September 25- October 2, 2014 – Chama, NM – Continued





We rode the train again on Friday, Sept. 26th to see how the fall colors have progressed and we were not disappointed – they were beautiful.  We think they must just about be at their peak for the season.
















 


















Nancy is enjoying the sunshine and beautiful scenery on the outside gondola car.













The railroad hired a young man and his drone to take aerial photos of the train and we had fun watching the drone flying overhead.  













The train stopped a couple of times to allow the drone to get better pictures.  We even stopped after going through Rock Tunnel, backed up and went through the tunnel again so the drone could get a good video of us coming out of the tunnel.  Rex was able to get a good close-up of the drone while we were stopped.








The higher up into the mountains we went the more beautiful the colors were - the views just kept getting better and better!














































 




















The trees by Toltec Gorge have mostly turned and are almost done as the leaves are falling off the trees.














As we were leaving Osier after another great lunch we saw these antelope on a ridge.  Rex has never seen antelope up this high before.













The colors were not as far along coming down Chama Valley but were still beautiful.  Another beautiful day on the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad!









It is definitely fall as it rained all day Sunday and Monday with temperatures in the 50’s and the nighttime temperatures falling into the low 30’s.  We drove to Pagosa Springs, CO on Monday to do some shopping and it rained all the way there.  About 15 miles outside of Pagosa Springs we came upon an area where it had recently hailed – about a quarter of a mile of the road was covered in about an inch of hail and slush.  It poured rain off and on all day and as we were leaving around 4 pm we could see snow on the mountain tops surrounding town.  When we got back to Chama we were told that Cumbres Pass had 4 inches of snow – winter is not far off in this part of the country.   Cold weather makes us anxious to get to warm Arizona.  Rex rode the train for the last time on Wednesday and said the rain, snow and wind have pretty much put an end to the colors in the high country.  Friday morning we will leave Chama and drive to Aztec, NM where we will visit with Nancy’s Uncle Lonnie and Aunt Roylene.










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