Giving some thought.....

If you like to fish, get a guide to take you Trout fishing. Its entertaining. You can also rent a jeep and go exploring, get guided jeep trips. Durango is a ranch town and can like someone said, be hot, cold rainy etc etc. Usually it's hot in the summer having been there hundreds of time. I hauled cattle out of the stockyard, beans and Potatoes out of CO and mineral, cow feed and salt in.
Telluride is where my best friend got killed before they built the million dollar highway which is worth going over as it is beautiful.

Made a call to Lightner Creek. Incredibly nice, helpful lady. They are already making reservations into next summer, so I'd better get my mind to it. They require only a 1 night deposit. Regular FHU sites are $40 + some fee or other for a couple of dollars. Creekside are $45 + the fee. Considering the area, I thought it was pretty reasonable. Somehow I have to snatch the atlas out of the truck and into my sewing room today to give this a look-over, but I'm leaning more and more to this Christmas gift checked off my list. Trying to reach our BFF for the last 45 years to get his input and darn it!, he called me back just as DH walked in the door, so we did the "hi, how are you, how is the wife, good talking to you" routine. If he feels strongly that I might get killed over this, I would trust his judgment. Actually was going to ask them to meet us there, but his wife was just diagnosed and likely will still feel like******next June. We'll see. Fingers crossed for me y'all....I'm really nervous about making this big a commitment. OTOH, I'd lose the cost of the tickets, but only $10 reservation fee on Lightner Creek. Also wondering what my chances are of buying the train tickets after Christmas. Another phone call.

As a railfan I think your plan is great. The Cumbres and Toltec Scenic RR from Antonito, CO to Chama, NM is also bucket list material.

You may want to post an inquiry on the Roads and routes Forum about the best way to get to Durango. Somewhere, you will have to tow over the Continetal Divide. If you take I-40 to Amarillo, TX you can take the US87 cutoff NW into New Mexico and pickup I-25 at Raton. Raton Pass is easy at just over 7000 feet. Then it's I-25 N. to Walsenburg, CO. There you would take US160 West all the way to Durango. On US160 you will go over Wolf Creek Pass at 10800 feet. We have only driven a car over that pass so others could advise you about towing on that route.

Glad you are coming to see us in Colorado!

You seem extremely afraid of your husband. Isn't your monies both of yours?

Is this trip your dream or his? Honestly my dh and I alternate years for who gets to pick where we vacation. We get a choice every 4 th yr.... Family trip yr 1, dh trip yr 2, dd trip yr 3, my choice yr 4. We do all have to agree on it though or at least have something in it that suits everyone. I can tell you that area is beautiful. Never camped there but spent a Sumner as a wrangler on a dude ranch in mancos co (near mesa Verde). It snowed memorial day weekend but no accumulation. The days did get warm and the night's chilly IIRC. Would love to go back and camp sometime.

We were there in June and bought our tickets 2 days before we got there and had no problem getting the seats we wanted. We took sweat shirts with us and took them off about half way through the trip. We also did Mesa Verde and it was only about a 45 minute drive from Lightner creek. It also was a must do!!!! Have fun and don't over think this; He'll love it and probably wonder why you didn't buy it for him years ago.
Bill

Temps in the high mountains with thin air and low humidity will feel different than in TN. 70 degrees in direct sun can feel a bit 'hot' and you will burn quickly. 40 with clouds and a breeze can be nasty cold. You can expect both in early June. The end of June is usually nice, but afternoon thunderstorms become more common. I have taken the train three times in my life and it is so worth the money. There are a lot of souvenir shops, and some of them may have old west antiques, but it is not the same as antiquing in the eastern US. The best part is looking at the old buildings, many of which have a plaque with their history written on them.

No, not at all afraid of him, but we have for 50 years had an agreement on spending larger amounts of money. He tends to be......cheap. I tend to be....not so cheap. But I'm the money person in the family and 3 years ago we did our yearly trip to FL for spring training - that is a absolute given due to our disabled son....as long as he's able to make the trip, you'll find us heading south in the spring, then a 17 day trip to the UP that has been mostly my dream for years, and then all the regular couple of trips a month from spring until just before Thanksgiving. No matter how you cut it, being retired changes things in the budget. Darn!!! We agreed that we need to spread the special trips out and not do them yearly, well, this fits the criteria. We both have hobbies and spend a reasonable amount on those without "checking"....the key word is reasonable.

The trip to FL usually costs us $2500 - $3000. This trip, which is now a given as far as I'm concerned, will be about the same, likely a little more. And then there is the family reunion in July, which thankfully is very nearby, LBL.

Fear, as in being afraid of his negative reaction, is not at all the point. Concern about causing him stress over the extra dollars is. So, when you just can't decide which way to jump.....you call your BFF for over 45 years and ask him if he thinks I'll get "killed" - joking - for spending this amount of money without discussing it ahead of time. If there is anyone in this world that knows DH better than I do, it's our BFF. His response was "DO IT!!" I asked him, again joking, if he would come to my funeral and he said that DH would be so pleased and so excited that he wouldn't care about anything else. BFF and his DW live in CA and we don't get to see them as often as we'd like to. I asked him if they might be able to meet us in Durango with their MH and unless anything changes, they'll be there. Can't think of a more special time.

Started this morning on some serious planning. Giving him a notebook tucked into a bucket. Writing a story to take him along a path - sort of a glorified treasure hunt - and until he reads the whole thing he won't know where he's heading, only that he has a new bucket and that I'm up to something he'll be sure is going to cost $$.

Glad the routing was mentioned....hadn't thought about that. We will be coming across I-40, but hadn't reached the point where I'd have to think about that. Would really appreciate all the input possible on getting those last miles the best way. And thanks for the Mesa Verde mention....more research to do, but I want this trip to be as close to perfect as possible.

An off-topic question....DH is an RC fanatic...airplanes only and prefers gas or fuel...not electric. Anyone in the OKC or Amarillo area with a lead to any good shops?? I'm the quilter in the family, but less interested in that right now. Trying to get things DH will love first and if I happen onto a great shop, all the better, but not a priority.

drillking, in re reading your post, I'm curious as to why you'd think I'm "extremely afraid" of DH. This is certainly not something you're going to find as "breaking news" on CNN. Rather, wanting to be as sure as I can that this is something he's truly going to enjoy and feel that it's money well spent. Sort of a large step up from "do I buy the blue sweater or the scroll saw?" I am simply trying to be as sure as possible that he will love this, it meets our agreement that special trips need to be spaced out a bit and that it can all come together with the least chance for missing something great or making a major screwup on something that was a waste of time and money. Trust me on this, DH will cringe over the $$, because he does the same thing at the grocery store, but he will also be so excited and appreciative of the thought and preparation that went into this. Our BFF guarantees this and after 50 years of marriage, if I thought he was going to literally go nuts, I wouldn't be remotely considering it. I would be more "extremely afraid" of forgetting to buy beer for a camping trip than I am over this.