Week 7 Water: soothing, flowing, shooting from the earth.

We started this week with a trip to see Dr. Stevens at Primary Children's for a check-up on Grant's feet.  He had the screws removed from both feet right after school was out and we thought he'd be out of commission for a few weeks and then jump right back into soccer, Young Riders and tennis.  He didn't do any of those things but replaced them with physical therapy and swimming (he discovered he's a natural).  Anyway, the feet checked out o.k. so off we went to Lava Hotsprings with a stop in Weston, ID to visit Eric, our GIS specialist and computer guru in his basement: 'mission control'.  Since Grant did some monitoring earlier we thought it'd be  a good follow-up to see where a lot of the work is done.  Eric told us about his trip to Lava and how he and his wife both loved having a water massage "Watsu" while at the Inn.  Gregg loves massage, me? not so much... but I envisioned floating, partially submerged while jets of water ran up and down my body--that sounded good so we made appointments after we left Eric's.  Eric also suggested going by way of Red Rock Pass--where the ancient Lake Bonneville broke its banks--interesting rest stop.   Pulled into Lava Inn just in time to throw our bags in the adjoining rooms, have a bit of dinner and suit up for the massage--I went first.


It didn't involve jets of water.  It was dark, the masseuse had partitioned off one end of the pool.  For an hour I closed my eyes while he cradled my head on one arm and legs on the other, alternately letting go of one arm or leg,  flinging and twirling me around, letting the resistance of the water stretch and massage.  Remember as a child having an adult grab one leg and one arm and twirling you in the air?  There was no chit-chat.  What a physical workout for him and what a mental workout for me to totally surrender my physical space and try to clear my mind of thoughts of what in the world Gregg was going to do when it was his turn--several of the moves involved floating in front of the masseuse with my head on his shoulder, my cheek next to his  bearded face...I'm thinking 'Gregg's going to be here rubbing whiskers with this guy!'  I didn't know whether to feel a little bit disturbed or burst out laughing.  For a few moments I was able to be mature and enjoy the experience but as soon as I was done I rushed upstairs to the room and warned Gregg, "All I can say is 'surrender'."  Grant and I tried out all the other pools while Gregg had his session and I think he was thankful for my advice and enjoyed the experience as much as I did :^) .  Ahhh...now we were all relaxed and ready for a good night's sleep.  NOT.  Our bed was like vinyl lawn furniture that made loud crunchy sounds with every move, our room was nice and cool because I had cracked open the window however 6 train whistles later our 5:15 alarm went off and I was more relieved to get out of bed than rested.  While I was packing up, Gregg went in the adjoining room to rouse Grant.  "Oh my God!", he gasped.  I rushed in to find him 'testing' the mattress.  I confirmed it was firm, quiet, and his window was shut--he slept like a baby.  I wish he had his driver's license!
We made our 10a.m. breakfast meeting in Twin Bridges, MT and spent the rest of the day touring the Hamilton Ranch with Ben Pierce.  The ranch completely surrounds the town and is beautiful with four rivers flowing through or nearby: the Bighole, Jefferson, Beaverhead and Ruby.  It's a fisherman's bonanza everywhere you turn.  One of the most unique stops on our tour was at a 3-story circular barn built in the 1880's in which was born a horse named Spokane who went on to win the Kentucky Derby in 1889.  Before dinner we were in need of a little down-time at 'the bunkhouse' on the ranch--a dwelling, similar to the Weasley's tent at the Quidditch tournament, that, once inside, seems to magically expand way beyond it's rugged exterior.  I'm talking Deer Valley deluxe.  Twin Bridges has another gem:  The Old Hotel; be sure to make reservations.
Yellowstone is like a pilgrimage.  Feels like going home.  After leaving the bunkhouse we threw some flies in the river then headed toward Yellowstone via Ennis, Virginia City.  Wow, have you ever seen the devastation from gold dredging in Alder gulch near Virginia City?  It's sad.  And did I hear that some of that money went to fund Harvard? I should check that out before saying it but if it's true, it's not right at all.  We secured the last room at the Snow Park Inn and spent the evening at Old Faithful Inn lobby reading, people watching and marveling at the architecture.


Next morning we had one of what will become many 'beat the crowd' experiences as we scraped the frost off the bench and watched the sun rise over Old Faithful as it spouted off through the clouds of steam.