Wednesday nights we go to Mundo Hot Springs. Not every Wednesday, but as many as we can. We didn’t go the day we got home from our trip to Blackmare, and I really wanted to go the following week for a couple of reasons. First, we’d hiked up Cuddy Mountain the day before to celebrate the 4th of July. Second, we’re going to be going to the Olympic Coast for the following two weeks. So, if I didn’t go that day, I wouldn’t have been able to go again until late July. No bueno!
Ambrose, however, had caught a cold. He didn’t want to go, both because he didn’t want to spread germs and because he was feeling ucky. I figured it couldn’t be too bad to go by myself. I mean, I’d gone to the hot tub part without Ambrose and been just fine, even talking to people. Though this did mark the first time that I actually drove to Mundo since that’s been Ambrose’s job.
It was a nice, short drive, and when I pulled in, I saw no other cars parked. Surely, I thought, there must be people staying at the campsites or cabins. The pool will be as crowded as it ever is on a Wednesday!
Nope.
Not a soul in sight once I passed the fence. Even the office was locked up, though the day’s worker showed up quickly after I did. She was the one I met the very first time I came, and I was glad to see a familiar face. I got myself signed in and went to shower.
Showers are required before entering the hot springs, an eminently sensible rule in my opinion. Every other time I’ve been to the shower room, the floor has been wet all over. And that’s to be expected, it’s a wet room. But not this time! This time, the floor was squeakily dry. Plus I had it all to myself.
After my shower, I put my bag in a cubby, but not before getting some pictures of my private pool for the evening.
Then I spent some time in the hot tub. I stretched. I moved my body. I had some fun stirring water currents and watching the wave patterns of the shadows interacting on the bottom of the pool. I got hot.
That led to going to the big pool. Still no others using the pool, though I did see a couple heading out from one of the cabins and exchanged a smile or two. I swam a bit, trying out strokes that I haven’t tried for years. Then I did some somersaults in the water, backward and forward, just because I could. I totally got some water up my nose on one or two of those. Worth it.
I took the time to make a pit stop, drank water, and then started singing. Softly, at first. I didn’t want to disturb anyone, after all. But if other folks can play radios when they’re in the pool with a lot of people, then I can sing by myself. I sang in both the hot tub and the big pool before I left, some They Might Be Giants, Save Ferris and a few others. It was a fun way to spend my time at the hot springs.
But I do hope that I won’t encounter this situation very frequently. If people don’t go to the hot springs, then they might close, and then where would I go??