FINAL DAY – Day 3 – of our mini family vacation and geez was it a doozy!
We packed up our things and started to make our way out of Alamosa. We were a little undecided about what to do for our final activity (which is not like us). We had three different options we were debating between but we ultimately decided to go with the one that would allow Lydia to stay in her wheelchair (she really did not like her backpack carrier this trip). And our “pick” was one of the most unique things we have done.
Now, I feel like we have done our fair share of adventuring over the years in our travels, but this was just unique. Down, in the middle of south central Colorado is a “gator park”. It started as a tilapia farm in the 1980s and then they decided to buy 100 baby alligators to eat the leftovers with the fish and HERE THEY ARE! It is such a random thing to have in Colorado!
This place is a little sketchy. Not sketchy in that I ever felt we were in danger or anything – just a little rough. There are literally fingers in containers in the gift shop – joking that they’ve never lost a finger because you can’t lose something that you have still 😬. There are just alligators on top of alligators everywhere. It’s a little junky but honestly, we just went with it and had a great time. Everyone that worked there was very nice and friendly. I still don’t know if I could say I’d recommend it – but I wouldn’t not recommend it either.
When we first got in, we were immediately greeted by a man eager to give us an alligator. We have held baby alligators before on our swamp tour in Louisiana – but that was a baby with his mouth taped shut. We were just assuming it would be another experience like that, then the man pulled out a decent size alligator – free and easy with his mouth! As he handed it to Mark he said, “Sometimes he can get a little frisky, but just hold on to him tight”! What?! But the kids were able to get a “Certificate of Bravery” and it was even “stamped” with the teeth of the alligator we held. Crazy.
The park has now turned into a bit of a reptilian sanctuary. They had a couple animals that have been in movies and are “retired”. Our favorites had to be the albino alligators.
This park is very hands on. They gave a bucket of “gator chow” for the kids to give the alligators and they loved feeding them. They also had fish that you could throw out to some of the bigger ones. Then you could feed the fish inside as well.
We truly had a great time and it was a fun and different way to end our trip!
Now, this is where this post should have ended. But our story continued.
Really, I blame myself. Joking, but maybe not. I made the mistake of commenting how we were heading home earlier than I thought we would and I was excited to be able to get home in time to unpack, perhaps even make an actual meal for dinner, and have plenty of time to make it to the kids activities and a church meeting that I had that night.
But two hours from home, in the middle of a canyon, our car just died. There was no warning – no check engine light – nothing. All of a sudden the dash just flicked on and off and then there was just nothing. Luckily, we were going down the canyon so Mark was just coasting until we saw a pull out. It was about 2:15 at this point and we were confused. Mark thought it must be something with our battery since the dash was flickering, but it all seemed so strange.
He got on the phone with our roadside assistance company and they immediately said they would have someone to us within 40-70 minutes. We were completely okay with that! Our pullout had a tree line and was next to a river. There was a great little path that went down to the river and the kids and I had a blast skipping rocks and just playing. It was really nice. At first.
But then time just started ticking by. After an hour and a half, we found out that the person that was supposed to come, just decided not to, and also decided to not tell anyone about this decision. The company said they would send another. Another hour and a half, same story. This happened three times.
Mark is a very patient man. He was always so forgiving and understanding on the phone but we were starting to get a little worried. I messaged someone in our ward that I was supposed to have a meeting with that night to say I was not going to be able to make it and he immediately offered to drive down and help us. Truly, we are surrounded by the best of the best people.
Finally, a tow truck came. He said from what we described that it was most likely a problem with the alternator. But then there was the issue of getting us all out of the canyon. The tow truck could only hold two of us. But the man with the tow was so kind and made some calls and someone came up with a large SUV to drive our entire family to the next big town (which happened to be an hour away).
By the time we got to the city, it was after 8:00 that night. I really did not want to split up our family, but Mark was worried that even if we stayed in a hotel together that the car might not be fixed by the time we had to check out and then we would be stranded with four young kids with nothing to do and nowhere to go anywhere. So we took up our friend on his offer to come pick us up.
We left our car to be fixed and loaded the kids up with our friend. He dropped Mark off at a nearby hotel and drove the rest of us home. It was really hard coming home from a vacation and not being a complete family. The kids were such troopers since all they had eaten were snacks since lunch and so I quickly heated them up some leftovers and finally got them all tucked in by 11:00 that night.
It was a long day.
BUT this story is filled with tender mercies:
- Perhaps the biggest one – we had cell service AND internet! We really shouldn’t. We were in the middle of nowhere in the middle of a canyon. But we did.
- There was a pullout – so our family could be safe.
- We were next to a river and trees which provided entertainment for hours for the kids and the trees provided privacy for when little kiddos needed to go to the bathroom.
- The weather was idyllic. It was the perfect temperature so that it was comfortable both outside and in the car as we waited. This is a big deal because Lydia cannot regulate her temperature and so this could have been a big problem if the situation was different.
- Lydia’s favorite toy – her Toniebox – had battery power the entire time we were stranded. We played it the entire time we were waiting for the tow and the entire drive home and it was still going strong. This is very soothing for Lydia (and the other kids too).
- Once we had a tow come – the man we worked with was so helpful, encouraging, and genuinely willing to help our family.
- And finally, having wonderful people that are our friends that look out for our family and don’t hesitate to serve those around them.
So many blessings.
And, as for the car, she is up and going again. It turns out some valve was leaking onto the alternator, which killed that, which then killed the battery. Quite the domino effect! But all is well again and it made for a very memorable ending to a wonderful trip.
