Take The Waters

Unbelievably in the second week of April we woke up four mornings in a row with snow on the ground! We needed a plan and fast! That night we started googling frantically for warmer climes. Palm Springs, Los Angeles and Santa Barbara all were very enticing however with two days notice the flights were pretty expensive. We were desperate but not crazy. Ok-so we will drive. Oregon wine country or coast…cold and rainy…nope, nope, nope. Palm Springs, Los Angeles and Santa Barbara just seemed to far to drive on a whim for 3 nights. We settled on Calistoga in the Napa Valley on 7.5 hours away, kinda far but not too far.

It was time for us to “take the waters” an old term used describe the healing effects of thermal waters and to spa. President Roosevelt was know to “take the waters” in Warm Springs, Georgia to alleviate the pain from his polio. Calistoga is known for its thermal pools, mud baths and spas a perfect place for our brief respite. It was also in wine country to promote extra healing.

We took Shannon’s car as we thought it would be fun to drive and to be environmental conscious. Oh and to save money…have you seen the price of gas? We started in a snow storm and basically had snow through most of Oregon. We had a charging stop in Klamath Falls and then another one in Corning, California. As hoped for the weather was warm and sunny when we got to Calistoga.

To keep it low key we only hit three wineries. Clos Pegas on Easter Sunday and then Frogs Leap and Chateau Montelena on Monday. All were really different and unique so it was a nice mix. We only joined one club so we got off pretty easily.

The Easter Sunday highlight for me was the afternoon at the Indian Springs Resort & Spa. Calistoga known for its food and wine, the thermal spas and…mud baths. I hadn’t had a mud bath for 20 years. Basically you sit in a tub of warm volcanic mud up to your next for about 30 minutes and then rotate to a warm tub, dry sauna and then finished off with wrap in a warm blanket. It was a perfect way to end the afternoon but wait there was more…

Indian Springs also boasts of a Olympic sized thermal mineral pool. It was built in 1913 and said to be one of the biggest pools in California. Despite a $50 day pass and only having two more hours left in the day I said…YOLO!

It was a gorgeous pool. No lanes or lane lines however there were plenty of noodles and floaties. As advertised it was thermal pool. The water was a very, very warm~97 degrees. I swam a couple laps dodging people to see if it was really Olympic sized-50 meters. My stroke count had it a little under 50 meters-who’s counting.

Lap swimming wasn’t really in the cards as there were too many people and the water was so hot. So I learned how to noodle…

It was a good couple days in Calistoga. Good food, good wine and some sun an relaxation. Eventually, it was time to head back home via I-5 and highway 97. No trip up 97 from California to Oregon is complete without a stop in…

Crossing the border to Oregon we were welcomed with somewhat sunny skies albeit a bit cooler than the Napa Valley.

A sure sign of spring and warmer weather awaited a few days later when I got to Juniper Park Pool…

Looking forward to going back to Calistoga again. Fingers crossed that warmer days are ahead of us in Bend.

PS-actually since returning home the weather has been schizophrenic from cold to warm to somewhere in the middle. Ugh.