Colorado Summer Road Trip

This summer we hit the road in our RV "Glenda" the day school was out.   First stop was Vail Colorado.  We found a great campsite close to town that still felt rugged but had easy access to town.  There weren't any hookups but we've set our RV up to go off grid for a few days with bigger batteries and solar panels.

This campground was great as it had a paved walking and biking trail connected to it that was once the road.  

We spent some time walking around downtown Vail.  There's a nice walking trail through town and to the Betty Ford gardens.

On the next day we biked from Frisco towards Vail on paved trails.  It was a steady 8 mile climb and then we turned around for a fast paced coast down the mountain.  We saw a goat and a baby moose on our ride.  The elevation was around 10,500 feet after our 1,500 foot climb.  I expected we would struggle at that elevation but we all did fine.

Thankfully mama moose was nowhere near baby.

The scenery was pretty with the river and mountains.

Next stop was Golden Colorado.  We stayed in Clear Creek RV park which was right in town and on a fast moving creek.  There were paved trails from this park as well.  

It started to rain so we decided to get ice cream and wait for it to pass.  

We were able to get back before the big storm came through.  It was a treat to be able to watch it since we don't really have lightening storms in our area.  

The trail had some fun bouldering areas.

This trail was neat because it was a restored flume that was used during mining days.  The flume was used to deliver 16 million gallons of water a day to the community below.  

We visited the Colorado School of Mines to give Avery an idea of what different colleges offer.  He loved the lab with the giant wall of 3-D printers.

Denver's Meow Wolf was "Convergence Station".  It was the biggest of the 3 and our favorite.  This one had a train theme with each of the stations opening up to a parallel universe.

Next stop was Ouray.  We stayed at 4-J campground in town.  

Bee worked hard to pull us here.  We had some steep mountain passes between Golden and Ouray.  Monarch Pass was a steep pass at 11,300 feet and a 7% grade made for a very slow drive pulling the RV.

Alia wanted cake so Scott whipped one up for her.  She says it was the best chocolate cake she's ever had.  I think when you camp, every food is the best you've had because you're so hungry.

Ouray is a sweet little mountain town tucked between the mountains.

Ouray had a lot of fun shops through town.  Luna loved this sign.

There was a great park in town near the pool and pond.  We would come here in the evenings to throw the frisbee and wait for the sun to set over the mountains.

The pool was geothermal.  

There was a neat fish pond near the city pool.

In 2020 the town created a 6 miles perimeter trail that is up in the mountains, going around the whole town.  

This spot was called baby bathtubs.  It was the perfect stop along the way after being really hot.  

We did one of Ouray's Via Feratta's, the downstream trail.  It was an amazing, adrenaline filled experience and one we would all love to do again.

Our last Colorado stop was Telluride.  Even though Ouray coined itself as America's little Switzerland we felt that Telluride reminded us of Switzerland more.  The town had gondolas and lots of trails to bike, hike or ski.  The town was pretty but too built up and we preferred Ouray.

Davis street!

8th grade - that's a wrap

Everyone gave a graduation speech.

Words the teachers used to describe Alia this year.

8th grade picnic at Lisabuela.

This year Alia had a forum project that she worked on the whole year.  She had to pick a research topic and answer a question.  At the end of the project she presented her research.  Her topic was: How is climate change affecting natural disasters?

8th grade end of year art project up for sale at the Vashon Center for the Arts.  Alia's is the top left.

Costa Rican Service Learning and Adventure Trip

 Alia spent 7 days in Costa Rica with her 8th grade class last week.  The trip was a combination of service learning and exploring Costa Rica.  I'm so happy she had this experience and was able to share it with a great group of friends and teachers.

After a long flight she stayed in a hotel in San Jose.

 

Here is lunch on her first day.  She said the pineapple juice was refreshing and delicious.  She loved the chicken and rice but said it was a meal she had every day there.  She didn't like the fried plantains or beans.

She saw a sloth!

She found leaf cutter ants for Avery.

She was able to stay with a host family in Turrialba for the week.  It was a great experience being a part of the small town and culture. She was able to learn more Spanish as her host family spoke very little English.  She said there wasn't any hot water and she had to take cold showers every day.  She also had to wash her clothes by hand and hang them up.  

Alia's host family- Milagro, Monserrath, Fancini, Marvin and Deiner.  

The group working on projects around the school.

She helped paint classrooms, work in the gardens, and fix things around the school.

Exploring the town of Turrialba and visiting a waterfall.

Visiting a local farm.  The food she ate was farm to table and fresh each day.  They helped to harvest crops like plantains and yucca plants.  Alia liked the big eared cows.

Alia didn't like the star apple.

They got to roast coffee, juice sugar cane and take Costa Rican cooking lessons.  

She bought local coffee since the beans from Costa Rica happen to be my favorite.  Every morning there was coffee served and they made it as a pour over.  She tried it but still thinks it's really bitter.

It's a simple way to make coffee the Costa Rican way.  You put ground coffee in the bag and pour hot water over it.  The coffee is more mild this way.  The wooden structure folds up nicely which will make it the perfect take along for backpacking.

She got to go ziplining through the canopy and whitewater rafting.

Giving a presentation in front of the school.

Getting ready to play soccer and host a Bingo night.  We all bought prizes for the Bingo night.  

Soccer is a much loved sport there and she said they lost miserably.

Learning a dance.

Visiting the tallest Volcano in Costa Rica.

Touring San Jose on what they thought was their last day.  They were supposed to fly through Mexico City but the day before their flight Mexico's volcano Popocatepetl decided to spew smoke and ash shutting the airport down.  They ended up staying an extra day in San Jose and rerouting through Houston.