Finding Bliss in Santa Fe

We got off to a late start after sleeping in (Winston acquired a cough somewhere along the way, and kept us up all night with his hacking), but we were on the road soon enough and greeted the sunny New Mexico sky as we shipped off to Santa Fe.

I’d been wanting to hit up a spa while in Santa Fe, and had gotten a tip from my old pal from Duke, Kelly, that Ten Thousand Waves was the place to be. Will called the spa for me this morning, and luckily, there was space for me. I booked an hour in a private bath area called “The Waterfall,” which was an outdoor, wooded area that included a huge hot tub, a “cold plume” (which is a small circular pool of cold water that you’re supposed to jump into after you’ve been in the hot tub for a while) with its own waterfall, a sitting area, and an indoor sauna. After that, I was set for an 80 minute therapeutic massage. Ten Thousand Waves is in a mountainous area of Santa Fe, about 20 minutes from our hotel and the downtown area. I figured that it would be the perfect retreat for me.

My expectations were pretty high, but they were totally blown away when I got there. My time at Ten Thousand Waves was, by far, the greatest spa experience of my life. That’s saying something, people. Your pal WunderGlo is quite the connoisseur of spas -- from swedish to shiatsu to deep tissue massages, to the new age or classical music that fills your treatment room, to the dim lighting enhanced with yummy smelling candles, to the crisp white robes and the fancy cucumber-infused water. Historically speaking, I’m not great at relaxing, but I am pretty darn good at soaking it up at the spa.

Ten Thousand Waves was much better than your average posh spa. It was positively magical. I arrived there and was immediately impressed by the peaceful surroundings and how this place uses the natural beauty around it to enhance the spa facilities. The hot tub was sinfully relaxing, the cold plume was freezing (of course) and invigorating, and spending that enchanting hour completely outdoors made the experience totally unique.

As if that wasn’t enough, I had one of the best massages in my life by a Frenchman named Pascal. As he sat me up at the end of my treatment, he said softly, “It’s time to come back to Earth.” I guess he knows how awesome he is.

Ten Thousand Waves couldn’t have been a better place for me to relax, reflect, and rejuvenate for the rest of our trip East. This might just be my first vacation spot after I completely annihilate cancer. “The cancer” doesn’t deserve a second trip to Ten Thousand Waves, but I do.