2016 Western Trip – Days 51-52 – Our Last Day In Buena Vista & Snowy Peaks Review

I began our last day in BV by getting a shot of a patch of Aspens changing color on the mountain across the road from us.  They are supposed to peak next week so we’ll miss them but got to see them in all their glory the last two trips to Colorado.

After another delicious breakfast at the Evergreen Café, the girls dropped me off at the campground and headed to Salida for a little shopping while I dog sat and puttered around Sweetie making ready for departure.

This was our second time at Snowy Peaks RV Park and once again we were well pleased with our stay.  The owners, who live on site, and their staff were all friendly and helpful and they continue making improvements to the park – recently upgraded the TV cable.

We were in site 49 (same as last time) which was one of several premium pull-thrus ($306/wk).  The third shot is how it looked in 2013.

I try to go outside when I get up to minimize disturbing Pat who sleeps in the living area so I have a little nest to deal with the mid 40’s temps and provide what I need.  The blanket covers my bare feet and the hooded sweat shirt is on me with the hood up if it's breezy.

This is the view from my nest.

We really like the nice grassy area between sites but never used the fire ring.  The utilities all worked well but the WiFi could have used more band width, especially when the park was full over the holiday weekend, but it was still better than most we’ve experienced.  We drove through most of the area campgrounds, except the KOA and Snowy Peaks is the best of those we saw – I would definitely stay here again.

On Friday, we headed out for the 250 mile drive to Santa Fe by traveling US-285, CO-17, US-285 and NM-599 around Santa Fe.  All of the CO roads were fine but 285 in NM was pretty rough from being a paved over concrete road with joints that were now very apparent.  There were several places on CO-17 where I may have gone 20 miles without turning the steering wheel and with nothing to see but high desert and the occasional cow, it was a pretty boring drive.

After leaving Poncho Springs, we headed up hill for seven miles and stayed in the high dessert of the San Luis Valley until well into NM, viewing the Great Sand Dunes from 15-20 miles away.  Once we climbed the Poncho Pass and for the remainder of the trip, the one thought on my mind was "why would anyone choose to live in this barren land." We have to do some research to understand why NM is called the Land Of Enchantment and we have 10 days to discover.  No doubt spoken like a guy who has lived his entire life in the green Appalachians.  But the trip was uneventful and we arrived safely about 3pm to Santa Fe Skies RV Park.

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

9/8 – 9/9/16 event dates