Bueno for Buena Vista!

After spending almost a week at the homes of our Colorado children, we were once on the road again on Monday morning.  The Denver area and Front Range had gotten some rain during the past week, and above the 10,000 foot level it snowed.  We could see the snow capped mountains in the distance as we headed south on Colorado 285 towards the town of Buena Vista.

Buena Vista is a beautiful, quaint small town situated close to the Arkansas River.  Even though it sits at 8000 feet, the seasons here are mild and average summer temperatures are in the 80's.  

After settling in and eating lunch, we were off to explore.  One of our first jaunts was to drive through the old Midland Railroad tunnels, just north of town.  They are definitely one-way and I sure wouldn't even think of driving through them with our 5th wheel!

By just looking at the picture below, you can tell that the unique visitor center was once a church.  It was built in 1879 and in continuous use for 90 years.  However, it had reached a point where it was slated to be demolished and the fire department wanted to use it for practice and burn it down to the ground.  Fortunately, it was saved, restored and even got a new coat of pain inside and out this year.

More walking around the town revealed an old courthouse for the county seat.  It is now the Buena Vista Heritage Museum since the county seat is now in Salida.  Even though the buildings in the main part of town are old, they are all occupied and in good repair.  This would be a great town to spend a week since there are so many different things to do and see in the surrounding area.  We have seen more deer here in the past 2 days than the rest of the summer.     They lounge in people's yards during the day, stroll across the downtown streets and both nights we have had a least 5 deer in our campground.  I guess they feel right at home!

 After talking to the lady at the Visitor Center, we decided to head up Highway 306 to Cottonwood Pass.  It was just the right time of the year to catch some fall color, and we weren't disappointed.  Don drove while I looked for spots for him to stop so I could get out of the truck and take pictures!  Trust me, he did a LOT of stopping!

 I even managed to get a view looking up through a stand of Aspen trees.  My camera just kept on clicking away as I snapped one picture after another.  I was one happy camper!

Cottonwood Creek closely follows this highway and I was able to climb down the hill to get photos of the river and colorful trees.

Fall leaves floating on the water captured my attention and I clicked off another picture.  I just love fall!