Whirlwind Trip

Our spa trip

Quite honestly it was pretty unbelievable.  We left Calgary at 7am, which meant we were up at 4:30 to shower and get our stuff outside for pick up.  Mom picked us up in her car to take us to the airport, and then we were off.  It was bitter sweet, I mean it's always hard to leave the kids, and this time, we were really sneaking out on them.  We had put them to bed the night before, and we were gone before they woke up.  I was worried that Jesse was going to be really upset knowing that Jay and I weren't there.  But, apparently, he just thought I was at work. 

We landed in Toronto at 12:30, and it seriously felt like we were in the bowels of Pearson airport.  It's dark and dingy, there aren't any windows, and you are just there waiting for your luggage.  All of our luggage came out face down, so it was hard to spot which one was yours.  Ours came out almost dead last because you know, when you check in at 5am, it's the first bag loaded and the last bag off the plane.

When we came out of the baggage check, the exit doors to the airport are RIGHT THERE.  It's not like Calgary where there are desks and kiosks and information areas, just doors to walk out into the street.  We found our rental kiosk for the car, and luckily one of us packed a credit card because our reservation for the car was there, but the corporate credit card informatino to pay for the car was not.  I called my contact for the trip, but of course, just voicemail.  So we had to pay for the car, and off to the spa.

Getting on the freeway at Toronto was actually pretty easy.  The instructions to the spa were very straightforward, and once we got on the 401 going east, it was a straight shot.  It is a bit overwhelming at first to see almost 16 lanes of free way and then off ramps and on ramps and bridges and the like, but amazingly, people there knew how to drive.  They let you merge in with them, they respect signal lights, so it was awesome! 

We stopped at a huge Flea Market in Pickering, Ontario, but you know, once you've been to one market, you've really seen them all.  Jay had a good case of ants in the pants so we had to get going.  I can't really blame him, because once we got to the spa, it was like, what the hell we were doing wasting time at the dumpy old flea market!! 

Ste Anne's spa is beautiful.  Quite seriously.  There are trees and hills, and flowers and statues, and little seating areas where you could read books for days.  There are no street lights, there isn't even a town nearby.  We went for a walk around the property, and it was awesome.  I couldn't tell where to take pictures next.  Each turn seemed more beautiful than the last, and the spa itself is a beautiful rambling castle type thing.  It's brick and mortar, with big windows, and a ton of mature flowerbeds.  We found a cozy little hammock and decided to lay down. 

Once we laid down, the serenity really just took over.  The hammock was big enough to fit the two of us, and all you could hear was the wind in the trees.  It was hot there, and a bit muggy, but there was a breeze that was just enough to cool you off.  I didn't even realise it but there was a set of windchimes hanging inside the gazebo where the hammock was, and as you closed your eyes and began to drift off to sleep, you could hear the ever so slight gongs of the windchimes as the wind picked up.  The wind chimes were big too, so when they did go off, it was more like a deep gong as opposed to a high pitch chime.  It really was lovely. 

Dinner was amazing.  It was a four course dinner, so we had soup or salad to start, followed by the main course and your side, and then dessert and coffee or tea.  Ste Anne's has their own line of loose tea, and there was so much to pick from!  I had roasted pork with potatoes, served with a red wine reduction.  It was amazing!!  I had never had a reduction before, and it was the most amazing taste.  You could seriously taste every flavour in the wine.  It was sweet and tart and tangy, and just the right compliment to the pork.  I was so full after dinner!  I tried the lemon souffle, but it really wasn't my thing.  It was just a bit weird. 

There was a huge king-size bed in our room, and when we went up there after dinner, they had put chocolates on our pillows.  We stayed awake for a while, and it is amazing how quiet life is when you don't have a tv to put on endless chatter.  Jay went outside for a smoke, and I tagged along.  There were a ton of solar lights in the gardens, and everything was lit up beautifully  There was a lighted archway on the path, so we had a little smooch there because I am a hopeless romantic.  We then went and sat in the front yard of the spay and looked at the sky for a while.  Since there are no street lights out there, there was a ton of stars to see.  We walked out and around the spa grounds, just kind of checking things out. 

We even managed to squeeze in some time in the hot tub, and we had the place to ourselves.  I tried their cold plunge pool, and it was pretty awesome, and then followed it up with a dip in the hot tub.  We tried out their eucalyptus steam room, and upon first entry, it was VERY overwhelming!  It was like being in a tub of vicks vapo-rub.  So I had to get out of there and get a towel to cover my eyes, but it was very good for your throat and lungs.  It was so neat.

I thought we would be tired for day two, but we managed to get up at 7:30am TO time, which is 5:30 back home.  We had breakfast (I opted for the omelette and Jay had french toast, of course!), and then it was time for our treatments.  I had to have the mud bath, and Jay was going for the Thai massage.

I was nervous for the mud bath, because you have to be naked with another person in the room.  That person is your esthetician (is that how it's spelt?) but it can be overwhelming.  Her name was Dan, and she was great.  She brought me into the treatment room which has the lights dimmed, and explained the entire process from start to finish.  When it was time to get changed, she explained how to get ready first, and then gave you the time to get changed (in this case undressed) in privacy.  So first, I had to have a steam bath. 

You basically just go in the staem room with a towel around your body, and another around the shoulders.  You're in there for about five minutes.  Then she brings you out of the steam room and back into the treatment room.  From there, You have to get naked and get into the biggest bathtub of mud.  The tub actually isn't much bigger than the tub in your house, but it is filled to the top with mud.  You have to sit on the edge of the tub, reach one had across the tub, and hoist yourself up on your arms (one arm on each side basically straddling the tub), and then drape your legs on either side of the tub.  From there, you plunk your legs in the tub, and squiggle on down. 

Dana was great though, she held the towel up for you, the same way you do when you take the kids swimming and you have to change them without the world seeing their bits.  She stands behind you, and you open the towel.  She takes the towel and holds it up so that she can only see your head and neck. 

Once you are squiggled down in the mud, you scoop it up over your chest.  The mud was about 105 degrees on top, and she said about 135 near the bottom.  The mud is dirt from Ontario and Clay from Saskatchewan, and itis the only fully suspended mud bath in Canada.  There is no gravity in there, your body is held in place by the mud itself.  You get to soak in ther for about ten minutes.  She gave me a facial with cool water, and it was such a neat feeling to be so warm from your neck down, but cool from the neck up. 

After the ten minutes, you have to basically prop yourself up on your arms and elbows at the top edge of the tub.  Then in one motion, quickly shove your feet down to the bottom, and make your arms pull you out of the mud.  Like you would if you were trying to sit on the edge of a counter.  Then you sit on the edge of the tub, and there is seriously about an inch of mud caked to your body.

With your bottom and feet on the edge of the tub, you have to use your hands o squeegee off mud from your legs and arms.  It has the consistency of cake batter, so it was pretty neat.  Once you get off enough of the mud by hand, you get to use the shower to get the rest off.

That mud really gets EVERYWHERE.  Right when I thought my arms were clean, you would lift up one arm, and there would be more mud there.  It took the longest to get my legs clean though.  I guess because the water sluices from the top down, the bottom half is the last to get attention.

When you are showering, she pulls the curtains closed so she can't see you, and then when you turn the water off, she thrusts the towel between the curtains at you wihtout peeking in.  From there, it was on to the Vichy shower.

The Vichy shower is 8 shower heads suspended in the air.  You basically lay on a massage table as these 8 showeheads beat down on you.  Again, you warp up in the towel, and iwth my back to Dana and when I was ready, I would open the towel and she would hold it so I could get on the table.  She would then drape the towel on your backside so your bum isn't peeking.

She quickly massaged my upper back and legs, and then left me to enjoy this crazy shower experience.  It was so neat.  There was so much water!!  She leaves the room, and then comes back like 10 or 15 minutes later Dana came back to get me out.  She turned off the water, and then again, just held the towel up with her face turned away so I could get out. 

Then it was time to towel off and put my jammies and robe back on.  It was amazing.  I was SO RELAXED afterward.  I went up to the room, and just sat.  My skin was velvety smooth - even my elbows and my heels.  I felt spent - not tired, just fully relaxed.  Jay came up from his treatment, and we had a little mid-morning siesta.  We just crashed on the bed with the blinds open - it was so bright and cheery in that room, and we just rested. 

Then we had to go for lunch.  I was into trying new things, so I had the homemade tomato soup (utterly delicious) and the hoisin glazed salmon (I'm not a big fish eater).  Both dishes - delicious.  The portions at first seemed so small, but once you ate, you really felt full.  I'm sure they used their dietitian techniques and the glycemic index, but once you ate, you were like, wow, why doesn't my home food feel like this?!  I had to cancel my foot massage in the afternoon because by lunch time, my feet were SO SENSITIVE.  They figure I must've burned them when I was getting out of the tub, and that's why they were sensitive.  They didn't hurt, but they just didn't want to be touched.

So, we skipped the afternoon walk and drove to Niagara Falls!  The drive was long, there were a few spots on the 401 where traffic was a serious standstill.  But it was SO worth it.  We overpaid for parking by some hyenas, but what can you do.  They smelled the tourists coming.  We walked all the way down Falls Avenue, and it was not disappointing at all.  The State side has two sets of falls, one a bit smaller than the other.  We took pictures there and went through the tourist trap gift shop, and then walked further down to the Canadian Falls.  They are ENORMOUS.  It is so loud.  The mist from the cascading water raises higher than the falls themselves. 

You can watch the mist basically dance on the air around it - it swirls up and around and all over the place.  As you get closer, when the wind shifts, the mist falls all over you! It was amazing.  We checked out a few more tourist trap gift shops, and sucked in some of their wares, and then bought tickets for the Journey Behind the Falls. 

There is an elevator you take 125 feet down, and then there is a tunnel you can take to two different look out posts behind the falls.  The water roar is deafening.  I can't remember wen the tunnels were built, but I took pictures of the signs.  I'll update that later. 

The falls are pretty cool even from the back.  There are guardrails up so you can't get too close, but because the water is going so fast, the mist and spray gets sucked in to those tunnels.  It can splash at your feet.  The spray showers you, and it was so neat! There is another observation area where you can walk out on a little platform about 100 feet from the falls.  It is so wet there.

We saw this little dude, and he was soaked.  His mom was carrying his rain poncho, and it was a bit sad.  The poor gaffer was shivering and asking his mom for new clothes, and he was quite seriously soaked.  We went out there and snapped pictures as fast as we could.  The spray covered the camera lens and the viewing thing, so we had to be careful.  But seriously, one of the best moments of my life.  It was so awesome to share it with my husband! 

We left there and went for a little walk around.  The hills are pretty steep there in Niagara, so when you start up them, about half way up the hills, our calves are screaming!  We saw this cool little pizza bar - and it really was a pizza bar.  You sat on stools at the counter and ordered pizza at the window.  We really should've eaten there, but the truth is, because it is so close to the actual falls, it is priced for tourists, not regulars.  Most of the shops in that area were charging $25 a plate.....and of course because we were already stung twice, I was not going to do that again!

So we found another street, and it was like a different world.  They had souvenir stuff for like 1/10 of the price - that made me feel stupid!  They had some regular restuarants and some mom and pop shops.  We found another pizza place that had converted an old garage into their pizza place.  The roll door opened, and their seating area was there with tables and chairs, and there was another little bar type area where you sat on stools at the counter.  We skipped that one too.  :-(

We opted for TGIFridays. We had never been there either, and by then, we were tired and hungry.  We ate some burgers and fries, and compared to the spa food, this was bland!!  But it served the purpose.  Tax in Ontario is messed up.  We paid 5% and 8% and a $1.00 Tourist Improvement Fee.  It was weird.  But the server was nice - they get lots of tourists so she answered our questions. 

We hadn't even realised, but it was July 4th.  Niagara Falls was swimming in Americans.  By the time we finished eating and were trying to find the car, we found the Sky Wheel!  It is a HUGE Ferris Wheel!  Jay wanted to go on, and I was scared, but then I was like you know what?  I'm tired of being scared and self-conscious.  I'm going!  Tickets were like $10, but it was a twenty minute wait minimum.  It was already 10pm, and we still had a three hour drive back to Grafton.  So reluctantly, we left. 

We caught some fireworks on both sides of the border - we could see Buffalo's display, and as we were leaving, the Canadian show was starting.  So Jay - always a dear when I least expect it, stopped so we could watch!!  It was at that moment I felt like bursting into tears.  I was so happy.  I saw the falls with my husband, ate dinner with my husband, and who honestly can say that they've been to Niagara Falls on July 4th for fireworks?  It might not be Canada Day, but you know, any time I see fireworks, that's how I feel about being married.  I'm lucky, and I know it.  When I'm scared, I have someone that will listen to me and not judge.  When I want to be held  in the middle of the night, I can reach out and drape one of his big arms around me and immediately feel safe.  I have a partner in every sense of the word and though I tease him, I wouldn't trade him for anyone else. 

So we drove back to Grafton.  There was construction on the 401 going back, so again, we were stuck in Deerfoot trail like traffic at 11pm at night.  A bit aggravating, but when it was go time, we could go 130 with no problems! And since it was so late at night, it was like semi-heaven. They all drove in the right lane so you could roll up on the left and split.  It was awesome! 

By the time we got to the spa, it was just after 1am.  When we got to the doors, they were all locked!  We were like adolescents at that point.  We had to knock on the door and tell the desk manager that we had locked ourselves out.  He was nice and let us in, but it was totally like highschool when you snuck out of the house and had to sneak back in. 

We were considerably more tired today, and kinda sad we had to leave.  I saw a lot of ladies with their girlfriends, and I hope that one day, I'll be ablet o go back with Sara.  She's been the only true constant in my life, the true north compass your life needs.  There was a scrabble board in my room and downstairs, and every where I looked, there were spaces for us to be able to sit and pass the day away.  I can't wait!

So I tried eggs benedict, and again, it was great.  I had a bath in the jacuzzi tub, and reluctantly packed up my stuff.  I'm excited to see the kids, but sad that this part is coming to a close.  Jay went for his foot rub, and he was so cute.  He came back to the room and asked me to touch his hair (they gave him a scalp massage with oil) and to smell his feet.  What a guy.

I went for mine a bit later, and really, it's hard to follow up that mud bath.  The foot massage was relaxing and different, the scalp massage was neat, and the half hour really passed to quickly.  My feet are silky smooth.  But really, paled in comparison to the mud bath.  :-)

We ate our lunch and checked out.  I bought some tea to take home for Sara and Chelsey.  We drove back to Toronto, but this time, finding the airport was difficult.  We tried to use my phone's GPS and it took us to the bloody service area of the airport.  We had to try three times to find the right car rental return area, and then find the terminal.  There were two different ones to pick from, and of course, we chose wrong.

So we were in terminal 1 and we needed terminal 3.  We had to take the sky bus rom terminal 1 to terminal 3, and we were both freaking out over how much time we had.  We were both scared of security going back, as we heard the line could be long and it might not leave us much time to board.  We were both testy, so when I tried to check in my e-pass, I forgot to check my luggage.  Then my boarding card didn't print.  Then I was upset.  Jay snapped at me and I snapped at him, and we were both so emotionally spent, I had to walk away!

But finally a Westjet lady came over and gave us a hand, and we were finally on our way.  Security was a breeze, no pat downs or boob touching or watching.  Jay and I made up, ate some Timmy's, and I uploaded some pics to facebook to share.  Then it was time to board.

I'm so excited to see the kids, I'm ready to turf my luggage.  The flight has been okay so far, just long.  The chick in front of me has her seat reclined all the way back, so I'm typing like a midget.  I don't care.  I hope 'm jigglig her seat the entire time!  She almost bashed me in the nose when she reclined her seat, so you know.  I hope the incessant clacking of my keys is driving her.  ha ha.  I'm so mean.
But in truth, I'm happy.  I'm content.  Im' blessed.  I had a great trip.  It was free.  We got to spend an amazing day at Niagara Falls.  We got to spend an amazing time at the spa. 

You know what is great?

Stars in the sky
quiet
solitude
mud baths
rest
outside
flowers
trees
wind
lakes
water
waterfalls
the breeze
and
great company.

This trip is to die for.  A trip that w eprobably won't be able to replicate any time soon, but one we won't forget. 

My life is full and I have much to give.  I am grateful for my full heart.  I am gratefu that I choose to give instead of receive sometimes, and even though I get hurt, I'd rather be hurt and happy than stingy and sad. 

I can't wait to see Jenna and Jesse and Ben.  I can't wait to be home!