April in Durango

April 4th - April 30th 2018

Our drive from Page AZ to Durango CO was all on 2 lane road and continually uphill. Thankfully our slide did stay in but our truck threw a code again, again no power loss or any retardation of speed. As we entered CO we saw the Rockies in the distance, they were snow covered. We arrived at Alpen Rose RV Park mid afternoon, found directions to our site and started settling in. Alpen Rose has 2 sections, the older 30amp treed section behind the office and buildings, then there is the 50amp section which has regular, premium and big rig sites. We are in a regular pull thru site, we share the yard with our neighbors, we've set up on the part where the tree is. There's a small planting garden around the tree :)   The park is located on the north side of Durango, across the street is the Durango Silverton Railroad Line. The train will be by 6 times a day, 3 up and 3 back. 

site 93

view out the back window

                             

Being the slow season the office hours are split, 8-12 then 3-5, when the office reopened we headed over to introduce ourselves to Joan and Bob who have been managers here for 17 years. The office has been slammed with reservation requests, with Joan being the only one in the office she was thankful we were here so early. We arrived on a Wednesday and offered to start work on Friday. I've been getting reacquainted with Campgro-und Master and Dave has been learning about the mechanics of the park. By month's end we are open 8-12 and 1-5, still need a few more couples to work the office and maintenance, hopefully those who are suppose to show do so. By the end of the month we had 3 couple doing what we do, need 3 more. 

We are on a 2 on 4 off schedule, on our days off we are trying to learn the area. 

We've taken a ride up to Silverton, another 2500'+ higher in elevation than Durango. Too cold to do much more than take in the beauty as we rode in our warm truck. 

 Not too much going on in Silverton yet, deserted streets and closed businesses, soon though the place will be jumping.

The Animas River runs through Durango, there is the Animas River Walk Trail which is over 7 miles from end to end. Every rotation off we've been doing segments of it to help acclimate ourselves to the elevation. One day we started at the north end then walked about 3.5 miles south, turned around and walked back to the truck, another day we picked the trail up where we had stopped and continued it to the end and then back to the truck. Then there was the day we biked the whole thing. All in all I did better than I thought I would and only had to get off once on the steepest incline. Nice to work some different muscles once in awhile.

Once it dried up we tried a few hikes the first being Falls Creek Loop Trail  which was much nicer than walking around the campground. If you do the exterior roads in the campground and loop around it's only 1/4 mile, will take a lot of laps to make up my daily 7 miles that I'm not getting. Not a lot of scenery on the trail but it was nice just the same. There is a longer loop off of this trail that we'll try another time.

We also hiked The Colorado Trail to Gudy's Nest  which was a really great hike in the pine forest. I hadn't realized I missed hiking in a pine forest till we were back in one. Nice to hear the wind rustling in the trees, the creek running alongside of the trail and the scent of pine in the area on a spring day. The Colorado Trail is a 500 mile long trail connecting Durango and Denver, it traverses six wilderness areas and eight mountain ranges, you can read more about it here.

We interrupted this robin's bath 

Didn't see one snake in the desert but here in CO on the trail we finally did

Unfortunately with the colder temps and being in an office 3 days a week my step goal is suffering, not happy with that but hopefully when better weather comes a long we can get out on a few hikes on our days off.

We've started to check out the local breweries and eateries. Our first afternoon in town we ended up at Carver Brewing where Dave enjoyed a flight and I enjoyed their root beer. 

We did try Animas Brewery but Dave didn't care for their beers so we won't be going back. They don't make their own root beer so another strike for them.  

We've been to Steamworks Brewery, the food was good and Dave enjoyed most of the beers. Good food and draft root beer for me, a great way to end a walking tour of Durango. For Dave he likes Carver Brewing best, I know where we'll be returning to soon. 

We headed out one evening for Chinese, we tried the Mongolian Grill where the food was good but the service was lacking. We might give them another try, though there is another Chinese place that gets good reviews. We went to Fiesta Mexican for my birthday, on the 25th. Having had some great Mexican between AZ and TX we found Fiesta to be lacking in flavor, we'll try another Mexican place next time. 

Dave got a chance to look at the slide motor, he appeared to have found the problem and has fixed it :) 

We've tried all the grocery stores, miss my Fry's and HEB :( 

April flew by and before we knew it we'd been here a month. In May we head to Colorado Springs to see our son Tom. The park will be getting busier as the days go by, at the end of the month we have 2 rallies going on in the park, it's going to get crazy.

I've been working on our reservations for next winter and getting our travel plans in order. We will leave Port Aransas TX on 2/1/19 and arrive in Johnson VT on 5/23/19, by way of FL. I've made lots of reservations but still more to go.

Port Aransas TX to Johnson VT 2/1/2019-5/23/2019

      1)     Spring Creek Park                           Tomball TX                      2/1/19 for 3 nights          

2)      Martin Dies JR State Park               Jasper TX                         2/4/19 for 3 nights                   reserved

3)      Poche’s RV Park                             Beaux Bridge LA               2/7/19 for 3 nights             
      reserved

4)      Buccaneer State Park                   Waveland MS                   2/10/19 for 4 nights              
      reserved

5)      Meaher State Park                        Spanish Fort AL               2/14/19 for 7 nights              
     reserved

6)     Topsail Hill State Park                  Santa Rosa FL                    2/21/19 for 4 nights              
     reserved

7)      Eastbank COE                               Bainbridge GA                   2/25/19 for 2 nights

8)      Quigley’s                                     Citrus Springs FL                2/27/19 for 4 nights

9)     Hillsborough River State Park       Thonotosassa FL                 3/3/19 for 5 nights              
    reserved

10)   Ortona South COE                           Moore Haven FL              3/8/19 for 6 nights          

11)   Easterlin Park Campground           Oakland Park FL                3/14/19 for 4 nights              
     reserved

12)   Bill Frederick Park-Turkey Lake     Orlando FL                       3/18/19 for 5 nights              
      reserved

13)   Quigley’s                                       itrus Springs FL               3/27/19 for 4 nights

14)   Reed Bingham State Park              Adel GA                            3/31/19 for 3 nights              
      reserved

15)   Moduc COE                                    Moduc SC                         4/3/19 for 3 nights                         

16)   Cheraw State Park                       Cheraw SC                         4/6/19 for 3 nights                     reserved

17)   Farm County Campground            Williamston NC                   4/9/19 for 1 night

18)   Oregon Inlet                                 Nags Head NC                     4/10/19 for 7 nights

19)   Falls Lake SRA/Holly Point           Wake Forest NC                   4/17/19 for 3 nights

20)   Stone Mountain State Park           Roaring Gap NC                    4/20/19 for 2 nights

21)  West Virginia Fair Grounds           Fairlea WV                          4/22/19 for 3 nights

      

22) Natural Chimneys Regional Park   Mount Solon MD                    4/25/19 for 3 nights

23)   Cherry Hill Park                            College Park MD              4/28/19 for 7 nights
         reserved

24)   Lums Pond State Park                    Bear DE                            5/5/19 for 3 nights

25)   Old Cedar Campground                 Monroeville NJ                   5/8/19 for 1 nights

26)   Sylvan Lake Beach Park                 Beekman NY                     5/9/19 for 4 nights

27)  Grandview Campresort                   Moodus CT                       5/13/19 for 4 nights

28)   Fisherman’s State Park                 Narragansett RI                  5/17/19 for 5 nights

29)   Travelers Woods                           Bernardston MA                 5/22/19 for 1 night

30)   Maplewoods Campground             Johnson VT                         5/23/19-6/20/19 reserved

4515 miles and 114 nights-let us know if you'll be nearby

The crab apples have started blooming, the grass is getting green but there's still snow in the mountains. 

Until next time....