Truth or what?

I'm continuing my little travel story here because I really, truly don't have much of a life.

 

Boo.

 

Hoo.

 

So...

 

We left the VLA and skedaddled as quickly as we could toward Truth or Consequences.

The sky was black.

 

The winds were crazy.

 

We pulled into our hotel a little before 8 pm.

 

We threw our bags in the room.

 

"Hurry up!" said Mr. Jenny.

 

I did.

 

But I was reluctant.

 

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" I asked for the 428th time.

 

"It'll be great! Get your swimsuit on!"

 

Accck.

 

We walked across the flagstone patio into a little office area.

 

"We are here for our 8 o'clock appointment," Mr. Jenny told the receptionist.

 

She had us each sign a medical release and fill a glass of water from a water cooler.

 

And then she opened the door to hell.

Eegads!

It was a hot room in a hotel with geothermal mineral baths.

Eegads!

Did I mention it was HOT!?!

I mean, seriously, screaming hot.

"Are you sure this is a good idea for a menopausal woman?" I queried again in total fear.

Mr. Jenny reassured me again.

He climbed into the big pool that was almost simmering.

The room was so hot I thought I would die.

"Didn't we COME here to ESCAPE the 115 degrees at home!"

I gasped, dipping one toe into the 106 degree water.

 The entire room was hotter than any sauna I've been in.

 

The tub filled one corner of the steamy room. A sauna filled another corner.

 

Delaying the process of immersing myself in steaming geothermal mineral water, I opened the sauna door.

 

Eegads!

 

It was even hotter.

 

I was sweating so profusely I could barely see.

 

Mr. Jenny made happy noises in the pool.

 

He stuck his head under the hot water waterfall.

 

I put my whole foot in.

 

"Seriously!?! Is this good for a woman in menopause?!"

 

Mr. Jenny was in bliss and didn't even answer me.

 

Our appointment in the 'wet room' was for sixty minutes.

 

After about 3 minutes of that time I had elapsed I started whining.

 

"I'm hot. It's too hot in here. I'm thirsty. OMG! This is ridiculous!"

 

I lasted about ten minutes more because my husband was enjoying the hot water so much.

 

Apparently it soothed his muscles and totally relaxed him.

 

It just made me have one long, continuous hot flash.

 

Eegads!

 

Perhaps this was payback for the overnight stay in the caboose.

 

Whatever it was, I was so hot I could hardly stand it.

 

When we got back to our room and explored it a bit, we found that the tub was also geothermal.

 

Interpret that as ridiculously hot.

 

Sigh.

 

I was relieved to see an air conditioner in our room.

 

Hooray!   Hooray!

 

I was not relieved to find out the air conditioner didn't work super well.

 

Boo.  Hoo.

 

After gasping and swearing for awhile, Mr. Jenny must have thought it was safe to talk to me.  

 

"Just think!"  Mr. Jenny said, "You can take another mineral bath in the morning!"

 

"Oh. Yeah. Hooray!" I said in a non-celebratory voice.

 

"Think of it as an experience," said Mr. Jenny.

 

"Oh. Yeah. Ummm. Hooray! An experience!"

 

The whole thought of another 106 degree bath made me break out in one gigantic, worrisome hot flash.

 

...

 

sigh.

 

I was relieved to think we would be spending the following night far away from the geothermal springs torture.

 

I was relieved until Mr. Jenny said, "I think I read that the place we're staying in tomorrow night was a home for psychotic boys."

 

"Psychotic boys! Who cares! Do they have better air conditioning there?"

 

Mr. Jenny assured me they did and I fell into a geo-thermalled, mineral-bathed restless sleep.

 

I could hardly wait to escape Truth or Consequences New Mexico.

TO BE CONTINUED