Wednesday:

So I woke up around 7:30, but tossed and turned for another 30 minutes before getting up. A quick shower and off to the lodge for breakfast (included in the cost of the cabin), which consisted mostly protein (eggs, bacon, sausage) and fruit. I should hit the fruit a little harder tomorrow as it kind of heavy, even for me. Looking out at the pools, they were empty, so I ended up after breakfast doing a 5 mile hike up the canyon to the falls. It was drizzling rain when I started, but about 40% of the way into the hike up the canyon it started to really rain. And by really raining I mean pissing rain. By the time I got the falls, the trail had turned into a stream and my jacket and hat soaked threw. The hike back was nearly the same, except the sun came out just as turned into the parking lot. Great. So back to the cabin to change into the swimming suit and back to the pools to spend some time soaking my now aching body.

Guess what, the Russians were back and in force this time, taking up all three pools! I have a feeling they live in these pools and can’t exist out of them for more then a day or two. Actually it wasn’t so bad, the main heated pool was open and they were not migrating around it like the had the night before. I staked out my spot and was fine. When moved to the 104 deg pool it was nearly time for the main pool (100 deg) to be shut down. They literally filled the 104 deg pool at point. I think there were maybe 4 of us who were not part of that party and they slowly made their way out of the pool. I did polar swim at one point in the non heated pool once I was accustomed to the 104 pool. It was kind of nice being in 62 deg water. I did have to fight for a spot back in the 104 pool, but once I was back to being too used it, it was time to leave as my fingers were beginning to shrivel up. I booked some massage time too and am now back at my cabin waiting for that to happen.

Ok, let me take a moment here to say that reading the above, I’m making the Russians out to be kind of hidous, which isn’t true at all. There’s just a bunch of em (so it’s easy to group em) and they remind me of days in LA and my Isreali neighbors. Happy, loud, and not socally capable of knowing about how damn happy and loud they are. The kids move from English to Russian in mid sentence, it’s actually interesting how easily and fluidly they do it. It’s even more interesting what they say in English over Russian too. At the same time, I’m reminded how much kids make me feel uncomfortable too. Can’t relate at all these days to em and it’s actually the kids who don’t comprehend personal space. The adults have been fine about it, but having random kids bump into me is kind of un-nerving. Get off my damn lawn! Anyway

The cabin of course a huge mess right now. I am eating lunch (I brought food up with me in a cooler) and writing. I did take a quick shower and had to hang all my hiking clothes above the heater since they should dry (it’s now 85 deg in the cabin). I have 40 minutes till my massage, but I should head back in 20 so I can soak again. What to do though . . .
Second sandwich and some diet soda and a rewrite later and I’m ready to soak a little again since the swim suit is completely dry now. The rest of my clothing though . . .

Two hours later and I need a nap. The massage was fine, to fantastic, but fine. It’s not very often I have any massage therapy, but it’s always decent when I do get it done. If I made decent money I’d do it a lot more often to say the least. My body isn’t terrible limber to begin with so it’s wonderful when I do have it done. After that was another hour of jumping in the 104 deg pool and the 62deg pool. Absolutely wonderful stuff. The coldis shock at first, but then you just swim in it and keep moving. The best is that the big pool is basically unused and nearly pure too (can’t taste any clorine so far). I can go into the deep end and do underwater jumping jacks for 5 minutes and not bother a soul. Then it’s back to the heated 104 pool, which is a real shock to your system, I get tingly all over from it. Once I’m acclimated, it’s back to the cool pool again for calisthenics! The nice thing too was that for this hour, I had very little of the Russians, they finally pruned from what I could tell. I had two Japanese couples this time. Happy, soft spoken and understand personal space. Hell yes! Now if my nose would stop running, then again I’d probably just smell the sulfur and get sick.