Pre-Anniversary Fun Day

Ahoy chums and chumettes!  This is your captain, Captain GangstaBeard, and it is my esteemed pleasure to welcome you all to our technomadic adventure!  Now that the trip is officially "on" we figured it was about time to start some new outdoorsy habits.  Considering my first mate FaeriLeigh was likely to be out of town for work on our 3-yr anniversary (March 30 - cash/credit/paypal/dubloons accepted), we decided to make the most of this weekend and take care of two baby seals with one club.

No seals were harmed during the making of this blog entry.

Pre-Anniversary Fun Day started off the best way possible for us - by sleeping in until about 10:15-10:30AM.  We wouldn't want to get too outdoorsy too soon now would we?  Then it was on to Hyde Memorial State Park to hike (most of) the Hyde Park Circle Trail - an ambitious trek for fledgling adventurers such as ourselves.  The trail gains 855 ft in just under 1 mile, so we did our best to take smaller, slower strides to make it up to the top without dying (we are not in shape in case you weren't aware).  Luckily the views were amazing, so we did not hesitate to stop and admire the raw beauty of the southernmost tip of the Rockies.

We were fairly worn out at the highest point of the trail, so we stopped and ate some dried fruit and nuts while continuing to admire the view.  Unfortunately we did not have time to do the entire trail - it turns out Hyde Park CIRCLE Trail is not actually a circle - so after a brief foray into the remaining snow, we headed back down the trail.. running for a good part of it because at that point it was easier on my knees than walking downhill!

We were refreshed by the clean mountain air, but more than ready for part 2 of Pre-Anniversary Fun Day - hot baths and massages at Ten Thousand Waves (http://tenthousandwaves.com/) - an epic Japanese style spa.  We showered, donned kimonos (I felt like Blackthorne from Shogun due to my epic beardness) grabbed a quick bite and some tea from the shop, and made our way to the communal hot bath.  It was outside on a deck, so it still counts as being outdoorsy!


After we were good and relaxed from the hot tub (and an invigorating dip in the cold plunge for me!), we were summoned to the lobby to meet our masseuses for our ashi anma foot massages.  This style of massage is partially based on reflexology, but also on joint massage.  Now I haven't had many foot massages in my life, but this reminded me that I should do it more often!  Katrina even admitted that it was probably the best foot massage ever (sorry Chris and Ethan, and well... me).


We had 15 minutes to kill before the 80-minute therapeutic couples massage, so we decided to warm up in the sauna beforehand.  Katrina lasted about 5 min before hopping out, only to return at the 10 minute mark when I couldn't take it anymore.  Then we met our next masseuses, walked to a serene room with natural light, and experienced all the joy and pain of a full body massage that lasted just the right amount of time.  Katrina has been talking about getting a really good massage for months (years maybe?), so I talked her into splurging for once and this massage did not disappoint.


Afterwards, it took us about 15 min to de-relax enough to be able to walk to the changing rooms and get ready for part 3 (don't worry I've noticed how long-winded this is getting, and I'm sure that most of you are tired of hearing about how great everything was, so just hang in there ya scurvy scallywags, and it'll all be over soon enough; wait where was I?  oh yeah, part 3).


There is no better dinner after a Japanese spa treatment than fresh sushi, and there is no better place to get fresh sushi in Santa Fe than San Q Japanese Pub.  We found it a couple of nights earlier and couldn't resist going back for the awesome sushi and sake.  Katrina found her new favorite sake on special there (the jury is still out for me).  I don't recall the name offhand, but she can tell you if you're really interested.


Well, that's about it for this installment of technomadic adventures.  I sure am glad I don't have to tell that story 50 times over - one and done, so I don't wanna hear about it again alright!  Jeez get off mah back will ya I's only kidding!  We are looking forward to many more beautiful hikes and General Outdoorsyness (salute your General, dagnabbit), but until there is more to report...

/begin Caption Contest

Captain GangstaBeard - over and out