Colorado Trip: Buena Vista

After we left the Gunnison area, we drove over the mountains to Buena Vista. 

We reached Monarch pass and stopped at the visitor's center. 

Megan has had an obsession with Smokey bear since she was little, so she was excited to see him and take a picture! 

There was an actual ski lift here to the top, but it was so windy that it had to be closed for safety reasons, so this is the best we could do. 

We finished our drive over, and arrived a little before 2. Unfortunately, the campers in our site hadn't pulled out yet, so we had to wait for them to not only return back to camp but to pack up their stuff and move. So it was a bit of a hastle. We were early, they were late. 

Once we got unpacked and settled, we opted to spend the rest of the day relaxing and let the girls play. 

We hung our hammocks in the trees and read and relaxed. Meanwhile, Megan was climbing the trees. 

She got pretty high up and I was super nervous that a limb would snap or she'd fall and break an arm. 

But the views sure were pretty. 

The girls collected rocks, got out the markers and started painting rocks to hide around the campground. 

I made a rock too. 

DJ set up a great little outdoor area with the pop up canopy, chairs and a table. 

We ate dinner, had a fire because the mosquitoes were awful, and called it a night. 

The next day, we were up for breakfast- a huge thanks to my brother for cooking most of the trip! 

My brother and parents went to the headwaters of the Arkansas River, and we opted to stay closer and explore Buena Vista. 

There was an old car show happening downtown, so that was fun to explore.

Buena Vista is more of a town with just a few touristy shops and boutiques. But the town was super cute.

There was a building named "Pearl" so of course I had to take a picture of the girls in front of it- all of their names have the meaning of Pearl. 

We walked the car show, had lunch at a great pizza restaurant, found a little park, and just explored the town. 

There was an area where you could walk down to the river, and paddleboard or canoe. 

Of course we found rocks to climb. 

And how fun is this outdoor living room. It reminded me of the Friends coffee shop. 

A little exploring at the Arkansas River

Near our campground was a waterfall, so on the drive back, we got out to explore it as well! The water was rushing!