Exploring Durango

After a week of going at a cracking pace, today was a chance to slow down and relax a little. Our accommodation here is stunning with gorgeous views over the river. We all had a lazy morning and enjoyed the views from our beds. Anna had been very keen to make a gingerbread house, but instead she found a gingerbread train kit. Rather appropriate given a steam train passes here 8 times a day. Building and decorating the train kept the kids entertained for a good part of morning.

Matt is a big Lord of the Rings fan and has been looking forward to the release of the second Hobbit movie. There was no chance to see it before we left NZ as it only came out the day before we left and things were a bit hectic. We tracked down a movie theatre here in Durango and dropped the kids off. We were grateful that it was quite a long movie as it gave us nearly three hours to rush around the shops and collect some goodies to make the kids a Christmas stocking.

On the way back from the movies we called into a sports store to get snow boots for Andy and Anna. The kids splashed out on round plastic disks for sledding down the snow. They figured they would get their $10 worth and just ditch them at the end of the holiday. There is a park right beside our apartment with a small sledding hill so they got to try them out straight away.

After dinner we decided to rug up and go for a walk downtown. It was a few degrees below zero but with no wind, it was lovely for walking. Durango is a quaint old town with lots of specialty shops and lovely restaurants. Main Street is beautifully decorated with Christmas lights and it was pretty magic to wander along through the snow. Most of the shops were still open but we only found ourselves in two shops – Rocky Mountain Chocolate Company and Fuzziwigs Candy Factory – what a surprise!

We are feeling refreshed and relaxed after a cruisy day. Tomorrow we are planning to venture 28 miles north to the main ski field.