Skiergirl: Reef Campground to Calistoga

This was a pampering day! I packed up my site and had breakfast on a cliff
overlooking the ocean. Then I made my way for Wine Country (with a brief stop
for ice cream at 9:30 in the morning). I was leaving the nice coolness of the
coast for the scorching heat of wine country, I was not looking forward to it.

The nice couple from Oregon had told me that if I was going to the Napa Valley,
to go to Calistoga and have a mud bath, so that's what I was going to do. On
the way to Calistoga I saw a vineyard that had a sign out front advertising
tastings. I drove by it, but then thought better, turned around and went back.
I'm so glad I did. I was the only one in there, got a little tasting lesson from
the nice man working there (whom appeared to be the one running the whole
operation), and had another wonderful conversation.

I arrived in Calistoga, hit the tourist information and got some advice on
vineyards, spas and campgrounds. I headed over to Indian Springs spa and made a
reservation for later that day. Then I drove to the campground about 5 miles
outside of town, checked in, changed, and hopped on my bike.

I biked from the campground to Sterling Vineyards. The vineyard is on top of a 300
ft hill, tourists get to the top via a gondola. The architecture of the place
was based on the buildings in Mykonos, the stark white and clean lines were
really beautiful with the rolling hills and mountains in the background. There
was a self-guided tour of the winery followed by a tasting room where you could
taste 5 of their wines. I had packed a picnic lunch, and ate it on the gondola
ride back down.

From there I hopped on the bike path that runs back into town. I made my way to
Indian Springs spa, the original mud bath provider in Calistoga. Included in the
mud bath package was access to their olympic-sized, outdoor, mineral pool. By
now it was searing hot hot hot, and I had just ridden 5 miles on my bike, so
the pool was very inviting. I'm not sure how they keep it so crystal clear and
clean, but there was no chlorine, and the whole place smelled like flowers. I
hopped on one of their floaty mattresses and tanned for a half hour.

It was now time for my mud bath. They gave me a robe and told me to go change
into it. Then the girl came and got me and led me to the mud room. There they
took my robe away from me and I was completely nude, in front of 4 attendants
waiting to assist me. At first I was a little uncomfortable but got over it
pretty quickly. They told me to rinse off in the shower, and then they lead me
to the mud bath. My attendant told me how to sit in it, and to my surprise, I
did not sink. The mud (pure volcanic ash mixed with mineral water) was so thick
I just sat on top. The attendant then buried me (kindly covering all the
unmentionable spots first). It was really hot and thick, and very neat. I was
starting to feel like I was overheating and my attendant picked up on it right
away, asking if I was alright and bringing me the most wonderful cucumber lemon
ice water.

I stayed in the mud for ten minutes, then she dug me out and took me to a shower
to rinse off. From there they led me to a giant clawfoot tub full of sweet
smelling mineral water. They provided me with more of the lovely ice water, a
fingernail brush (to get the mud out), a cuticle stick thingy and a pumice stone.
They left me there for 20 minutes. The bath may have been the highlight of the
experience. The huge tub sat in a stark white room with an open window looking
upon the courtyard, and a large ceiling fan provided a gentle breeze. I was so
content!

They came and got me for the next phase of the treatment, the steam room. This
was no average steam room. It actually sat atop a hot spring, the steam coming
directly from the earth (sulfur smell and all). I only stayed in there for about
5 minutes before moving on to the shower to get all cleaned off. The attendant
then took me to my own little darkened room where she wrapped me in a towel sheet
and put cucumbers on my eyes and a cool cloth on my head. I think I fell asleep,
I was so relaxed. After 15 minutes she came to get me and the treatment was
over. It was a wonderful experience, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone.

From there I had dinner at a Mexican restaurant that was recommended by the
Mexican girl working at Indian Springs (now I know what authentic is). I biked
back to the campground, set up my tent and prepared for bed. Since it was so hot
I decided to try another first... sleeping without the fly. I had been really
nervous about it, but it went off without a hitch... except for the disgusting
bugs that managed to find a way inside my tent. I figure they crept in
through the tiny space between the two zipper ends. I killed them with the
hatchet and plugged the hole by zipping the pole bag into it. If any more
critters found their way in, then they deserved it. I slept beautifully under
the stars and will be doing the flyless thing more often.

PS: Not sure why the format of this post is the way it is, don't have time to fix it