Oh Be Joyful.
That’s the name of the valley we camped in near Crested Butte, Colorado.
We’ve camped here several times before, so it was all shouts of joy in the van when we decided to return there for the last leg of our summer vacation.
My parents met us there and the kids were very happy to see them.
Even though we live in the same town, it is a special treat to go on vacation and have a little uninterrupted time with the grandparents.
We also met up with our friend Jermaine, who we’ve known since we lived in Seattle. She’s in the US for the summer visiting from her current home in Central Asia. It was so fun that it worked out for her to jump in with us on our camping trip because we all camped together in the Pacific Northwest many moons ago.
The mountains are such a great setting for catching up.
You can visit while you hike.
And there is plenty of time for storytelling back at camp.
For a good part of the day we could just sit and watch the cows meander through our campground on their way to greener pastures.
They were joyful too.
We hiked the Oh Be Joyful trail right from our campground on our first day there.
There were fewer wildflowers than last year because of the dry weather, but it was still so beautiful.
The bikes were put to the test on the mountain trails in Colorado this year.
Taido fixed MANY flat tires.
Ben and Mary Polly took Jermaine on their favorite ride.
Our kids love to ride into the town of Crested Butte. It’s about 3 miles from the campground.
The reward for the ride is often a trip to a Chino family favorite, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.
It was time to say goodbye to Jermaine after just a couple days in Colorado, so we sent her off on the next leg of her journey to see friends and family.
We had such a fun visit. New memories made together. Until our paths cross again. Maybe next time in her part of the world??
If you go, a few details:
Oh Be Joyful Campground is about 3 miles down Slate River Road (which you turn left on just after you go through downtown Crested Butte, CO). The best part about this campground is that it is FREE to camp there. That’s right, free. Maximum stay is 14 days. And if you find that the campground is full, you can find overflow spots on up Slate River Road (such as the field where we camped last year), but then you don’t have a bathroom nearby.
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