Day 26 - California Reopening Plan - Phase 3
Inside the Crystal Grotto
Saturday. 6/20/20
9:30 - 11:15 - L. and I have treatments scheduled for 11:30 (me) and 11:45 (her) and we had agreed yesterday to go to breakfast at 10:00. At 9:30, I’m showered, dressed, and ready to go - L. is still sleeping. I read Elena Vanishing while I wait for L. to get ready. At 10:00, I ask L. to get up and we don’t arrive at the Mii Amo Cafe until 10:30 and, as usual, have to hurry and eat in order to make our treatments on time. I order coffee and a mimosa - L and I split the breakfast burrito (it’s really good).
11:30 - I have a 90-minute Reiki Healing treatment scheduled ( I don’t know what L. has) and I’m supposed to wear comfortable clothes to this one. When I enter, I can tell she just lit a charcoal stick to cleanse and prepare the room. My therapist is a certified Reiki master and asks me to focus on an ‘intention’ while she puts hands on. Then, I lay on my back on the table and she lightly touches areas of my body for the next 90 minutes. Oddly, various images and scenes pop into my mind depending on which area of my body she is touching. It is very strange and at the end, when I talk to my therapist about it, she recommends that I write everything down.
I’m done before L. so I get a mimosa from the juice bar and sit in the “Quiet Area”, a huge lounge with comfy chairs and tables and a lap pool - although slightly larger - which is fed by a fountain, so there is the constant sound of running water. One side of the “Quiet Area” is comprised solely of windows that look out on the outdoor pool and the Sedona red rock mountains. It’s very peaceful. Again, it’s hard to believe the US is in the middle of a pandemic when I’m in this environment.
1;30 - 2:30 - L. and I find each other and head to the pool, where “Michael” has already reserved our favorite chairs - our names are actually written on the cards. I tell L. that the Mii Amo Spa is similar to being on a land-locked cruise ship - the staff is soooo attentive and greet us by name all over the place.
We lay out by the pool for about an hour, but leave at the last minute, in a hurry to make our Intentional Aromatherapy appointment - 60 min.
2:30 - 4:00 - L. and I sit in the locker room jacuzzi and read our books. I finish Elena Vanishing. At 3:00, we move to the Treatment Area and I’m led to a room with what appears to be 12 tarot cards on the table and numerous vials of oil on the counter. I’m instructed to pick the card that calls out me, so I ask, “The card that represents me now? Or the card that I want to be?” My therapist says it is up to me so I pick the following card:
“I am prosperous. I am confident.
Prosperity
Abundance
Delight
Gifts”
This card contains 32 drops of Sweet Orange; 4 drops of Frankincense; and 2 drops of Clove Bud. She mixes the oil then dry brushes my body before applying the oil and performing a Swedish massage. It’s wonderful and, at the end, she presents me with a little bottle of the oil that she used. When I show L. my card, she says, “You’re already confident and prosperous.”
4:30 - L. and I meet in the locker room and since this is our last day, we want to make sure we go inside the Medicine Wheel and the Crystal Grotto. The Medicine Wheel is just a huge outdoor patio surrounded by 20-feet walls, with climbing vines, and a few boulders placed in a circle. We must walk clockwise and we’re allowed to sit on the boulders, but I’m not sure how I’m supposed to feel or what is achieved here. I should add that there are numerous humming birds, surrounding several humming bird feeders - it’s nice. L. makes the point that she feels like we’re appropriating Native American culture for touristy purposes, which is uncomfortable.
We move onto the Crystal Grotto - its a circular room and a quartz crystal is in the center - and guests have to take off their slippers so they can walk barefoot, on the red clay floor. Again, we are instructed to walk in a clockwise direction and can sit on any of the padded benches encircling the interior. I feel nothing.
We stop off at the Concierge and I ask for a credit since the TV has not worked for four days. They agree on $300. I deserve a larger credit, but I don’t feel like haggling today as bargaining and living from a place of scarcity is a common aspect of my life and I'd like to avoid it here, for once, at the Mii Amo Spa.
5:00 - 7:15 - We go back to our room to change and have to hurry so we can eat dinner before our next treatment. We go to the Mii Amo Cafe and are immediately seated outside, where we eat our dinner surrounded by red rock mountains - it’s beautiful and the food and service are impeccable. For the first time ever, there is actually enough time for me to linger over dinner. Michael is our server again and I tip out, the same way I would tip a steward on a cruise, in appreciation for their service throughout the entire trip.
L. and I decide to order dessert, as we haven’t yet this entire trip. We get sorbet, but it is late in coming and we don’t have time to finish it. We leave abruptly because we have to hurry to make our last spa treatment.
7:30 - 9:00 - We round out our stay with another Deep Tissue Massage (90 min) and have come full circle in our journey. This massage is great and, like my first deep tissue massage, she focuses on my hamstrings and my legs feel much better.
We walk to our bungalow and start packing. Two miniature dream catchers were left on our counter by staff, authentically made by a Native American according to the certificate (I feel uncomfortable even writing this) and I really like them. I start Panic and Joy, then stay up for several hours, watching episodes of Forensic Files and drinking champagne, sad that our trip is over.