Durango 2025

We’re off to Durango, Colorado, one of our favorite places. Daisy agrees, she loves the grass and shade trees.

Last year was our first  year without a motorhome so we started searching Airbnb, our criteria was, dog friendly with fenced yard, grass and shade.  Of course it would be nice to have a comfy bed, indoor plumbing and let’s try being close to downtown this time.  We discovered a wonderful place right in the heart of the Historic District in Durango.  

We stayed there for ten days last year and enjoyed it. Faith and Ryan, the young couple who own the house, were away.  Faith’s mother, Dawn,  lives in an apartment above the house but was only there for a couple of days before she headed off to visit family.  So we loved the place but it was a bit quiet, not like the activity in an RV Park.  

The young couple hadn’t decided if they were going to rent out the house again in the summer or just stay put for the year.  Much to our surprise they decided to buy another house in the neighborhood and let ‘our’ house be the Airbnb.  To our good fortune the house was available for a month this summer.  Dawn was upstairs this year and the young people were around so it was busy with activity and we loved it.      

Many of the charming homes in this lovely area are from the 1800’s and most have been lovingly restored.  The interior of the homes may be updated but the exterior must remain true to the original house.  This is considered the Historic District and the heart of Durango.  

We had some unusual experiences on this Durango trip.  First of all the house where we are in has three TV’s.  Actually they don’t look like TV’s, they are a black picture with actual wood frames.  We arrived in Durango in the evening, after driving all day, and then we had to make a grocery run, so by the time we were getting settled we were pooped.  

I noticed there was an odd picture of Superman in the bedroom, that seemed strange, who would have a big picture of Superman on the wall.  Maybe it was the kids room, no, that was the other bedroom.  Hmmm, the next time I looked, the picture was a paisley print, with bright colorful swirls.  Then there was a tranquil beach scene. The darn thing kept changing pictures all night long until we realized it was actually a TV with still pictures. Neat concept, you can have different artwork all day long, I don’t recommend it for a good night’s sleep though.

In the summer at home we have to get up and out of the house by 6:00 to walk Daisy before it gets too hot.  Here we quickly got spoiled sleeping in to 7:00 or 7:30, having a leisurely breakfast and strolling out to walk Daisy about 9:00 and it was still only 72 degrees. Gosh, I love this place, it is perfect summertime weather. 

The first  morning we headed out to the south for a few blocks, we love looking at all the houses,  They are nothing like Arizona houses, each neighborhood is a bit different and the houses are unique. One of the things that is so different is the ADU’s or additional units, perched on the garages.  These are perfect for the college students or young people waiting tables or tending bars.    

So we are walking along gawking at the houses and there in the front yard was a pair of kangaroos or wallabies (we aren’t sure which) boxing with each other.  Really it is God’s truth, they were just standing on their hind legs smacking at each other.  We were dumbfounded but also a bit leery, the fence wasn’t more than four feet high and I’m pretty sure a kangaroo can jump higher than that.  Daisy wasn’t the least bit impressed, I think she was eying the height of the fence too.  We scurried by the yard after snapping a picture just to prove we really saw it.  It was the craziest thing ever.

We talked to several people during our visit and most of them said there was a nutty lady living there and why she had the kangaroos was anyone one’s guess.  Hey it’s a mountain town.  Apparently we were right the critters can jump the fence and we later watched a U Tube video of the police capturing one of the errant roos. 

Enough of the kangaroos, we headed north the next day and there were so many lovely homes.  We fell in love with the tree lined streets, homes with grass running out to the street and sidewalks everywhere.   The trees are old growth, together we couldn’t reach around them.  Many of the big trees had fairy house designs at the bases.  Tiny doors and little furniture for the fairy houses were really charming.  

Our hosts had our house available because they just purchased a house down the street that gave them a bit more room.  They are a family of four now and could use an extra bathroom and spacious bedrooms.  (Lucky us!)  They are a delightful young couple and invited us down to see their new home (built in 1895) that has been completely remodeled and it is  absolutely gorgeous.  They are waiting for furniture but making do with a few essentials.  It is a beautiful home and I’m sure they will be very happy there,  In the meantime we are thrilled to be able to rent their previous place.  We’ve already arranged to be there for a month again next year.  

One morning our host called and asked what we were doing.  I said I was enjoying her lovely yard and reading a book.  Hmmm, there has been a shooting near you.  WHAT! We scamper into the house and look out the front window and sure enough we can see the police cars blocking off the street about a block from our porch.  Wait a minute this doesn’t happen in Durango.  It happens in downtown Phoenix on a daily basis but not here.  I told our hosts we just call it Tuesday. So as the story unfolded it was an altercation between two men over a purchase and was not a threat to the neighborhood. Good to know, back outside to finish the book.  We weren’t unduly fazed but our hosts were amazed that it happened in Durango. 

One morning we saw three bucks roaming the neighborhood.  They looked both ways before crossing the streets and stopped at the various yards to see what was on the menu.  We thought it was delightful and ran to get a picture of them.  I’m sure the residents have a different opinion of them . (honest this is not yard art, but the real thing)

Something we always look forward to in Durango is the sign  on the office of the local veterinarian. They never disappoint us with their humor.  Our favorite was a couple of years ago when the sign proclaimed ‘Our vet is hot, we shih tzu not!.  ’ This year asked the question ‘Why aren’t dogs good story tellers?  Because they only have one tale’.  Or, ‘What is a dog’s favorite breakfast, ‘woofles’.  

Have you seen the movie Kpac with Kevin Spacey?  Kevin, arrives on earth from outer space.  He lands at a nursing home and all sorts of funny antics ensue.  Our favorite scene shows Kevin sitting in the lounge room eating a banana, without peeling it, I might add.  It is time for his return to  the mothership, and he states ‘ It was worth the trip for the produce alone’.  

We can say the same thing about Durango.  We were at the produce stand twice a week picking up fresh ripe peaches, home grown tomatoes, Olathe corn on the cob, shishito peppers and melons.  Some of the melons we’d never heard of, the Jerusalem cantaloupe, and Santa Claus melon were both good.   

On one of our morning treks we stopped to admire a large garden plot on a corner lot just up the street.  The lady was diligently tending her crop when we stopped to visit.  She was really a hoot, she’s proud of  her garden and said she had lots of kale this year.  Did we want some?  She noticed our hesitation and surmised we weren’t kale fans.  To which she simply replied, ’Obviously you didn’t know how to prepare it.’  She went on to tell us her secret and actually it did sound pretty good.  We ran into her several mornings, she works in the yard every day.  One morning she was even sitting in the street by the curb edging her grass.  Her red brick house is three stories with a huge yard.  We heard on the grapevine that her daughter just moved in on the top floor to help her out some.  Our new friend is 85 years old and president of the Martini Club in Durango.  

There are always a lot of cars parked along the residential streets.  There may be a couple of small parking lots along the main shopping street but most of the on street parking is metered.  We’ve been to Durango for years and have never figured out how to use the darn things.  We know they don’t accept real money, but we have never successfully used a credit card either.  Anyone who works in the shops or offices parks up the hill on the residential streets.  We are excited to be able to walk to main street.

Even though we have been to Durango many times there are still some trips we make every year .  The scenery doesn’t change much which is a good thing, you can’t improve on snow capped mountains, green meadows, sparkling lakes and creeks with trees everywhere.   I’ve previously written about the Million Dollar Highway between Silverton and Ouray.  The trip is absolutely beautiful, but driving deserves close attention.  The road, clinging to the side of Red Mountain, is narrow and lacks guardrails. Most of the gawking should be done by the passenger, the driver usually has white knuckles on the ten and two positions on the wheel.  We are a bit casual about it since we have driven it many times.  Monty has taken both the motorhomes through the course.  I’ve driven the car separately, so he didn’t have to worry about towing.  

On the day we decided to make the trip to Ouray.  There was traffic backed up for several  miles.  Unfortunately there was an accident and a car was about three hundred feet down in the ravine.  A child in the back seat survived, unfortunately for the driver and front seat passenger it was a fatal accident.   

Since we were going to be staying for a month this year we visited the local library and were issued guest cards for our stay.  The Durango library is a beautiful building located on the Animas River and surrounded by the  Botanical Gardens.  A lovely area.  While we were looking over the gardens we saw summer camp kids riding single file on the Riverwalk.  They must have been about six or seven years old all decked out with riding gear, and, or course  helmets.  They looked like a conga line of ducklings following their leader.  Later we saw an older group riding on the street.  There was a mom putting her little girl, about two, in the bike seat on the back of her bike.  The little girl had her book open and was ready to look at the pictures while mom rode them home. Durango is an outdoor town, everyone walks or bikes most places.

We took several day trips from our place in town, but mostly we walked to the restaurants, galleries, shops and of course the farmers market on Saturdays.  We started making a game of it when we got pedometers on our phones to track our progress.  

Dianne and Jim, friends from Sun Lakes, were visiting Durango so we enjoyed a lovely outdoor dinner with them and even found the Speakeasy for a drink. That is a fun place, we’ll go back and surprise other visitors with the clever entry. 

So all in all it was a great  month and we are looking forward to going back next year. We already have our mouths set for fresh peaches and looking forward to warm days and cool nights.