The Essence of Tranquility

Today was a rest day and THAT is the essence of tranquility.  Oh to let the body rest!  I had the best sleep last night in my sleeping bag, on the ground in our tent at the Essence of Tranquility Hot Springs.  I think Rick didn't sleep as well as I did as he informed me this morning of the cat fight, dog barking, goat bleating, and coyote yipping he heard last night.  I only heard crickets for a few minutes and maybe coyotes once during the night.

The hot springs is a very funky, 60's kind of communal place.  It is about 6 miles off route so it added 12 miles to our tour.  Definitely nothing fancy but has a certain charm to it.   It did have a communal kitchen and common room and THAT was really nice - I didn't have to break out the camp stove and there was plenty of water to clean up with. We met some nice people there - Clarisse the owner, Charles, David and Lisa, Keith and Daniella.  Everyone made us feel very welcome.  Keith even gave us some green chile this morning (which I added to our grits along with cheese - yum!).  The hot springs tubs range from 98 to 105 degrees in temperature and sure help sooth tired muscles, although when we first arrived mid afternoon yesterday it was a bit too warm to partake.  The soaking felt good last night and this morning though!

One of the tubs at Essence

The communal kitchen

Today was a planned rest day as for the next several days we will be facing the most challenging climbs of this entire tour up into New Mexico.  We toyed around with the idea of starting up the mountain today, but since we slept in and goofed around at the hot springs till after 11 a.m., decided to go into town, get lunch and check into a motel.  That way we can get an early start tomorrow morning and not have to break camp before we leave.

Today's rating:  1  (how could it not be? We're RESTING!!!!)