Buena Vista Part II

We had two more days in Buena Vista before moving to Alamosa.

MONDAY

We started off the morning on a hike to an abandoned resort called Interlaken. It was definitely off the beaten path but the hike had insane views the whole time. 

I think it was about 2.5 miles to get to the resort. It was popular in the late 19th century but closed because of a new dam causing changes to the lakefront. 

The grounds were really neat, you can go into a couple of the buildings and go into all of the rooms. 

We parked super far from the actual trailhead because the road was crazy bumpy.

After the hike we went and cleaned up a little then met back up downtown for a late lunch/early dinner. We ate at House Rock Kitchen and it was fantastic! 

We stayed on Cottonwood Creek and man did it live up to its name! We had cottonwood everywhere, a lot of times it looked like it was snowing.

Dave and I took a walk this evening. 

TUESDAY

Our last full day in Buena! We kind of piddled around in the morning then we split up-our family of four went for a hike to a waterfall and the rest went downtown to check out the 4th of July parade and pancake breakfast. 

This old schoolhouse was on the way to our hike. It was so tiny!

We hiked to Agnes Vaille Falls and had great views of Mt. Antero. 

After our hike we went into town to check out the festivities but couldn't find any food! So we went to lunch at Simple Eatery. Food was great and we picked up some fresh bread for the next part of our trip!

We spotted a deer just wandering through town. 

Ping pong tournament on our last evening. 

Then we played a little bocce ball. Grandpa Boo and Ike were the winners!

Since it was 4th of July we found a spot to watch the local fireworks. It was pretty hilarious, all these people were setting off fairly big fireworks so we kept thinking that was the actual town fireworks. We ended up watching fireworks for over an hour because of all the displays and the real ones were awesome!

Wednesday morning we all got around and headed our separate ways. Em and Meranda flew back to Indiana, Josh's parents went to Georgetown and we went Southeast to Alamosa and the sand dunes. Huge thank you to Barry and Divana for this trip! We had such an awesome time hanging out with everyone and exploring this part of the mountains. 

 

New River Gorge National Park

Dave really wanted to go white water rafting as part of his 6th grade summer vacation, so we landed on the New River Gorge National Park area, specifically Fayetteville, West Virginia.  I had no idea just how beautiful and scenic this area is! Highly recommend checking it out if you're looking for an adventurous getaway. 

Our first stop was driving up miles and miles of winding roads to get to Hawks Nest State Park. We had a little time before our Airbnb opened up, so we walked around this area for a bit. It was absolutely gorgeous.

Checked into our house for the next several days. Of course the kids were interested in the hot tub right away.

The rest of our party arrived shortly after us-my mom, uncle, aunt and Grandpa Dave! 

Bright and early the next morning we were up to go white water rafting. It was kind of a dreary morning, but it worked out great for us. The guy getting us ready convinced us to go in "duckies" instead of the big raft. I was extremely not on board with this plan, but we ended up loving it. It was Dave and I in one and Ike and Josh in the other.

We stopped for lunch, then got back on the river (we went on the Upper New River portion). At one point we were catching up with another group so the kids got to jump in and swim a little. The water was so warm!

Since it was the 4th of July weekend, there was lots of stuff going on at Fayetteville. Grandpa loves live music so we went to the town park (it was walkable from our house) several times while we were visiting. 

We woke up to a beautiful morning, so we drove over the famous bridge to the visitor center and some great views!

Aunt Kathy really wanted to see Diamond Point, so we took part of the Endless Wall Trail up to it. It was a bit more strenuous then we thought but we made it!

 

Kids jumping around in the creek. 

After the hike we took the winding road down to the original bridge and got to see the new bridge from down below. 

I guess we just weren't tired enough because the four of us went on yet another hiking adventure that afternoon! This one was a bit of a bust. I think it will be cool once it's all up and running, but I had read online that Needleseye recreation area was great for kids. There was very little trail marking so we got off the path quite a bit, and it was extremely muddy while we were there!

Mom and Aunt Kathy prepared a water war for when we got back that the kids absolutely loved. Video of the kids playing on the raft and the water fight. 

Then it was time for fireworks, which we watched from the backyard. 

Our last full day was spent driving to the Grandview section of the national park. It was so beautiful there, and no one in sight!

On our way back we stopped in the town of Thurmond, which was abandoned (5 people live there now) after the coal/train business left the area. 

Quick stop at Dunlop Creek Falls. There were waterfalls all over the place. 

That evening, Grandpa, Uncle Denny and Aunt Kathy all took off. We stayed one more night before heading to Washington D.C. the next day!