We left Yellowstone and hit the road a day earlier than planned because the kids were getting pretty worn out. They were really excited for our next stop — Durango, Colorado. I’m not sure if they were excited about the destination or the fact that Grandpa and Grandma would be joining us there. We had plans to stay at the Durango Riverside Resort because Mr. TypeTwoFun’s parents had stayed there before, and they had fond memories. We called to see if the resort had room for us a day early, and it did, so we headed to Colorado.
It took us a day and a half to reach Durango from Yellowstone. We stopped in Moab, Utah for the night and grabbed a hotel room {gasp!} so we didn’t have to deal with setting up camp. While in Moab, we visited Arches National Park, which was so gorgeous. It was a little hot, so we did a quick driving tour before heading on our way. We definitely want to come back and explore this place better. It was amazing.
When we arrived at the Durango Riverside Resort, I was immediately impressed with how pretty the place was. There are mature shade trees everywhere, and the resort sits right along the Animas River. The staff was friendly enough, and we were able to check in and start getting camp set up within a few minutes.
Once we started setting up camp, we realized just how cramped our campsite was. The RV park has full hookups at many sites, and the site we reserved was a full hookup space. When we hooked up the camper, we were immediately aware of just how close our neighbors were. That is our PUP and next to it is our NEIGHBOR’S picnic table. When we were inside the camper, we could hear our neighbors talking and laughing inside theirs. There is no privacy and the spots are actually more like parking spaces. We were really hoping for a little more room to spread out. Luckily, Grandma and Grandpa were our neighbors on one side, and the neighbor on the other side was friendly and considerate, so we had no problems.
The campsites are by no means spacious, but there are quite a few amenities at the Durango Riverside Resort. There were clean bathrooms and warm showers, a convenience store, a dishwashing station, laundry facilities, WIFI, and a pool. It really didn’t seem much like camping at all. Each site also had a picnic table and a fire ring, and there were shared grills throughout the campground, as well.
There wasn’t much room to set up camp chairs. This is the family in our site hanging out around the fire ring. That’s Grandpa’s truck and camper in the picture. That’s how close his space was to ours. There was actually a little patio that overlooked the Animas River, and I would find everyone relaxing there quite often. With the lack of space to move around and spread out at our site, it was really the only place to go… and what kid doesn’t like to watch sticks float down a river? 🙂
There was a lot to do in Durango. One day we visited Mesa Verde National Park, which was about 45 minutes from our campground. It was such a great place to take the kids. We purchased tickets for the Balcony House tour, and I wish we had been able to visit the other ruins as well. The park is extremely well run, and we learned so much from our tour guide.
Another day we visited downtown Durango and hit the Durango – Silverton Railroad Museum. The kids enjoyed that quite a bit. There was enough to see and do downtown to keep them entertained for hours. After spending so much time in the car, we decided against a train ride to Silverton, but I hear it is a fun trip. It’s on our list for next time.
I have to say, though, that our favorite experience in Durango was the Bar-D Chuckwagon. We got to eat a cowboy dinner on tin plates and cups, which the kids loved. My son ate two plates of food — the food was that good! But the highlight of the night was when the Bar-D Wranglers played a show for us. We all were sore from laughing so hard. The kids talked about the show all the way home. Grandma and Grandpa bought a CD, and even now we listen to it every time we visit them. It wasn’t a cheap dinner, but we are so glad we got to experience it.
Another highlight of the trip was the Honeyville honey factory in Durango, which was a lot of fun. If we’d had more time, we’d have taken a white water rafting trip, too. There was no shortage of entertainment in Durango. That town is a happening place!
What we loved:
- Full hookups, warm showers, and laundry facilities. The camper sheets and bath towels all got a good wash, and everything was fresh and clean again. After nearly two weeks on the road, those things seem really important. And the pool! The kids loved cooling off with a swim in the afternoons.
- Entertainment! The entertainment options were endless. If we had more time, we could have spend a whole week of adventure in Durango. You have to do Mesa Verde National Park when you are in Durango. It is not to be missed.
- The weather. Durango has almost perfect weather — at least in June. We didn’t have to use the heater at night, and we were comfortable during the day. We were even able to nap inside the camper without roasting.
What we learned:
- It’s nice to have hookups and amenities, but they usually come with a trade-off. Being so close to our neighbors on either side, made us feel cramped and claustrophobic. We spend very little time in our campsite.
- We have fridge issues… When we left the camper in the hotel parking lot in Moab, we forgot to turn the fridge off. We had steaks and other meats inside and didn’t want them to go bad. The problem? Mr. TypeTwoFun wasn’t parked on level ground, and it messed up the fridge. When we came back out the next morning, the thermometer for the fridge read 76 degrees. Yikes! We couldn’t get the fridge to work right the entire time we were in Durango. We’re going to have to look into that more now that we are home. If anyone has any insight, I’d love to hear it!
- We can actually spend two weeks on the road together and not kill each other. It got a little hairy sometimes, but we made it! 😀
So that concludes our Big Two Week Road Trip series. Thanks for following along with us. We had an amazing time and made some lasting memories. Would we do it again? Ask me in a few months…
New to The Pop Up Princess? Would you like to catch up on our road trip adventures from the past five years? You can find those links here:
POP UP ROAD TRIP 2018
POP UP ROAD TRIP 2017
POP UP ROAD TRIP 2016
POP UP ROAD TRIP 2015
POP UP ROAD TRIP 2014
Happy Camping!
Kristin says
I followed you here from the portal (I’m Kettlebelle there, but mostly lurk). What a great camper makeover and fabulous road trip! You hit a lot of places that are on my family’s bucket list. We have three kids and a dog and have learned a lot from each of our four trips with a popup so far. I’m really curious as to how you managed packing and meals, and the repeated setups and tear-downs on a rather long trip. If you ever have time I’d love to hear your strategies!
Larissa says
Absolutely, Kristin! I’ll have to pull together some tips from our trip. Not gonna lie, though, setups and teardowns were no fun. We tried to stay in a place at least two days, but a couple places were just overnight stays. It’s a pain to tear down camp, but we really wanted to see as much country as possible, so we pushed through it. 😀
Josh says
Hi Larissa,
I also followed you over from the Portal and have enjoyed your site and what you have done to your camper! Too funny how much ideas we all share (and steel). We tried the shelf mod but haven’t had success due to not having secure “cup” on the roof. We can’t get anything to stick, and we are afraid of screwing or other permanent things into the roof. Every time a hard door slam (one of my major pet peeves, dang kids!) the shelving fell down. Finally my wife had enough and said it had to go! Have you found a solution to your Gizmos yet? We bought the SHW version last year….we have owned campers for about 10 years and must say it has been the very best investment yet. I paid a tad bit more to have Bob from Popup Gizmos sew velcro to the top. Since we have a slide out dinette it was already pricey, so justified “what’s a few more bux?”. Anyway, used an idea from the portal: use the glue side of the Velcro “teeth”, then use staple gun on the underside lip of the roof just outside where the canvas starts at 2-3 places along the strip to hold it securely. We Velcro-ed them in last summer and they have honestly stayed put. It is the very coolest thing I have ever done, literally! I am in Arizona (are you too?) and cannot live without these now in any kind of sun, even in the cool mountains where the sun is especially intense! I know, I know, we stapled into our roof but won’t secure anything inside on the roof. I guess since it was outside it made it easier 🙂 LOVE YOUR SITE, will continue to lurk 🙂