SETTLED IN AT BUENA VISTA, COLORADO

Yesterday we moved into our spacious new site at Valley Mobile Park (read our review and see photos here) in Buena Vista. Look at all that space!

This is a mellow park that we liked as soon as we visited a couple weeks ago, when we were searching for a site we could reserve for a couple weeks in August. It used to be a mobile home park, and about a dozen mobile homes remain. The rest of the spaces have been made into HUGE RV sites, each with a bit of landscaping, a concrete pad, and a picnic table in good condition. The owners are friendly, the views pretty, the location convenient... and Luna loves it, the all-important criterion.

As I write this, we are awaiting the arrival of Buddy and Jackie to be our neighbors for the next week. We've got hikes, geocaching, and sightseeing drives planned, and a special dinner out as an early celebration of Jackie's birthday.

We took it easy over the weekend, enjoying some of the local sights and activities. Salida, 20 miles south of Buena Vista, is a much larger town - they have a Walmart and a Safeway, for instance (Buena Vista has one small - but well stocked - market).

Buddy and Jackie have been staying at an RV park there, where we first met them 3 years ago, and on Saturday we drove over to meet them at the farmer's market and explore the fun downtown.

Here are some photos from our visit to the farmer's market. Clockwise from upper left: Odel didn't try to resist homemade apricot ice cream for breakfast; Odel grins at his cone while Buddy and Jackie look on; colorful radishes at a produce stand; Odel and Buddy wander the market.

It was a small farmer's market, but I picked up a few bags of freshly picked salad greens, a bulb of fennel and a bunch of vibrant kale... definitely worth the visit.

Salida and Buena Vista are all about the outdoors. The Arkansas River is famous for rafting and kayaking, and both towns have kayak "practice rapids", a fun place to linger and watch kayakers improve their skills.

We spent several minutes leaning on the bridge railing taking in the scene, then turned away and almost bumped into a couple who looked mighty familiar... it was the Noonans, who we first met in Bisbee, Arizona, where they workamped at one of our favorite RV parks, Queen Mine. They were in colorful lycra biking garb, mingling with all the other fit folks strolling around Salida on a beautiful morning. Small world!