Day 25 - California Reopening Plan - Phase 3

Friday. 6/19/20.

8:00 - I’m up, shower, and dress in my blue, Mii Amo Spa robe.

9:00 - L. finally gets up and we walk to the Mii Amo Cafe for breakfast. I have banana and almond butter toast, coffee, and a mimosa (because alcohol is part of my spiritual journey). L. gets a novelty drink and…something else. The food is wonderful, as usual, but the coffee is sublime. We have to hurry for our 10:00 a.m. treatment.

10:00 - 11:00 - L. and I have the Prickly Pear Butter -60 min. treatment in separate rooms, per their new policy. They no longer do couples in one room because of Covid 19. It doesn’t matter, as L. is officially an adult and can have treatments in her own room. My therapist says it’s fine to take off my mask when I’m face down “because you’re breathing in the air by the floor…the Covid 19 virus is up higher.” I keep my mask on the entire time, but pull it under my nose when I’m laying face down.

L. and I are exfoliated with sea salt, which feels amazing!!!, then report to the shower, which is one foot away from the massage table. The shower is nice and hot - once done, I return to the table, now dressed with clean sheets, and the prickly pear lotion is applied, via massage. I think I’ll be using the word “amazing” a lot as I describe this vacation.

11:00-1:00 - L. and I meet at the locker room, then change into our bathing suits and head out to the exclusive Mii Amo pool. There are special reservation signs for Mii Amo guests to ensure that we always get a spot, no matter what - Enchantment Resort people are first come, first served. L. and I prepare to lay out on chaise lounges near the side of the pool, but “Michael”, our waiter from last night, materializes and directs us to the best chaise lounges, because there is a stunning view of the red rock mountains. He drags huge umbrellas over to us and sets them up, then brings us drinks and towels - he’s (there’s that word again) “amazing.” It is so hot, but wonderful at the same time - like I said earlier, I never want to leave this place.

-At 1:15, L. and I head to our Vibrational Massage treatment (60 min.), scheduled for 1:30. This treatment involves putting various oils at the seven Chakra sites, followed by massage. My therapist held the pendulum over each Chakra and pronounced me “in balance.” I find this hard to believe and wonder if the “therapists” say that to ALL the clients. When I ask L. later, she says her therapist did not use the pendulum at all. I enjoy this treatment, too.

Once done, L. and I return to the pool.

-3:00-4:00 - We’re at the pool, but discover that the Mii Amo Cafe closes at 4:00 to prepare for dinner. Unfortunately, we missed lunch. We go in the water and swim around a bit. I bring my book and read Elena Vanishing outside of the pool while the rest of my body is submerged in the water. It feels great.

4:00-5:30 - L. and I continue laying out by the pool, but then leave for our 6:00 p.m. Signature Facials - 60 min.

6:00-7:00 - I tell my “therapist” that I have sensitive skin and she uses organic products used from fruit and vegetable extracts for my facial. When finished, my face feels wonderful! On the other hand, L. told her therapist that she has some problem areas and wanted a stronger treatment. Her esthetician breaks out the ‘big guns’ and proceeds to burn and set L.’ s face on fire. I’m of the mindset that a facial shouldn’t hurt, but L. said she loved the facial and that her face is better served for it.

I don’t mask during my facial (how can you during a facial?), but my esthetician does. However, L.’s esthetician tells L. she can remove her mask then asks L. if she minds if she (esthetician) also removes her mask. Shocked and not knowing what to say, L. agrees. We assume she’s a “trumper” or, at the very least, a Republican.

Arizonians, in general, are rogue. They don’t mask. Virtually none of the clients mask at the Mii Amo Spa, other than the employees - they are in line at the juice bar, breathing on each other, no mask, and not social distancing. I think they feel entitled and rich, certain that they are immune. In all honesty, it’s hard not to feel that way in this environment - everything is so beautiful and opulent and, sadly, the downtrodden poor, obese, black and brown, are the most likely to catch Covid 19, which is not fair. I’m certainly not rich - in fact, L. and I have a hard time just making ends meet - but when we’re in this environment, we feel untouchable and largely removed from the pandemic. I should add that the Mii Amo staff love L. and I. and routinely take us aside, throughout our stay, thanking us for wearing a mask and saying, “You’re from California, right? Only Californians mask like this.” They really appreciate it.

7:00-8:00 - we get ready for dinner at Che-Ah-Chi’s, a restaurant at the Enchantment Resort, NOT the Mii Amo Cafe and not included in our package, although L. says she will pay. I don’t want to go to this restaurant as the food at the Mii Amo Cafe is exceptional and we’ve had wonderful service thus far. L. is certain we won’t need reservations - I disagree and ask L. to call, but she doesn’t think we have to. We call a golf court - the Enchantment Resort’s Uber - and proceed to have an abysmal dining experience that lasts until after 11:00.

8:30 - we arrive and ask to be seated, but we don’t have reservations. The hostess says it will be 30 minutes and directs us to wait in another section that allegedly serves appetizers and drinks. They don’t. As we sit at a table, waitstaff buzzes around us, never taking our order. After 25 minutes, as an after thought, a waiter takes my drink order - glass of champagne - but it never arrives. Recall that I’ve had nothing to eat since breakfast. We return to the hostess stand at 9:00 and she seats us.

Wait staff is extremely slow and bread comes about 20 minutes after we’ve been sitting. I explain that I ordered a glass of champagne, but never received it, so perhaps it’s waiting at the bar?? The waiter says he will check. 15 minutes after we’ve already been seated for 20 minutes, my lone glass of champagne arrives. To compensate, our waiter says he won’t charge me.

We order, but our food doesn’t arrive. At 10:00, our waiter says our order is up and he will be delivering it soon (I ordered the trout). The food never comes. At 10:15, our waiter returns, apologizing, saying that the order that he thought was for our table was actually an identical order for another table. At 10:30, the restaurant manager appears at our table, saying that my trout entree, “just didn’t look right” so he sent it back to the chef. When L. and I asked what, exactly, was wrong with the trout, the manager said, again, “Well, it just didn’t look right…BUT, it wasn’t your waiter’s fault. Don’t blame him, it was my decision.”

The food arrives at around 11:00 and tastes lackluster at best - my trout is under-cooked. I’m not sure what L. thought about her food as I could care less. I never wanted to come here in the first place.

11:30 - We order a golf cart at the hostess stand to return to our bungalow and another couple wants to share - they’re not masking. The golf cart arrive and the couple graciously say they will sit behind us, as L. and I are masked and they aren’t. In my opinion, to ensure safety, guests should NOT share golf carts - each party should have their own transport.

We arrive home and the TV still doesn’t work. I again call the Front Desk and a second dirty, sloppy, maintenance man arrives, unmasked - he looks like a white transient. When he sees that I’m masked, he apologizes and says he forgot his mask. So it is policy… He can’t fix the TV and leaves, then returns 20 minutes later, masked, and still can’t fix it. He says he will talk to the Front Desk, right now, about transferring us to a better room and leaves. We hear nothing from the front desk or the maintenance man and it’s obvious that he didn’t speak to anyone. When I call the Front Desk 30 minutes later, the concierge says she will report the issue and call me back - L. and I never hear from her again.

12:30 - L. and I watch a few episodes of Forensic Files before we go to bed. on her lap top.

1:30 - Good night.