hot springs big wind

Saturday, our first day to wake to up in San Luis Valley.  I couldn't sleep past 4am (not like that never happens.)  I was happy to see light start to come through the window.

Eric made everyone french toast, then the kids went out to explore the environment. Insects were the immediate fascination. The grasshoppers were brown, like the dirt and rocks, not green.

Here's the view of Mount Blanca from Annie and Eric's kitchen door.

I thought it would be a great idea to encourage Sam and Ben to set up the tents before it got too hot. As they were finishing, Annie warned me about the afternoon wind...more on that later.

I passed out swimsuits to everyone and we got ready to go to Annie and Eric's favorite hot springs pool.

Here's the kids' hot wading pool.

And the big pool, at body temperature, with diving boards that the kids enjoyed.

Grant warmed up to this in ground slide that landed in a hot pool.

We ordered lunch at the pool. They had delicious salads and pizza.  Eric brought his homemade lemon bars for dessert.

After the pool, we went to the city park in Alamosa.
That's when the afternoon rain blew in and the high winds reminded us of our tents back at Annie and Eric's place.

I was relieved to see the big tent and all the blankets and pillows. Sam was frustrated by the wind damage, though it was nothing more than poles blown out on the ground.

Here's what we saw when we looked for Ben's blue tent.

The kids wandered around the ten acres looking for signs of the tent, but found none. We spent the evening watching the sunset, playing with bugs, and dogs. Olivia made a special friendship with Jindo the dog, whom she called "Jimbo." Eric served us his vegetable lasagna, and we were off to bed,in the remaining tent. We all fit fine,  but felt a little lonesome for the blue tent too.