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Green Valley Spa - Part 1
Written by: Dominick A. Miserandino
Photography by: Margherita Miserandino
Who would go to a spa to relax and yet still hike in the mountains every day?
Attention Readers
As you are probably aware, most of our travel stories are written specifically in a travelogue format made up of a chronological account of the trip. It has a really nice itinerary feel and some readers have mimicked it exactly, event for event. It borders on stalking, but we still consider this a good thing, as it makes people quite happy.
In this case, my original story was getting quite boring as it basically said, "Went to Green Valley Spa and hiked. Had a massage and ate really healthy, yet tasty, food. It was good. Day 2: Hiked, ate more healthy food and took a Pilates class, and had a massage. It was good. I am relaxed."
As you can see, it never hit a level of literary quality that would keep a reader entertained for a few thousand words. However, Mike, the program director at Green Valley Spa, really seemed interested in my opinions and didn’t even know that I was a world-famous author with throngs of fans. He wanted to know which employees stood out from the rest.
I decided to oblige him and I believe that the letter (now slightly embellished) did a better job of explaining the magic of the spa than any travelogue could do justice.
Dear Mike,
You had asked for a list of the top employees or the ones who were most memorable, or simply a list of "really good things" and I’ll do my best to satisfy your request below. Yes, I can of course say wonderful things about the Green Valley Spa, and brag back and forth about how ‘this was pretty’ and ‘that was wonderful,’ but after a while it would get redundant and frustrating. I can even brag how I had the best tuna that I’ve ever eaten, saw mountains that completely inspired me and felt healthier than I’ve ever felt before. The praise would eventually seem boring and unbelievable.
Below, I’ll create a list of the employees and of course I'll hit upon some odd tangents.
The first of the employees who comes to mind is Sam. Sam looks a bit like a friendly version of Grizzly Adams with his well trimmed beard, youthful smile and boyish woodsman appeal. He has an attitude that comes across as the type of person who just likes to do things to make you happy. Some people might do things for you just out of obligation, but Sam does it as if his lineage and DNA are geared toward service. To do something outside of the service world would probably cause him great emotional pain.
Our first adventure with Sam was when we went for a hike at Gunlock Mountain. Yes, the Green Valley Spa is a high-end spa but, unlike my wife, I was there for the hiking part. Margherita liked getting pretty and I liked getting dirty. Anyway, it was the first day of hiking and somehow I had succeeded at convincing Margherita to go up into the great outdoors.
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The Green Valley's Fountains | |
While hiking, Sam made the trip enjoyable enough to distract her from the fact that she was actually stepping on dirt, something she was not brought up nor inclined to do. Like a fine racehorse, my wife likes running on a clean track and doesn’t like when things get muddy. Of course, the desert didn’t have that watery aspect of mud, but it certainly wasn’t like when she walked down Fifth Avenue. She prefers the hard rock of concrete versus sandstone.
Anyway, Sam distracted her by pointing out things as if he sensed her apprehension in hiking. Then again, he might have noticed her hyperventilating up the mountain but he sensed something. He acted enthused about rappelling and, on her own, she decided to go rappelling. That brings us to one of those tangents.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
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