A Childhood Mecca
Articles - BV Outdoors

earl_tanner_skiby: Earl Richmond

As a kid, my family and I traveled the Western US in search of that perfect winter vacation.  Our trips brought us to every state that had great snow and awesome winter activities.  Colorado became a popular destination for us with its abundant high mountain resorts, light snow and super friendly people.  It made such an impact on me that I made up my mind by age 10 that I would be off to Colorado as soon my family duties and college were complete.tanner

When that time finally came around, I moved to Breckenridge, Colorado where I lived the dream for 10 years.  Teaching skiing, waiting tables, and having a great time.  By far the best time of my life because it was there where I met my wife, Cheryl, who got me into other great things like cross country skiing, snowshoeing, trail running, mountain biking, and kayaking.

The problem was, rather than doing all of these great activities close to where we lived, we found ourselves traveling more to do these things in Chaffee County - for it was close to snow, more economical and a lot warmer with far fewer people.  We would pack up our truck and head south a few times a month to escape the crowds of Summit County and get to the open spaces that surround Buena Vista.  We also quickly realized that we could enjoy all these things right in this town or within a very quick drive and we did not have to be bundled up in our down jackets and Sorrels.  Buena Vista soon became our next goal as the place where we wanted to be.

As our family has grown - 1 daughter, 3 dogs, a cat, 3 fish and a snail - we find this area to be our outdoor Mecca. As free time has become less available, it is critical that our family now lives here for the simple fact that we can walk to the River Park trails, kayak back to our house, mountain bike from our front yard to mountain tops, fish around the corner, and run on single track tails without spending all day trying to get there to do it.  It is all right here.  We spend our time recreating as a family in the outdoors more than driving as a family to the outdoors. It is all in the palm of our hands.   Buena Vista is truly an incredible resource for endless outdoor activities.

As I now get to experience my childhood again through the eyes of my daughter, I am so grateful her childhood memories are going to be of growing up in BV. Sitting with her on the chairlift at Monarch, helping her learn to ski, throwing rocks into the river while we walk the dogs – life doesn’t get any better than this.