After a month in the Philippines and two weeks to focus on family in Boston, we were so ready to pick up our little fur child from Salida! As expected with traveling, the journey from Boston to Mr.Dookie was long and tiring!

We attended Tyler’s graduation in Lowell the night before our departure. This meant a midnight train ride and Lyft back to our apartment in Cambridge, some last minute packing and then a 3 hour nap (only 30 minutes for Corey) before we headed to Logan Airport. It used to be very entertaining seeing Corey stress out as we approach TSA, but it’s safe to say that we’re pros at this whole airport process by now. Per usual, Corey got stopped because of all his electronics, but this time I got stopped because of suspicious apples. Haha =)

A short and uneventful 4 hour flight with incredible views –> Long walk through DIA to get our luggage –> 15 minute wait for the shuttle –> An hour shuttle ride –> Transfer to a different van –> and then finally we were dropped off in Fort Collins to pick up my car!!!!  We loaded up the Rav4, grabbed some lunch from Colorado Room and then started a beautiful 4.5 hour drive to Salida!!! So extremely exhausting, but days like this have been become a norm in the past few weeks.

Every picture that Dany sent me from Salida was spectacular, but once I saw the views in real life, I realized how much these pictures didn’t do reality justice. I was more and more impressed as we got closer to Antero Farms! Something about snow capped mountains always amazes me!

Dany has been helping the farm by working as a pack llama trainer, and as a result, Duke has been tagging along and living the dream vacation for a dog. Corey and I are so grateful for Duke being a wild and free farmdog in the great care of his god mommy, but boy did we miss him! It was such a satisfying feeling to pull up the driveway and see my boy! He recognized the car immediately and already began barking!

We toured the farm for a bit and then made our way from Salida to the neighboring town of Buena Vista for dinner. It became evident pretty quickly that BV was unlike any other place that Corey and I have ever been. This little town was so quaint and charming. It’s how I would imagine a 19th century country town. The people were extremely friendly. The buildings were small little shops, and there were no chain stores around. We enjoyed some gelato and dinner (of course, dessert first) and enjoyed filling each other in on the past few weeks.

The next morning we took things extremely slow and lingered around with more chit chat. I must say, being able to linger was so refreshing! After parting ways with Dany, Corey and I made our way to BV again to explore a bit more.

You can tell that Duke was in his element. This dog was so well behaved while we ate brunch. He waited patiently as Corey and I picked up some snacks in the grocery store. Then he served as the cutest little guide during our hike. He’s been on these trails countless times with Dany. It’s almost as if he was trying to say “Mom, Dad, follow me!” He would prance ahead of us by no more than 200ft, stop on the side of the trail where there was the tiniest bit of shade from a tree, and then look back and wait for us to catch up. This went on throughout our entire hike! He’s definitely a dog that’s meant to be exploring outside!

We would have roamed along the Arkansas River all day if given the chance. Buena Vista is such a little gem! The town is known for their white water rafting. Although Corey and I didn’t get to experience this, it was still cool to watch other people. We walked along the river, marveled at the sight of all the 14ers in the background and and let Duke get his paws wet. Before we went back to the farm, we stopped to load up on some food for our camping adventure in Utah the next morning.

The rest of the afternoon was spent at the farm. Corey worked as much as he could considering we’d be off the grid for the next 36 hours, and Duke spent his last few hours frolicking with his farm family. Duke and Maya (the goldendoodle) have been inseparable because of their playful personalities. It’s going to be a rough transition for them!

Recommendations:
Buena Vista is perfect for those who love the outdoors and want to get away. There are many free camping locations nearby. There are great hikes for newbies as well as experienced hikers. It has more than ten 14000 peaks in the area. It’s known to be the capital of white water rafting in the US… And there are hot springs for those who want to relax!!!

And if you’re interested in hiking with some llamas, Antero Farms is only a short drive away. Check out http://dmam820.wix.com/anterollamas or http://www.anterollamas.com/ for more info.

Just name a few more activities in case you’re not sold yet:
Fly fishing
Ice fishing
Snowshoeing
Mountain biking
Four wheeling/ snowmobile trails
Hunting
SUPing
Dogsledding
Fat tire biking (biking in snow!)
Horseback riding
And MORE!

Some more photos of Duke’s adventures in Salida