Ffter our workout, Diane and I borrowed one of Max and Becky’s cars and drove up to the Northern Dale Ball trails for a quicxk hiuke. We love these trails. THhy were a bit snowy and muddy.. but the scenery was great as always !
We spent the rest of the day working around Max and Beckys.. The big job was to put up a new fence screen.. Violet and the elements had pretty much shredded the old one. As always, it took longer than planned.. but looked good by the end. Eventually I think the plan is to build an Adobe fence here.. but for now this provides some privacy . I dont think Violet is a biug fan of proivacy she hung out as qwe did it and actually plopped down on the fence whenever she could to slow us down 🙂 .
Diane and I had dinner at Tuneup down the street.. The moon on the way back was beautiful !
Today was really special. We started with a wonderful brunch at Daily General.. The place was really bright and filled with interesting books and cooking gadgets.
Soon after we started the hour and a half drive north to Ojos Calientes host springs. The drive was great.. The Hot Springs were indescribably (but I’ll try anyway. as cameras were not allowed in).. The springs were surrounded by a low key resort.. all adobe with a hotel , restaurant and spa. The pools themselves have been here for centuries. Its was an organized spa since the early 1900’s .. and some of the original foundations are still around. The pools are of various temperatures./ all pretty warm.. but not too hot. Each pool (supposedly) has different mineral content, eg iron. arsenic, lithium, sodium each with different curative powers. Its not clear how they got the water in each to have different minerals :-).. Each pool was surrounded by places to sit and sun.. Since The air was quite cool.. the place wasn’t busy . We spent more than 3 hours checking out all the pools, the steam room and the Sauna.. We loved the steam room best ! There was also a mud bath where you could cover yourself with mud and dry in the sun. not warm enough to dry completely.. but fun.. Max got himself completely covered.. i got mostly covered.. Later on (see below) they closed the mud bath for cleaning.. how funny is that ?!
One of the great things was there was a rule to keep voices down to a whisper… so it was very peaceful and quiet
Bliss !
When it was tiem to leave we went in and changed and came out.. then I had my phoen nand had a chance to do a little photographing.. and got to plave a SamStone in the contemplative labyrinth they had…
The drive back towards Santa Fe was amazing .. the sunset on the moutnains was beutiful.. and defies photography.. but I tried anyway
On the way we stopped a place called Gabriels which we’ve sen for years. It was fantastic !. Great southwestern with really good Sopapillas. We sent our Gabriel pictures !
When we got home, we gathered agaiun and Maxc and Beckys .. Max had brought back some fun presents from his trip to Vietnam.. For me wasabi flavored kitkats, red bull concentrate, squid flavored Pringles and a very cool shirt made out of bamboo fabric. He got diane a beautiful tunic
Max also got himself a gifts He had 3 suits hand made in Vietnam. They were beautifully made and look so great on him !
One last pic.. While at the hot springs, Max lent me my dads old bathrobe whihc he uses all the time. also used my fatjher on law Gabe’s glass case. It felt good to use them !
Diane and I woke early , worked out and then took a walk down to the railroad district in search of goodies. THere’s a farmers makrket there on Sat and Sun that is just so cool. Lots of southwest food and crafts. I love people watching there.. Lots of folks who look like us !
Later in the morning. we helped Max and Becky load for a Dump run .> THey’re constantly doing renovation on their home.. this time it was to put up a new wall and door between their work room and the garage. Their Subaru was packed to the brim before we headed off to the transfer station.. which was itself an adventure !
After our work was done, we all headed out to Diablo canyon to meet Max and becky’s friend Karen and her dog Balder for one of my favorite hikes.. it’s such a beautiful landscape !
Later that evening we had great take out from the Vietnamese place down the road. .. as well as food commentary from Max with his recent treip to Vietnam. Then some fun in the game room of this wonderful house we’re renting !
Woke up in our really nice AirBNB to find that the hot water wasn’t working well. We reached out to the owner, and she could not have been more helpful. It’s a long story, but the owner offered us to swap to a different home she owned .. and guess what… it was directly across the street from max and Becky’s.. !. She and her husband live in Texas .. but have the home here for retirement. They know max and becky well . It’s a fantastic place and could not have been more convenient . We are so grateful to the owner for both of her wonderful places.
Once we were settled, we headed out with becky to see where she is taking her classes in sustainable agriculture It’s in an experimental greenhouse dedicated to renewable, low resource food production. She showed us around the permaculture experiments were fish generate nitrogenous waste which is used to fertilize plants, whcih generate material to help feed the fish. She also showed us several low resource hydroponic setups. It was so cool ! Max joined us for the look around.
Later in the afternoon Max came home and we took Violet to the dog park. It was a beutiful evening. We got to see the near conjunction of Venus and Jupiter
We went home and got take out food and looked at maxs wonderful pictures from his recent trip to Vietnam with Abbot and Mason
