hot springs

Last Friday the fun hog invited me to Ojo Caliente, a spa in New Mexico. It was fun though we only went to the hot springs on the last day.

We got a late start and hit traffic so decided to stay in a Walmart parking lot in Alamosa. I haven't been in a Walmart since 2007 because I hate their policies toward women, but I figured the parking lot didn't count.

Pretty scenic for a walmart parking lot

My brother Bob is always worried about my zombie knee. So FH insisted I wear a knee pad so that my brother wouldn't get made at him for taking me mountain biking (we mountain biked a trail around the spa - thought it would be easy - it wasn't - it was a sandy arroyo with lots of loose rocks). I sent this picture to my brother as a joke.

There were a lot of really interesting rock formations on the spa property. This section almost looked man made because the rock was so square.

Cool granite walls. Too bad they were super smooth and breaky. I would be scared to climb here.

To get into the spa pool you have to pay $20. There are 6 pools and I decided I would go into every one of them to get my money's worth. We started out in the arsenic pool (think I swallowed some water when FH and I decided to try to drown each other - we were annoyed by the "whispers only" bullshit signs around the pool). Then I talked him into going into the mud pool (he would only go in up to his knees because he doesn't like to get dirty...even though every sport he does involves getting dirty). There was a cool iron pool that had rocks on the bottom of it (too bad it smelled like farts). The soda pool was interesting but way too hot. Then we went into the main pool (it was just a plain old pool I guess). The sixth pool was closed for repairs.

The spa was fun if you like the outdoors. Otherwise you'll find yourself sitting around with a bunch of would be hippies. The hiking trails and biking trails are not wimpy little spa trails. The granite there is pink and mixed with mica so hiking in the little canyons is like going to a super expensive department store. Very nice.

We saw a bunch of shooting stars and FH found what we think might be a meteorite (more testing on that).

And now I'm in DC because my dad is getting a very prestigious engineering award. Flew in this morning and flying back to Denver tomorrow. Can't say I miss traveling as much as I used to. In fact, I have no idea how I went to the airport every week...