More Hot Springs

What's out there??

Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018

We got a slow start this morning--it’s kind of nice not having a heavy itinerary to keep up with! It was raining during the night and into the morning, but it stopped around 9a.m., which was when we rolled out of bed. I updated my blogs with photos, walked Cassie, called home, and did whatever while Joe got himself going. Our one “must do” for the morning was to dump our waste tanks--we’d filled with fresh water when we arrived at the campsite last night, but there was no dump.

When we finally rolled out, it was about 11 a.m., and we stopped to ask the campground host where we could dump. He directed us to the Waste Treatment plant for the city of Frisco. I thought I understood his directions, but when I put “waste treatment plant” into the GPS, it told us something else. We got turned around in the city where the GPS led us (after going over Independence Pass, I should know better than to believe it for ANYTHING!) but finally were back on the road the camp host had indicated. However, we left what seemed to be most of Frisco, and still hadn’t seen the high school, which was supposed to be our landmark for the dump.

So we turned around and went back toward Frisco again. As we stopped for a red light, I looked to my right and there was a fresh fruit and veggie stand there, and-- it was flying a Spartan flag! I said to Joe, turn here, park in the big lot behind the veggie stand, let’s buy something (we HAVE to support a fellow Spartan, right?) and maybe they know where the treatment plant is.

So we pulled in and bought some fresh corn, heirloom tomatoes, and a few other things Joe wanted. The woman in the stand, however, didn’t know where the treatment plant was, but she did tell us that there was a visitor’s information place only a few blocks away. So we drove down Main Street of Frisco, which was all kinds of tempting touristy shops, food places, and cute buildings of all sorts. Clearly, Frisco is basically a tourist town! And I am lucky it’s so hard to find parking for an RV, because it saves me a lot of money when we go through towns like this!

Selection of Flags: Colorado, US, Planet Earth, and SPARTANS

We did find a spot a block off the main road, however, and Joey waited while I went and talked to the lady in the visitor center. She gave me a map and some info about the dump-- turns out we were on the right road, but just didn’t go far enough. So we went back down Main Street again, and drove farther out of town until we found it. By the time we’d finished dumping, it was well after noon.

Main Street, Frisco, CO

From there we drove back through town AGAIN (we’d gone up and down the same main drag 4 times by the end) and headed north. Our goal was Hot Sulphur Springs, a very small town whose main claim to fame was a hot springs “spa and resort.” It got mixed reviews online, but the attraction was 20 hot springs pools, of varying heat from 98 to 112 degrees. So we drove up there, following the Blue River, and stopping at a pull out on the way for a fairly late lunch. We finally got to the hot springs at about 3:30 pm.

The place was interesting-- I understand the mixed reviews. It was not flashy in any way-- it had a very low-key vibe. The cabins were not fancy, but looked relatively comfortable (I peeked through the window and saw they were fairly basic). The reception area for the pools was reasonably attractive without being flashy. They also do massages and other spa treatments there, so they were promoting quiet, peace, and relaxation. There were some kids, but not a lot-- there are only 4 pools which the under-12 set are allowed to use.

Four hot pools (one is inside the tan building)

Anyway, we changed into our suits in the RV after we paid to get in, and came back with our towels and shampoo. Joe put his stuff in a locker, but I took mine with me so I would have my camera this time, a water bottle, sunscreen, and a few other items. The pools began at ground level (98-101 degrees) and went up the side of the mountain. So we climbed the stairs until we found a small pool labeled 106-108 degrees. I thought it might be too hot, but it was probably a little less hot than advertised-- it felt perfect, and that’s where Joe stayed the whole time. I wandered around after a bit to see the other pools, but “ours” was best. It was just the right size for 2 people.

2 more hot pools

So we spent an hour soaking and resting there. There were areas with sun shades over them, and lounge chairs, and there were not a lot of people, so it seemed very comfortable and quiet. There were “quite zone” signs everywhere, which helped too. I liked it. It wasn’t fancy, but it was comfortable. At about 5pm, we were sufficiently “cooked”, so we went into the bath house and took showers-- hooray for clean hair!! And then we walked slowly back to the RV.

Joe in a hot pool

Now the issue was, where to spend the night. The town we were in had a small park with some free camping, but all the sites were taken (I’m guessing that some of those folks just live wherever they can find free camping!) So I looked at our map, and realized that there wasn’t that much too nearby. The closest seemed to be some National Forest sites about 30 minutes away, so that’s where we went.

Campsite view--Lake Granby

At about 7pm, we ended up on a lovely lake in the Arapahoe National Recreation Area. It seems that all the sites are reserved for the weekend, but we almost had our pick for tonight, given that’s all we wanted. We are at a site overlooking the lake, which is beautiful, and again we get 50% off the fees (and a free pass to be here-- a day pass costs about $5/day). So we are quite satisfied with our day, all in all! We are now discussing where to go tomorrow--I want to head to Loveland (we were there in 2011) but it requires driving through Rocky Mountain National Park on yet another twisted road with high elevation. I will do some research on that subject right now.