Getting Blissed-Out at the Spa

We nailed down a date before summer started. We had big plans to see a new city, Portland, maybe Austin. You know what they say though about the best laid plans, no? Yeah, me neither. The point is, our exciting getaway, as it approached, turned into plans for a more local overnight getaway and then ultimately a day at the spa. My friend and I have crazy busy jobs and more than anything, we just needed to unwind. I am thinking a quite day by the pool with a spa treatment.  I even took two books to read. What I got was so entirely different but so much more.
Glen Ivy Spa and Resort has been something I’ve been meaning to check out for sometime. The problem was I thought summer would be the worst time to go with the heat in Corona, CA. This trip proved me wrong. Even with temperatures close to 100 degrees, at no time was I uncomfortably hot. My friend had been there before so she knew the ropes.
After a quick bite to eat, we headed over to the mud cave to, you guessed it, get a little dirty. I hadn’t done a formal mud treatment before but had been to natural hot springs that were known for their mud and its healing effects. We step into a shallow murky pool where in the center is a tower of mud. My friend handed me a gob and I started to rub it all over. It felt like butter. While I spared my face, I tried to slather it on every available surface. I was a little sad that we were standing in water up to our knees (very murky water) and I was missing muddying up a portion of my legs until I exited that pool and was directed to another area where there was another mound of mud in an open spot that was not in a pool. It is good to note here, not to bring a light-colored bathing suit. It will be covered in mud. It might also be a good idea, if you are at all anal, to bring an extra bathing suit. After piling on all the mud we could, we baking in the sun while the mud caked up all over us and started to flake off. After, we went into designated shower areas. There is soap but bathing suit or not, there is mud everywhere, every crevice. Rinse away what you can.
From here we went opposite directs for Spa treatments, her a facial and myself a massage. Since we booked late, this was all we could come up with. Fortunately, it all worked out.
Muddy and relaxed (I also opted for the Marine Mud massage) we decide it was time to chill by the pool with a mimosa. The champagne was heavy and the OJ light. Not that I minded, it didn’t even matter that I was sipping from a pool safe blue solo cup. I was relaxed enough to just people watch.

As the day slipped quickly away we check to see if the Grotto had any openings where I had hear they take you down to a basement and slather you in sheath butter. I wasn’t going to find out how true that was on this trip though, there would be no availability the rest of the day. Oh well, I guess I have a reason to return again. Now where??? Review of the map pointed me in the right direction.  When I was in Spain, we visited a Hammam. When I saw there were cold and thermal baths, it took me back to the Hammam. Of course the moment I stepped into the cold pool (67 degrees) I experienced a rush but not the kind you get when you are flooded with memories. It was more an “oh shit this is cold, oh shit, I hate the cold.” Surprisingly, I adjusted. Once I was up to my neck in water, I wasn’t cold anymore. I was also very entertained by those coming and going in the pool. On older couple that seems Eastern European, was all in, jumped in head first. The woman told a story of how her mother-in-law would go back and forth from hot to cold tubs with ease and it made her believe she could too. Another large, masculine-looking guy, appear to be terrified to get in but encouraged his wife to jump in first. I don’t think he ever actually made it in beyond his thighs. We hung in that pool for a while not knowing it was 1-2 minutes in cold, 5 minutes in the hot tub for 5 rounds total. I made sure once we made this discovery that we did not stay any longer than recommended. Trust me, I counted each round by the round we made in the cold pool until we made it all the way to 5. After we finished there we certainly warmed up with a trip to the 160 degree sauna.

Our day was drawing a close as there was only so much chilling you could do in one day. Dusk had passed us by and as night fall crept in the crowd thinned and we took one more dip in the shallow pool to listen to the DJ spin some pop, rock and rap. We mustered up enough energy to drag ourselves to the bath house to change and make our way to our cars for the long drive home. Thank you Glen Ivy Spa for turning me from a bundle of nervous, anxious energy to the best possible lump of bliss I could be. See again soon to check out that grotto and maybe do some yoga.