now THIS is Colorado

We're in Buena Vista now!!  It was about 2 hours west of Colorado Springs, and it's at almost 8,000 feet.  Probably the highest I've ever been, that I can remember at least.  The drive here was definitely been the most scenic drive of the trip yet!  Big, beautiful, snow capped mountains in full view almost the entire time.  There was also this really flat, straight part of the road just as we were really getting into the mountains.  Ben called  it "A little slice of Kansas in the middle of Colorado."  As soon as we got in town we met up with Logan!  He's working for Noah's Ark again this year, and he's down here with his sister Andi and Liz for the summer.  It's so exciting to meet up with friends, out here in Colorado!
Logan, Ben, and I had about 3 hours to kill yesterday so we went rock climbing!  All the crags around here seem to be 5 minutes apart and no more than a 5 minute hike in.  It's awesome!  We did a 5.9+ slab route, and Logan led it.  It was such a scenic climb! We tried to climb a few more things around the area, but what we wanted was taken, and the other route had a really sketchy, loose bolt-so we skipped that one.  The Arkansas River runs right through BV, and Logan pointed out a few paddlers on the river to us.  We were hoping to get a ride on the river today, but there was a death on the river yesterday (not with Noah's, but still very unfortunate) and Logan had to take a couple shifts for people who were uncomfortable guiding given the recent events.  But I know I'll be back before the end of the summer and hopefully get to go then! 
Ben and I set up our tent in a free campsite (yay!) last night.  That is exactly how camping should be!  FREE!  It has got to be one of the coolest campsites I've ever had.  The views are breathtaking around here.  I rolled out of the tent this morning to sunshine, cool air, and clear views of 14,00 foot mountains all around us.  And fell asleep last night to the rushing sounds of the Arkansas River.  Gah, I don't want to leave. 

I think today has been the most fun I've had since getting here.  Ben went riding this morning for 4+ hours, and I hung out in Bongo Billy's (cool little coffee shop.)  Then Liz and Andi came to visit me!!  We sat outside and chatted for a good while, then we went to this neat thrift store and shopped around.  Andi had to leave for work shortly after that, so Liz and I walked around town.  We got delicious subs for lunch!  But had to cut lunch short because of this guy creeping on us.  :(  He was taking a video of us!  It was so weird, we went inside to tell the owners, and then he pretty much ran away.  I feel totally safe in BV, that was just one scary moment.  The two of us kept strolling around town, enjoying the sunshine and perfect temperatures, and met up with Ben a little later on.  We drove to The Trailhead outdoor retail store and browsed a bit while Ben was taking a shower at the laundromat.  Haha, yeahhh, $3.50 for 10 minute shower!  I will be using that later, for sure.  In fact, I'm looking forward to it.  The Trailhead had so many books on CO crags and cool places to climb, but I couldn't decide on which book to get!  If I'm going to spend $40 on a climbing guide book, I want it to be the best one.  So I've got some asking around to do before buying one. 

Liz, Ben and I then hit up Punky's for some grub.  Only after sampling a few ice cream flavors did I decide on my standard Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.  I shouldn't even ask to sample other flavors...I always get the same thing.  And I was able to eat the ice cream outside without it melting everywhere because it's not ridiculously hot out!!  Woot!  We continued strolling around town for most of the afternoon (don't be fooled though...it's not that big of a town, we just kept walking the same streets.)  And we walked a trail along the river.  It was so high today!!  The water is running at close to 3200 cfs, when the average is about 1700 cfs.  Whew, that's some big, fast water.  There were a couple people kayaking and at one point we saw an empty kayak flying through the rapids.  I think it was a good thing no one was in it, but about 10 minutes later I saw a sad looking man, with a spray skirt around him, walking barefoot down beside the river, probably looking for his boat.  We then went to the South Main part of BV and hung out on this outdoor living room thing (furniture was made of ceramic tile!) for a while, and walked around a bouldering park.  Liz and I pretty much spent the entire day hanging out outside, walking around and just looking around.  We also managed to get pretty sunburned, all 3 of us.  I forget the sun is more intense when you're 8000 feet closer to it.  

Seriously though, words just can't describe how incredibly beautiful it is out here, and I had SO much fun today, just doing nothing!!