Campground Review:

At first arrival, we were intimidated by the fact that the Grand Junction KOA sits adjoining the Mesa County Fairgrounds. But aside from the occasional whiff of horse stalls and a short interlude with music over a loudspeaker, you would not even know it was there, at least on a weekday.

We spent two nights at this KOA in two similar, but unique, capacities. The first night we rented a "rental RV", which sits on a foundation at the campground. This was awesome and we highly recommend reserving the rental RV's if you plan to stay here. There were two bedrooms - a queen and a twin bunk - and a futon in the living room. There was a TV in both the living room and bedroom (much to our kids' delight), and a full kitchen and dinette. It was very clean and comfortable even though it is an older RV unit. Plenty of storage, and outdoor gas grill, a porch, and A/C rounded off our first night's stay, along with some pizza delivery from Dominos!

The second night we stayed in a 2-bedroom Kamping Kabin. We have always stayed in the single room Kabins before, so it was nice to have more space and more privacy, especially since we had our nephew along with us this time. As usual, the cabin was clean and updated. This one also had one TV in the main room with a queen bed, then a second bedroom with two bunk sets. A/C was welcome because it was HOT during our stay. The 2-bedroom Kabin has a huge patio, fenced in lawn area, gas grill, and outdoor table and chairs. It is policy for no cooking inside these cabins, so the gas grill was a special treat.

This KOA is very close to two National Park Sites, Colorado National Monument, and Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. These have been on our Bucket List for a few years, so it was nice to finally have the chance to spend time in this area. After spending the day exploring, we spent the evenings splashing in the nice pool on site. As with most KOA's, this one also rents the pedal carts and has a game room area, outdoor movie theater with nightly movies, mini-golf, and a playground. Take note that the playground is not well-situated and has a "scary steep slide" according to our kids. Plenty to do right on site for those seeking a calmer day or night at the campground.

Product Review:

For a video summary of the Essential Stove Set, please see our complete YouTube video: https://youtu.be/hJx9FhRn4WQ

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, we get products to test from time to time, so on this trip we took along with us the Primus (www.primus.us) Essential Stove Set in order to have a quick way to make dinner after a long day exploring National Parks. It did not disappoint! We went from hungry family to fully fed in under 30 minutes. Dad and the boys manned the gas grill for hot dogs, and I whipped up our favorite go-to camp meal: Mac-n-cheese! Since we had traveled from the Black Hills all the way to Western Colorado, we were happy to receive such a lightweight, small product to test on the trip. At less than two pounds and under 9" wide and 5" tall, this stove slid right in the back of the car between the cooler and the suitcases!

Lighting the stove was quick and easy, like it had already been lit a hundred times. No lag from air in the lines, and hot immediately upon lighting. I had the water boiling before the boys got one hot dog on the grill! All-in-all, to boil the water, and then the pasta, took about 15 minutes. We like our pasta Al Dente, so for some it may be more like 20 minutes, especially at higher elevations, but I still beat the hot dog crew and everyone was impressed. As for clean-up, it was easy. I simply warmed some more water in the pot, and washed with dish soap and a sponge. This stove is going to be with us on all of our future trips!

A few of the nice perks of the Essential Stove Set:

-Comes with a lid/frying pan/serving plate that is versatile.

-Lightweight (37 oz) and small enough to fit in a backpack for longer trips.

-Uses gas available from most sporting goods and outdoor retailers (including Wal-Mart).

-Instant heat - no waiting for a burner to warm up. Also instant off- if the kids come running through, you can flip it off and the heat stops (just remember the pots will be hot).