A few weeks ago Joann and I went to South Fork. I bought a Groupon for it sometime last fall at the Spruce Lodge - a jacuzzi suite and everything. It was funny because it was the middle of the week, and when I booked it the woman told me to hold on to see if they had any available. When we got to the Spruce Lodge, not only was every suite available, but every room was - no one was there, not even the owners! There was a note on the door with the key for us.
It was a nice, quiet coupe of days away, and a lot of fun. The drive was about 4.5 hours each way, a few of those driving through scrubland that reminded me of something from
The Dark Tour series. Parts of it were also really beautiful, driving through the mountains. It was a lot better driving back because then you are actually driving towards the mountains instead of towards the long, flat that lies beyond.
Other than driving, we spent most of our time relaxing, watching TV, eating out at the very limited options there were for restaurants, and going to the local bar. We also took a day and went to Pagosa Springs to relax in the hot springs. I have to say, it is probably my favourite hot springs that I've been to in Colorado. It's way nicer than Idaho Springs and had about a dozen smaller pools, which was more private than Glenwood. President's Spring (I think it is called) is really cool because it runs into the river and you can just sit in hot pockets in a running mountain river, but this was more extensive. I haven't really been to Steamboat, so I can't say anything there.
Unfortunately, I was an idiot at the hot springs. We spent all morning there and I didn't put any sunscreen on, so I burnt up until I was red as a lobster. Of course you never notice until it was too late. It hurt for a week, and I didn't stop peeling for another week after that. All in all, a very successful trip, though. Here are some pictures from Pagosa Springs, I didn't take any of South Fork, just enjoyed it.
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| A view from across the river from the hot springs themselves |
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| Inside one fo the pools |
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| All of the buildup of sulfer from the hot springs running there for years |
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| A guy cleaning a little bridge (that promptly sunk back into the nasty water in the middle that you don't swim in) |
