Vacation in Colorado in August
 

Hi,<BR><BR>I'm kind of new to this forum so bear with me if my questions are a bit naive. My husband and I are planning a vacation to the Durango area in mid August.It's the closest area for us to travel by car if we want to see any of Colorado. I know about the Silverton Railroad trip and Mesa Verde Park. What else could we see and do? Any nice places to stay that are fairly priced and good eating places? We have a week to do this. I also need to know where we could stay along the way as we are coming from Southern Orange County and I know it's a 15 hour trip. We'd like to stop along the way, maybe in Arizona? I'm not to sure of the highways we would take. I'll go to AAA for that.<BR>Any help would be appreciated.

The fastest route would be I-15 to I-40 to Hwy 89 to Hwy 160 and that's 780 miles from Orange County.<BR><BR>Flagstaff is about 450 miles from Orange County and will probably be your best bet for finding lodging. If you want to stop before then I would suggest Needles or Kingman.<BR><BR>There are lots of little detours you can take either coming or going. <BR><BR>Between Needles and Kingman take the old Route 66 thought Oatman, AZ instead of staying on I-40.<BR><BR>On Hwy 89 just north of Flagstaff take the Hwy 395 loop to see Sunset Crater and Wupatki National Monument.<BR><BR>At Kayenta, AZ take a little detour to Hwy 163 to go see Monument Valley.<BR><BR>On Hwy 160 at the AZ, CO, UT, NM border is alittle monument called Four Corners which is a fun stop for a few minutes.<BR><BR>Between Durango and Ouray is the Million Dollar Highway which is a beautiful drive.<BR><BR>I've never been to Telluride but I hear it's beautiful too. We were suppose to go the last time we were in the area but we had motorhome problems and had to skip it :(<BR><BR>If you want to take a different route back you might consider taking Hwy 160 west to Hwy 191 and visit Canyon de Chelly National Monument and continue down to I-40. You will pass by the Hubblle Trading Post National Historical Site. On I-40 you can take a little detour thought the Petrified Forest National Monument and if you have time you could stop at Walnut Canyon National Monument just east of Flagstaff.<BR><BR>We lodge, sleep, cook &amp; eat in our motorhome so I'm no good with accommodations and places to eat.<BR><BR>Utahtea

Thanks for the information. The directions are a great help. I've been trying to get my husband to buy a motor home.

I'm sorry Utahtea that I forgot to thank you by name. Since you have so much information, I am wondering if I could ask you about the Tucson/Tombstone area. I really want to go to Colorado but the drive seems long and I love the desert of Arizona. We were in Oatman about 5 years ago and remember the donkeys or was it mules wandering through town. I am a great ghost town buff so Tombstone sounds interesting but I don't think it's much of a ghost town anymore. Is the drive just as long from So. Orange county to Tucson as it is to Colorado/Durango area? I am convincing my husband to perhaps rent a motorhome for this trip. Hopefully gas prices will go down soon and every will settle down.<BR>Thanks so much. You knows your roads!

Hi Froggy,<BR><BR>DH &amp; I have driven though Tucson many times but we've never spent any time there and I've never been to Tombstone but we will someday. <BR><BR>From Orange County to Tucson is 485 miles and it's only another 75 to Tombstone. Another interesting place in the area is Chiricahua National Monument. We've been there MANY, MANY years ago but we had a 7 month old baby and didn't get to really explore the park.<BR><BR>My gut feeling is that is will be VERY HOT &amp; DRY in this area in August! It will be much cooler in Colorado.<BR><BR>We really wanted to spend time in Silverton but it was pouring down rain the last time we were there so we decided to do it another time. It's an interesting old town.<BR><BR>I love our motorhome. They aren't cheap to rent but we did it the vacation before we bought ours. If you are seriously thinking about buying one then you really should think about renting one to see if you like the lifestyle. <BR><BR>We love the fact that we can pull over at a scenic view point and fix a meal and eat it. We love having our bathroom with us at all times. We love not having to pack and unpack a suitcase. We love having our own comfortable bed, sheets and pillows every night.<BR><BR>Utahtea....maybe I should be a RV saleswoman!

Utahtea, you have been a big help. I am going for the Colorado trip now since Arizona would be extremley hot as you say. That would be a spring trip. I check mileage from our location to Flagstaff and it's about an 8hr drive, which makes it half way. We have rented a motor home when we made a trip to Palm Springs and I enjoyed it. Plus if we do this, I can maybe get my husband to let me bring our dog along. We'll be checking prices on rentals for a week. Did you stay at any particular parks when you did your trip? You have been a great help and maybe being an RV sales person might be up your alley. Did you have any major problems with your RV on your trip? Thanks again.

Froggy we had one small minor little problem with the rental and we called and they helped us get around it so we didn't have to take it in for service while we were traveling. <BR><BR>Do you like to stay at private campgrounds with hook ups? The last time we were in the area we drove past a really nice KOA campground in Seligman, AZ and we wished we had stopped because we ended up at Hillside RV park on the side of the freeway in Ash Fork, AZ. <BR><BR>It's been a long time since we camped in Flagstaff but we liked Woody Mountain Campground on the west side of Flagstaff.<BR><BR>If you do rent an RV I would suggest staying at least one night in Mesa Verde. They only have a few sites with hoop ups that are hard to get but I prefer staying in the other sites anyways.<BR><BR>If you find the time to go to Canyon de Chelly National Monument they have a beautiful campground in the Cottonwood trees. The campground is free but there are no hoopups. If you do go take the 1/2 day or all day tour into the canyon. <BR><BR>Utahtea

Utahtea,<BR><BR>Your advice is most appreciated. Hooks ups would be great if they are available. Believe or not, my husband, daughter and I camped around the US about 18 years ago in a tent trailer and I swore the next time we would get an RV. I am going to be checking prices on rentals in my area soon. We stayed at some really nice KOA's along the way. You are right to say it would be a good way to take a vacation. The hassle of packing and unpacking is not a pleasure. Thanks again for all your help.

Froggy,<BR><BR>We had a old 1961 tent-trailer for 5 years and sold it 19 years ago so I guess we were tent-trailer camping around the same time! In 1984 we moved up to a travel trailer &amp; had that for 9 years and we have had the motorhome for the last 10 years. <BR><BR>We used Cruise America for our RV rental. We live in the SF bay area and we drove our vehicle to Las Vegas to rent the motorhome to cut down on the cost of miles. It worked out really nice but we did have to move all our stuff from our suburban to the RV and then back again. It wasn't to bad.<BR><BR>My friend has had really good luck renting motorhomes from El Monte RV.<BR><BR>It's been fun talking to you. I'd love to hear about your trip when you get back. <BR><BR>Utahtea

Hey Utahtea,<BR><BR>Thanks for all your help and advice. I am not sure if we are going to rent for a week. The price for week is over our budget. We might just rent for 3 days and rent a car for the rest of the trip.<BR>Again thank you and may you have great vacations in theh future.

Hi Froggy,<BR><BR>In terms of other activities in the Durango area other than the train, the Milion Dollar Highway, and Mesa Verde, here are some things my family enjoys:<BR><BR>- The Bar-D Wranglers cowboy show and dinner just north of town. We go once or twice per year.<BR><BR>- The melodrama at the Diamond Circle Theater, attached to the Strater Hotel. They have 2 different shows each summer.<BR><BR>- Driving old Lime Creek Road, and taking the short hike to Spud Lake, beautiful.<BR><BR>- Driving to the top of La Plata Canyon road to the Kennebec Pass area, where we see mountains spread 180 degrees in front of us. (Requires 4WD)<BR><BR>- Hiking the first 1-2 miles of the Colorado Trail through cool forest along Junction Creek. Very good on a hot day.<BR><BR>- Wandering around the small downtown area in the evening. There are several good restaurants there. I like Season's and Ken and Sue's the best. The Palace is great for atmosphere.<BR><BR>Flagstaff makes a good stop on the drive from Southern California. It's at a fairly high altitude, so it's cool when the surrounding desert isn't.<BR><BR>Durango has lots of inexpensive motels, but I have only stayed at the Strater Hotel and the Doubletree Hotel, neither of which is inexpensive. My parents have stayed at the Best Western Inn and Suites, on 160, and thought that was okay. Although I'm pretty cheap overall, I think it's definitely worth it to stay in the downtown area because it's nice to wander around there in the evenings. The Strater is perfectly located.<BR>

Froggy -<BR><BR>We love Durango - we hope to buy some land there one of these days. We're big green chile fans so of course we head for the Mexican restaurants - we like Francisco's on Main Ave. and Gazpacho on 2nd Ave.