Buena Vista, CO

Wednesday, September 16

We started our day camped near the Arkansas River, a few miles outside the town of Buena Vista, CO. I did school with the kids in the RV while Andi hopped on one of our electric bikes to scout out our next camping spot for tonight. Andi’s friend Lou and his wife Allison are joining us later today, and we’re planning to stay at one of Lou’s favorite camping spots near Fourmile Recreation Area. It’s no secret that our 25’ ft Winnebago view doesn’t love bumpy, dirt roads so Andi thought he’d visit there ahead of time to verify we’d make it into the wilderness area with our RV unscathed.

One tradition I’ve started with the kids on this trip is reading aloud to them at breakfast. When we’re RVing, It’s difficult to find a time for reading as we’re focused on doing school work in the morning before we head off on our daily adventure. By the time we return to the RV later in the day, everyone’s tired and usually needs some chill time. Tory has been known to read on her Kindle in the evenings, but more often than not iPads win over. At bedtime, everyone is too tired (especially Aden) to listen to stories for very long.

So, this week I started reading to the kids over breakfast and it’s been working great! It starts our day in a calm, quiet state and there aren’t any requests to fill that time with iPads or grumbles about starting school. We naturally roll into learning when eating is finished. This week, we started reading a book called Ranger in Time together, about a young girl who escapes slavery along the Underground Railroad.

Andi returned to the RV as Tory, Aden and I were finishing school and said he wanted to get on the road quickly to our next camping spot. It wasn’t far from where we were camped last night, but there were three one-way tunnels we needed to drive through and Andi wanted to make sure we wouldn’t greet any other cars on the road since there wouldn’t be a lot of room to maneuver.

Fortunately, the rock tunnels were big enough to fit our RV without issue. I hopped out of the RV, ran ahead and guided Andi as he drove very slowly through them— just in case.

The camping spot Andi and Lou decided on was beautiful. It felt like we were a million miles away from the rest of the world, tucked into the desert trees and shrubs. Andi pulled out his drone to take a few pictures while we waited for his friend Lou to arrive.

After Lou and Allison arrived, we spent the rest of the day hanging out at camp, going for walks in the wilderness, and climbing on boulders. Tory and Aden absolutely love all the boulders in Colorado’s landscape and are having a blast climbing them.

While the grown-ups sat around and talked, Tory and Aden spent time collecting animal bones around our campsite. Maybe that sounds a little gross, but they very interested in learning about the animals those bones may have belonged to! They also wore rubber gloves for protection. Creative Tory made those animal bones into a skeleton which we all called the Ghost of Buena Vista. Ooooohhh!

Andi, Lou, Allison and I stayed up late eating and drinking outside our camper while Tory and Aden crushed a few episodes (or hours) of iPad time. We had a lot of fun.

The next morning, we were in desperate need of a Reset Day. And some Ibuprofen. After dry-camping the past three nights, we were overflowing with trash and laundry. The RV was filthy from camping in the dry desert. Time to head to Buena Vista and re-group.

We said good-bye to Lou and Allison, and made the 45 minute drive into the town of Buena Vista. Andi and I grabbed take-out lunch from House Rock Kitchen and took it to a nearby park to eat.

Traveling by RV for six weeks at a time feels like we have all the time in the world and not enough time to see & do everything we’d like — all at the same time. We enjoy the flexibility of traveling without a plan, but Andi and I decided it was probably time to put thoughts to paper and map out a rough timeline of the places we’d like to visit on this trip. (Most people probably do that before the trip begins — ha!) So, with a Colorado map in hand, as well as a pencil and a piece of notebook paper, Andi and I sat down at a picnic table and made a rough outline for the next month of travel while Tory and Aden played nearby at a bouldering park.

This area of Colorado is known for white water rafting on the Arkansas River, and there was a unique rafting water park down by the river that we decided to check out. Man-made rapids were built into the river to give adventurers the chance to practice their skills. The four of us walked along a trail beside the river before heading back to the RV and finding camp for the night.

Even though there’s so many great recreation areas and free BLM land in the Buena Vista area, we were in desperate need of a reset. So, we decided to camp at Mt. Princeton RV Park in BV for the night. Laundry, full hook-ups, and internet were just what the doctor ordered.

Andi and I didn’t feel like cooking dinner, so we decided to bike a mile into town for dinner. This is the most we’ve eaten in restaurants since the pandemic started, but we felt really safe in Colorado. Everyone here (locals and tourists alike) seem to be working together to keep people safe and businesses open. There are “wear a mask” signs everywhere, and people seem to be following the rule.

Tonight, we opted to eat on the garden patio of a restaurant called The Simple Spoon. Aden and Tory were famished — they devoured our cauliflower appetizer and we each enjoyed our meals of soup, salad and buttered noodles. A great ending to a fun time in BV.

Tomorrow, we’re hitting the road again … either to Crested Butte or Aspen. TBD.