This is normal life, not a mini-vacation.
I put on my traveling shoes this morning and headed West out of Denver on Highway 285. One hundred twenty miles later, I found myself in Buena Vista, Colorado, at the foot of the high country.
Note, I'm not calling this a mini-vacation as I normally would, I consider this the beginning of my new Summer travels lifestyle, or at least a test of my new Summer lifestyle to see how things will work out with me trying to find boondocking areas to stay at while still being able to get to my VA appointments.
One of the problems is that my VA appointments are all in the Denver area, but due to the crowds of people, both locals and tourists that stay in the Denver area, unused boondocking spots are hard to come by without getting at least an hour’s drive from Denver. Part of that problem is that I'm not familiar with boondocking spots in the Denver area, since I've never needed them. Hopefully, I will learn more about places where I can stay during this Summer. I think this challenge will be beneficial for me, as I tend to become very lazy and unmotivated during the Summer.
Someone once said that without challenge, there is no adventure; in other words, camping at a Commercial campground is not an adventure. It might be fun, educational, and the best time of your life, but there's no challenge in camping at places like that. Sometimes, I need a challenge. My winter travels keep me on my toes, give me things to think about, and prompt me to research on the Internet. And best of all, wintertime boondocking in the desert is a challenge. I believe challenges are good for old Geezers like myself; most of our challenges are health challenges, but sometimes I believe we need mental and physical challenges that living a full- timing lifestyle offers, and a boondocking lifestyle offers in spades.
I've got roughly 3 months left of my Summer travel season, and hopefully, after those three months, I will know more about living my new life and learning how to enjoy it.
Theboondork.....
Driving West out of Denver, heading for the high country. And no, that’s not the high country ahead, those are just foothills.
Driving through the little town of FairPlay, I spotted a Bigfoot standing next to the road. Now I’m not sure It’s actually Bigfoot because a lot of folks in FairPlay resemble Bigfoot especially in the winter
there were three places I wanted to check out for boondocking in Buena Vista. The first place was so crowded that if half the people left, there still wouldn’t be room for me. The second place was just full, but not overflowing. And the third place I ended up was Turtlerock, which was no longer free, but cost $20 a night. My Federal government geezer pass got me in for half that, but I’m looking for free boondocking.
Three miles of the dirt road leading to the $ 20-a-night place were in such poor condition, with horrendous potholes and washboarding, that I dread going back down it.
So it looks like staying in Buena Vista easily and cheaply is not in the cards…. Not in the summer anyway.