Day 7 - The Petrified Forest - 10,000 Waves - Santa Fe, NM

   This morning we make our hasty getaway from Meteor Crater.  Less than an hour down the road is the Petrified Forest, a national park on our route into Santa Fe.  I've been here a couple of times & although I wouldn't consider it a destination in & of itself, it's a great place to stop on a long haul.  Our first stop is in the visitor's center to collect another stamp for our passports!


   Then Bryon & I walk on one of the trails as Ernesto checks out something mechanical on the T@B.  In case you are wondering why we are so antsy about our trailer, in October we had to have it towed in Arkansas due to broken wheel bearings.  Anyway he gets everything fixed how he wants it & we roll on through the park.

   Petrified Forest is primarily a drive through experience.   225 million years ago it was a steamy, swampy equatorial climate.  Giant Redwoods fell into the silty soil and fast forward millions of years & now this is one of the largest petrified wood deposits in the world.  We pass through pretty quickly, stopping occasionally & I think we may have missed some of the more dramatic turnouts.  Anyway our final destination today is Santa Fe so we head on down the road.

View through the telescope of Newspaper Rock

   This is an unexpectedly grueling drive today.  Everything just takes so much longer to get to than I think it will.  We finally arrive in the Santa Fe city limit & decide to make a stop @ Whole Foods before heading up to our campsite in the Hyde Park Memorial Campground.  I grab a light snack for us.  We don't want to eat too much because this evening we have appointments @ Ten Thousand Waves, the world renowned Japanese style spa on the mountain. (www.tenthousandwaves.com)

   As we make our way up, the Volvo is really struggling with the 8% incline & begins making a "throbbing" noise we've never heard before.  We need to pull over frequently to allow impatient drivers to go around us.  There are many camping areas to tuck into here but we have a reservation in the area with hook-ups.  We find our space, back in, turn off the car & open the hood to allow the engine to cool.  The fan is blowing with an alarming ferocity.  We set up camp in what is our last home before home :(

   Sometimes when I am on a vacation that's more than a long weekend I'll start counting the days until I can go back home.  This isn't one of those times.  Everywhere we've been I've wished we could've stayed longer.  And Santa Fe is one of the places in the world I would own a vacation home if I had the money.  Actually, having the camper is the next best thing!!  Now we just need to figure out how to be here from about July 5 through some time in September when things cool off at home!  This week the OkC temps are the highest they've been since record keeping began.  Here it is a delicious 72 degrees.

   I love this mountain.  Five miles up is the Santa Fe ski area where Ernesto learned to ski just a few years ago.  In a few more weeks the aspen will start blanketing the mountain in brilliant, shimmering gold.  We love the hiking here in the summer.  Five miles in the other direction is the spa where we have a reservation in about 30 minutes so it's time to head back down.

   My mother & aunt arrived in Santa Fe yesterday. They have played a round of golf today & are joining us.  No trip to Santa Fe is complete without coming here.  This is where I came in lieu of a bachelorette party when Ernesto & I married in Santa Fe 10 years ago.   Sadly, this is also where my original wedding ring was lifted off the bathroom counter a few years later.  As a result I now remove all jewelry & lock it in the glove box before entering.

   Mom & Aunt Suzy are there to meet us in the lobby & we hug & kiss. We are given kimonos & ushered to the locker room to shower befor our sessions begin.  First we have an hour in the Waterfall Tub.  There are a series of hot tubs scattered all over the property behind Shoji screens.  There are public (clothing optional in daytime)  & private tubs available.  The Waterfall Tub (our favorite) is more of a small pool surrounded with rocks that has a lovely view of the scrubby hillside.  There is also a cold plunge (although after the Colorado River the 85 degree water feels anything but cold) & a sauna.  We have an hour here before going off to our massages.  It is great to catch up.  We visit & take pictures & enjoy the yummy spa water provided.

Mom & Suzy enjoying a foot soak

I hate that this is so blurry but it's the only shot of E @ the Waves

   Pretty soon a voice comes over the intercom to tell us it's time to come in for our services.  We say good-bye to Bryon who is meeting up with some other OkC friends here & going to finish out his stay with them.

   We girls have all signed up for Nose to Toes, an hour & 20 minutes of pure heaven.  Christina leads me to a private room that is the perfect temperature.  Soothing "chillax" music drifts through the space.  The massage begins face down.  Christina applies firm, slow pressure to different parts of my neck & back to get an idea of any areas of tension.  Then my back is exfoliated with a scrubby textured mitt.  This is followed with an excellent full body massage and stretching.  Then I'm turned over for more of the same on my front side.  Warm oil is drizzled on my scalp followed by concentrated attention there & on my neck & shoulders.  Finally my feet are thoroughly worked over.  I am wrapped up in a sheet & helped to a sitting position then dressed in a fresh dry kimono.  I stagger back upstairs in a daze to join my family.

   The shopping is good here too.  They have incense, spa products (we love the Hinoke & stock up),  books, tee shirts & some lovely vintage kimonos.  They also have a small assortment of food options.  We pick up some sandwiches & hummus to eat back @ camp.  We say goodnight & head home for a blissful night's sleep.