Roger Hogan Wrote:
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> I agree with John, I would take Chama over Heber,
> In fact I did when I sold my business and home in
> Leadville, Heber was one of the places I looked at
> to re-locate.
>
> I have been here in Chama many years and never got
> food poison.
Roger:
I appreciate that you have worked hard to make it work in Chama. I know others have tried...some sucessful, some not.
I shared my personal experience of my wife comparing Heber to Chama. My wife is probably typical of many. She refuses to stay in a motel or lodging that is not a name brand...Holiday Inn, Best Western, etc. We had some horrible experiences with mom & pop motels. While the name brands sometimes have problems, you at least have some level of expectation.
Chama has the same kind of problem that the East Broad Top had in the past. In the early 80s when I was living in Pennsylvania, I tried to spend a number of weekends in Orbosonia and there was almost no lodging in the area. First weekend I had to sleep in my camper with a sleeping bag. Was lucky in that the hostler let me park my camper by the roundhouse and invited me to sit in the cab with him until about 1 AM.
My wife was not about to abide with that, so we had to stay at a motel out on I-76, a long way from the railroad and never ate a meal or did any shopping in the town. I haven't been back there since 1984, but I have heard that it is a bit better.
Railfans will put up with a lot. I have slept in the bunkhouse and taken showers in the roundhouse. But my daughter-in-law, grandkids, and my wife will not stop until they see a familiar sign that says BEST WESTERN, HOLIDAY INN, etc. You may not like what I have written, but I think most know that it is true. I don't know how you get a major chain to come to Chama with the threat of the C&TS shutting down every year or so, but I am sure that it will take things like that to make the operation grow and be succesful.
Jerry Day
Longmont, CO
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/2010 10:33AM by Jerry Day.
