Day Eight and Nine

OMG!!!!! The Grove Park Inn Spa is the most amazing, tranquil, peaceful, relaxing place in the world. (Or at least the parts of the world I have seen.) So, sorry, R, K, J, M, and R that you did not get a blog for yesterday and sorry this one is soooooo late tonight. But thanks for noticing. It is nice to be missed.

My day at the spa on Monday began with a robe and a pair of slippers. Not just any robe, I might add, but the most wonderful robe that has ever touch my body. I had tears in my eyes when I had to put it in the "Return robe here", container when I started to leave last night. I would have bought one at the spa shop but was afraid to even look at the price tag. After being introduced to the robe and slippers, we were given a tour of the facility. After the tour, we were escorted to the Fireside Lounge where I just sat for about 30 minutes sipping herbal tea and snacking on a cup of healthy something. Whatever, it was the best herbal tea and healthy something I had ever put in my mouth. It took me those 30 minutes to make my self relax and realize I had all day to do, nothing or anything. So I decided to put on my bathing suit and head underground to the pools. Before you even go to the pool area there is a yen garden where all you do is rake sand with a wooden rake. Sounds kinda lame, I know, until you actually try it. It was soooooo relaxing. The transition pool was a little scary but I tried it. Not successfully. You get into a hot tub and I do mean hot, 103 degrees, for about 7 minutes then you jump into a hole that is about 3 feet in diameter and 5 feet deep and the water is icy cold. It is supposed to be good for your circulation, but my circulation is just fine, thank you, so I just stuck my foot in the cold hole. Several of the others in my crowd were braver than me. Then there were the two saunas and a breathing room. In the breathing room, you just go in there and breath. Easy enough. I liked that. The saunas were a bit overwhelming after about 5 minutes but nice. My favorite part was the hot tub adjacent to the pools. It has these water falls from about 8 feet above you that fall really hard and when you stand under it, the pressure is very, very soothing. It was great. Outside on the patio there was another hot tub but it was very, very, hot out and a little crowded.

Now, this may sound kinda strange, but I did go to the gym. It was amazing. Not a very large gym, but great. No one else wanted to go with me. Wimps. So, I went upstairs to the locker room and changed into walking clothes and shoes. (I hugged my robe before hanging it in my locker. I'm telling you, that robe was great.)I went to the spa reception area where a young man was summoned to escort me to the gym. I was the only one in there and after about 10 minutes this man came in and made me feel like I was the queen of Sheba. "Can I get you a cool towel? How about some more water? Can I change the TV channel for you? I'll be back in a few minutes to check on you." Amazing......

Now I did cheat little bit yesterday at the spa. I was supposed to walk 3 miles, easy. But I just stayed on the treadmill for 38 minutes. I don't remember how far that was, but I was missing lunch and, well, I ain't gonna miss lunch. Especially at the Grove Park.

After I left the gym, and on my way to the locker room to return to bathing suit and wonderful robe, I passed through the fireside lounge and grabbed another cup of that healthy stuff. While changing, I accidentally popped off one of my nails. No, not a real nail, a fake one I had put on Sunday before church. Well, I couldn't very well go to the Grove Park with my toes looking great and my finger nails looking like I had been working in the yard all summer, now could I? But anyway, there went my nail, somewhere. Oh well, I had extras at home. But on the way down to the patio to join the others for lunch, I bit into something that wasn't part of healthy stuff in cup. Guess what? It was my nail, safe and secure. So, since I didn't want to throw it away, I stuck it in the pocket of my robe. This proved to be a very wise thing to do. Everybody in the spa has the same robe, so when getting out of the pool and trying to find your robe, its easy if yours has a fingernail in the pocket.

Lunch was fabulous. You can go to the Spa Cafe in your robe or order from a roaming waiter and have it brought to the terrace, or patio or one of the inside lounges. We decided to eat outside on the patio. I had the Grilled and Chilled Veggie Wrap. Delicious!!!!!!

Oh, if you ever go to the spa, you don't need to take anything. I packed my big Vera Bradley duffel bag with, hair dryer, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, everything I might need. I didn't even need to open that bag the whole day. They had everything there. It was awesome.

A big storm hit about 4:00. It was beautiful. One area I haven't mention (because, for obvious reasons, I didn't spend much time there) is the quiet lounge. It is a room with huge windows that open with no screens, Birds and butterflies were passing through there all day. It was spectacular. And, you can't talk out there. Get real. Me be quiet??? No way. But during the storm, I did go out there for a little while, then I returned to the fireside lounge and curled up with a cup of herbal tea and a magazine in my wonderful robe.

Anyway, spa day was one of the highlights of my summer. A truly great experience. It took me until about 4:00 today to get to where I could function normally. So thank goodness today's instructions were for a low-intensity activity for 30 minutes. Tonight after Bible school, the hubs, and Miss Priss and I went for my neighborhood walk. It was much cooler than earlier today.

Hopefully I'll be back to my regular activities tomorrow. I think I have to walk three miles. I hope I can find a flat, cool, place. I thought about joining Jodi's gym but I'm not crazy about treadmills (except when someone is waiting on me hand and foot) and stationary bikes. I like to be outside too much even if it is hot. And like I've said before, the heat doesn't really bother me after I get going. But, we'll see.

Until then......