May 11 to May 13

When we left Questa we drove to Hooper in the San Luis Valley. This valley in Southern Colorado is a very interesting place. There are sand dunes, naturally hot water, gators, a speedway, and UFO enthusiasts. We skipped the speedway, UFO watchtower, and gators this trip. But I was curious about the gators. It turns out the facility started as a fish farm of Tilapia and African perch. The location was picked because of the warm geothermal water resources in the valley. They purchased 100 baby alligators to dispose of dead fish and the remains of filleted fish. What do you know, the gators grew! So they opened to the public in 1990 as Colorado Gators. Soon people with unwanted gators and other reptiles such as pythons, tortoises, iguanas, and more, started dropping them off, so they have quite a few reptiles now. We camped at the Sand Dunes Swimming Pool and RV Park. We had great views of the mountains from the RV and from the pool. We were the only RV in the park until another one showed up just as we were leaving. The swimming pool is advertised as a Natural Hot Artesian Oasis. That is just what it is too. Well water enters the pool at 118 degrees. The pool is kept at 98 to 100 degrees. To regulate the temperature, hot and cold water pour into the pool as needed. I loved standing under the hot water as it really pounded into the pool. I was not the only one, sometimes I had to wait my turn. What a great massage. Charlie did not care for it though. There is also a therapy pool kept between 105 to 107 degrees, it has jets, and it is big enough for 25 people. Charlie didn't like that either. I did, but couldn't stay in for long. A baby pool with a creepy looking fountain named Puffenstuff (a dragon with water flowing from it's nose into the pool) is out of the sun. The elevation is about 7,500 feet so it was cool during the day and cold at night. It was windy almost all the time. The pool was warmer than the air so we got in the water and stayed in up to our necks. It was just great. There is no chlorine or any other chemicals, instead the pools are emptied and refilled every Thursday. Also, water appears to be constantly flowing in and out of the pool. The water flowing out of the pool goes into a pipe and then comes out at the top of a slide below the pool. The slide empties into a little pond that is also open for swimming. We stayed two nights and used the pool as often as we could. The hours are 10am to 10pm, but they open early for adults to swim laps, so that is what we did, and then we went back in the late afternoon. During the day bus loads of school children came and took over the facility. They were not the same ones each day and they had reservations. When we weren't swimming, I napped and read and walked Toby. Charlie kept busy working on the RV. He fixed the black water pipe so we are hoping to start using the toilet again. He is getting tired of dealing with the porta potty. The worst part, for me anyway, is we avoid using it so we are always making treks to the restrooms in the parks. Let's hope it works. Other updates on the condition of the RV is that the cruise control started working again, and Charlie is now using a filter on the water hose when we hook up. Plus, the heater works! All good news...It seems like the pool is out in the middle of nowhere, and their sign on the main road is just a painting of pool water. I guess you have to know its there. If you are interested, their website is sanddunespool.com. They have some neat pictures of the steamy pool in the snow. Wednesday morning we left the pool (dang!) and went to the Great Sand Dunes National Park at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. These dunes don't compare to White Sands, but it is a striking landscape with the dunes up to 750 feet high. To get to the dunes we had to cross a melt off stream. Charlie wore sandals and I had water shoes. Toby went barefoot and the water was up to his chest at one point. Once we crossed the stream and started toward the dunes we realized that they were over a mile away. We gave up before we were even halfway to the base of the dunes. Walking in the sand was tiring and the sand was blowing into Toby's eyes. You can see him squinting in the pictures. We drove through the campground to see what it was like. The scenery from the higher vantage point was great, and would be even better at sunset and sunrise, but it was too early to stop and there were no hookups. So we drove on north. We were on the road for most of three hours and the scenery got better and better. It was tough driving though, the wind was strong most of the time and there were a lot of long climbs. It is a little over 8,000 feet here and the temperature is dropping. We are all settled in at the Snowy Peaks RV Park in Buena Vista, Colorado, a nice quiet park.