Goodbye to Friends and Preparing to Move On.

July 6th, 2011. Durango Year Round RV Park.
We hope everyone had a safe and memorable 4th of July Holiday.  We attended a barbeque with Paul and Paula at another guest's site here in the campground. We had ribs, brisket and all sorts of side dishes to include Oysters Rockefeller. Because we got done so late, we decided not to go out in search of fireworks especially, after hearing of traffic jams in Durango related to the fireworks displays.

That's, my boy...Rico!

We've spent the better part of the week just doing the daily domestic things. Life on the road for us is not always about sightseeing and seeking adventure after adventure. Afterall, it's our lifestyle not a permanent vacation. We've made several trips into Durango during our stay here for groceries fuel etc. It's been hot here in the afternoons with temps in the mid 90's but cool in the mornings and most evenings.

July 5th we said goodbye to Paul and Paula. They moved on to the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. We miss having them and getting together every evening and most mornings.

Joyce with Paul and Paula at their site.

Paula's dog Zeva

Our plan is to move out tomorrow. So today we made some preparations for our move. We will be moving on to Buena Vista (BV), Colorado and a campground where we stayed last year. I really like the BV area so we will stop for at least a week and hook-up with some friends before pushing on for new adventures. 

Biking around Durango, Co.

July 2, 2011.  Durango Year Round RV Park.
Yesterday the four of us, Joyce and I, Paul and Paula decided to go into Durango and ride our bikes.

Joyce and Paula bringing up the rear!

We left our park at 8:30 which put us on the trail around 9:00. It was a beautiful day as we road along the Animas River on the Animas River Trail.

Pedestrian crossing over the Animas River

Animas River is a 126-mile-long (203 km)^[2] river in the western United States, a tributary of the San Juan River, part of theColorado River System. The Spanish named the river "Rio de las Animas Perdidas", "River of the Lost Souls". It is also the last free-flowing river (un-diverted) in Colorado.
The Animas River rises high in San Juan Mountains of Colorado at the confluence of the West and North forks at the ghost townof Animas Forks and flows south past the ghost towns of Eureka and Howardsville. At Silverton, the river flows into the Animas Canyon. The Durango and Silverton Narrow gauge railroad follows the river through the canyon to Durango. From Durango the river flows south into New Mexico through the town of Aztec to its confluence with the San Juan River at Farmington.

Pedestrian Crossing

Animas River

The trail is only about 7 miles of paved asphalt. We parked at the visitor center in town and road into town towards the heart of Durango.

Bike and Pedestrian Tunnel part of the bridge above.

One of several small parks along the trail

Durango is larger than I had imagined but I liken it more to a town than a city. It's very linear following along Hwy. 160 and Hwy. 550 and in some places only a few blocks wide. There is plenty of shopping with a small mall, Walmart, Home Depot, Albertsons and many other similar shops.

Lots of rafters on The Animas River

On the way back we heard the Durango-Silverton train approaching so we raced back to get a good vantage point.

Durango is most known for the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, a heritage railway, which travels from Durango to the historic mining town of Silverton, Colorado on steam-powered trains with rolling stock dating back to the 1920s and before.

After riding on the Animas River Trail we decided to take a detour into the historic part of Durango and get some lunch. After locking up the bikes, we did some window browsing. 

I stopped in a local bike shop and noticed several championship jerseys from Ned Overend hanging on the wall. Overend is a world class mountain bike champion and is in the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame.  He has won the Durango Iron Horse Bicycle Classic 5 times. I asked about the jerseys and leaned that Overend is a regular in the shop and had just left. Okay..ok I'll stop. Some people like football, baseball..I like cycling! 

Anyway, we continued browsing and then stopped at the Old Tymers Cafe for an early lunch.

Old Tymers Cafe

Do we look hungry?

Inside the Bus Trolley

After lunch we walked around downtown some more and then decided to take advantage of the free bus trolley. So, we hopped on board and took a ride around town. The ride takes about 20 minutes round trip.

The City of Durango is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of La Plata County, Colorado,United States.^[6] The United States Census Bureau estimates that the city population was 16,627 in 2009. Durango is located at 37°16′N 107°52′W at an elevation of 1988 metres (6512 feet). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.8 square miles.

The town was organized in September 1881 by the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad (D&RG) to serve the San Juan mining district. The D&RG chose a site south of Animas City for its depot after Animas City refused to pay a dowry to the D&RG. The city is named afterDurango, Mexico, which was named after Durango, Spain. The word Durango originates from the Basque word "Urango" meaning "water town"

Durango is nestled in the Animas River Valley surrounded by the San Juan Mountains. The Animas River—El Río de las Animas—runs through downtown and boasts gold medal fly fishing waters, and is popular for whitewater rafting, kayaking and canoeing. Durango is also popular for outdoor activities like hiking, mountain biking, road biking, backpacking, rock climbing, hunting, off-roading, year-round fishing, kayaking and golfing.

Main Avenue cuts through Downtown Durango, home to clothing boutiques, restaurants, newsstands, tourist and gift shops, a mall, bars, lounges and other businesses. Many buildings downtown are several stories high and include apartments in the upper levels. Durango's two oldest hotels, The General Palmer and The Strater Hotel, are both at the South end of Main Avenue, one and two blocks away from the train station, respectively. It is also home to many restaurants. Many serve specialty foods including Mexican, Italian, French, Thaiand Japanese and others serve American favorites. Main Avenue is walked by thousands of tourists each week, making it the most popular shopping and relaxing tourist destination in Durango.

We had a great time but, before long it was time to head back and let the dogs out.  We plan to move on July 7th after the Holiday rush is over. It's interesting to watch from our campsite all the RVs headed north on Hwy 550. Even this park is nearly full to capacity for the July 4th Weekend.

Travel Day to Durango, Co., Durango RV Park

June 23, 2011, Santa Fe, NM
We were up early to walk Maggie and Rico and make our final preparations to move on to Durango, Colorado. After hitching up and loading up we were on the road by 8:00 with about 220 miles to travel ahead of us.
Originally I had planned to travel north via Chama, NM but, when we called to make a reservation at Durango RV Park, the owner/ operator suggested going via Bernalillo, NM and Hwy. 550. Garmin agreed so that's the route we took.

View Larger Map
It was a beautiful smooth ride over some desolate yet beautiful landscape.

I was impressed with the smooth 4 laned highway 550.

I never grow tired or looking at the beautiful snow capped mountains across the border in Colorado.

Durango RV Park Office, Laundry and Owner's Residence

Around noon we pulled into the south entrance of Durango RV Park right off Hwy 550. We were immediately marshaled into the smallest site we've ever had and right near the entrance. It was fortunate the owner was there to quickly guide us as the park is very tight with little room for moving a big rig.

Our 36 ft. Carriage Cameo barely fits in the site. However, all of the sites appear to be small. I'm not wild about the utility hook-ups. The 50 amp outlet is so low to the ground that I can't use my Surge Guard and the sewer outlet is too close and uphill. However, we will make do for a couple of weeks!

Our friends, Paul and Paula have already been here for a couple of weeks and are parked across the street from us in the picture above. They also have a Carriage Cameo.

Our site was too small to park either the truck or the Jeep so they are actually parked on the site next to us along with a horse buggy. Actually I didn't realize that there was a site next to us! The owners are very nice and said that parking in the adjacent site wasn't a problem. If an RV was in that site it would really be tight!

Overall, we are happy with our site even though it's close to the highway and a bit noisy. At least we have friends here and good views, which is to say we aren't looking at another RV out the windows. Also the price isn't bad for Colorado at $150 a week. We plan to stay for two weeks to take us over the 4th of July when it's often hard to find a place. The altitude is close to 7K feet yet it still got to 90 in the later afternoon. Apparently there's a heat wave following us! Nights are expected to be in the 40's and 50's. 
We spent the afternoon catching up with Paul and Paula and then grilled out with them for dinner. We enjoy their company and look forward to exploring the area with them in the next couple of weeks.