Christmas Vacation 2005 - Part 6

After another great breakfast by Lara, we headed north. I made Beth drive because I’d been driving most of the trip. Plus, I knew this stretch of road was likely to be boring and I wanted to rest my eyes some. We had something of a lunch at a crappy diner called “Fawn’s” in Alamosa, and then visited the alligator farm. Most people probably don’t know that there is an alligator farm right here in Colorado. The gators (and the tilapia they raise there, also) are kept warm by - you guessed it - a hot spring in the San Luis Valley.

After touring the place for a couple hours, we went further north. Next stop was the UFO Watch Tower. I’d read about it before but never stopped there. Turns out the San Luis Valley is supposedly a hotbed of UFO activity, so someone built a tower. It was free to tour the grounds, including the rock garden where people have left UFO-themed trinkets. I enjoyed it, but I don’t think Beth was too impressed.

Next we drove to Joyful Journey Hot Springs, where we soaked a while. They have an awesome view of the Sangre de Cristo mountains. And they have some very, very hot water in their pools. We soaked as long as we could stand it, and then headed further north to Salida.

We had dinner at a family restaurant called the Windmill, and then checked into the Holiday Inn Express. I was pretty worried when I found that the hotel was also temporary home to about 65 teenagers on a church group trip from Louisiana. They were pretty rowdy and loud all evening, but quieted right down around 10:15.