tales from the road, sort of

Howdy everyone! I'm at Harbin Hot Springs and have been here since Tuesday. I couldn't actually write from the highway so this will have to do. Nikki and I alternated driving 200-mile shifts from 5:00 a.m. until about 10:00 p.m. when we arrived at Mindy's in Lower Lake, CA. The last half hour or so I was glassy-eyed at the wheel, but Nikki was awake and kept me on the road by her clever navigational skills. We visited with Mindy for a couple of hours before both collapsing in exhaustion on her spare beds.

The next day we took our time getting ready to head into Harbin, and stopped by her ex-husband's house a few miles away (long-time ex; they have evolved into "really good friends" by now) and it's been at least a decade since I saw Bob. He looks almost exactly the same! How is it some people just don't age?

He decided to come with us for the afternoon into Harbin, so we all drove down to the hot springs and did the registration thing and the find the campsite thing and the set up the tents thing, and then finally Nikki and I were ready to go find the darn hot water!

There are several pools of varying temperatures. One large warm pool which is about 98 degrees, next to it is a very hot pool (I have yet to make it in there all the way) at 110 degrees. Further back is a cold plunge pool and I don't know the temp of that one as I've not ventured into it either.

That whole complex I've just described is either a quiet or silent zone, so since I wanted to gab I went to the other pools. There are shaded gazebos in between the pool areas, and sun decks, and grapevines trailing everywhere....pretty awesome!

The heart pool is indeed shaped like a heart, and is kept at about 100 degrees. That's the kiddy pool and conversation pool. There is also a close-to-regulation size pool that you can swim laps in! Yippee! So glad I brought my swim goggles. You can't imagine how nice it is to swim laps in the nude. hehehehehe

So, everyone pretty much walks around in various stages of undress. Since I'm used to going to a sweat lodge, public nudity is not a big deal for me. I love wrapping a sarong around my hips and going topless! Got to watch out for the sun though, as much of this skin is tender!

So this is our 3rd day here. I've got a spa treatment scheduled for tomorrow morning. Tonight is the big weekly dance jam so a treatment will feel really good tomorrow morning after dancing late into the night!

There is some form of entertainment almost nightly....movies, concerts, etc. Last night heard a wonderful songstress sing heart songs and of course we all joined in. It was wonderful and healing.

The only possible thing that could improve this vacation would be the addition of a certain special person....but for now it is simply wonderful to be here!

Internet access costs $.15/minute here, so I'm outta here for now!!!!