leg of our mini vacation.
