COLORADO SPRINGS, CO – On our way through Wyoming to Colorado last week, we stopped for a couple of nights in Thermopolis, home to what its Chamber of Commerce calls “the world’s largest mineral hot springs.”
During our time there, we enjoyed the pools and waterslides at the Star Plunge Water Park. It costs $15.50 per person for an all-day admission, but it seemed a good value to us. It offers two big pools, one indoor and one outdoor, both fed by the hot springs and kept at a comfortable 98 degrees. I took two thrilling rides down the big, outdoor waterslide and a jump off the high dive. I spent five minutes in the vapor cave, a natural sauna heated to 114 degrees by a fountain fed by the hot springs. The next morning I soaked for 20 minutes in the pool at the nearby Hot Springs State Park, which is more basic than the commercial water park nearby, but it’s well-maintained and free.
The small town also hosts the Wyoming Dinosaur Center, where I spent an interesting couple of hours exploring the exhibits on earth history and the fossil records and looking up at the impressive dinosaur skeletons in the main hall. If you’re into dinosaurs and paleontology, this is one of the world’s top centers. (You can even sign up to participate in an archeological dig nearby.)
A large fossil from Morocco showing a trilobite mass death. 
“Trilobite and friends,” a fossil from the same area and around the same time period. 
In the main hall.
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We arrived in Colorado Springs on Saturday afternoon. We’re staying for a few weeks at the Golden Eagle Campground, off State Highway 115 about 10 miles south of downtown. We lived in the city from 1983 to 1985, when I was editorial page editor of the local daily newspaper, the Gazette Telegraph. All three of our kids were born here and our son Michael and his young family live in town. During our stay, we plan to enjoy equal parts hiking and sightseeing in Colorado and also spending time with Michael, Lizzy and our grandson Max and friends we know from our happy years in this place.
Dashboard:
Days on the road: 157;
Miles towing the RV: 7,231;
RV parks stayed at: 45;
National parks visited: 18.
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