Gouldhome, Canyon Ranch, April 8

April 8

We woke up at 6am again. It looked so beautiful out that I got ready right away and went out to take some photos while the light was good. I seemed to be focusing on the little things and the patterns of the cacti. I've always loved patterns. Many of them were quite beautiful, but I didn't bring the instruction manual for the camera and I really needed it. I couldn't figure out how to change the f-stop. Ah well, the auto pictures will have to be good enough. In addition since the sun had just risen, the light was not very bright. A tripod would have been very welcome at this point. I made do for some shots by dragging over chairs and resting on them. I hope they came out.

After a while I went back to the room so we could all go to breakfast together. We all seemed to be forgetting things this morning, but finally we made it out the door.

Breakfast was absolutely wonderful. I ordered a mango guava smoothie to start. It was the best. Then for breakfast I had a half a bagel and lox (pumpernickel), and a small omelet with mushrooms, onions, peppers and green chilies. They have a wonderful salsa there too and I smothered the omelet with it. Yum. I don't' remember what the muffin of the day was, mainly because I didn't feel like one. But we all had plenty of time before our 9am class so we relaxed and had a leisurely breakfast.

Afterwards I went to take more photos with the brighter light. Again i seemed to be focusing on patterns - with the occasional statue. Some of the statues are quite nice. I like all the American Indian culture ones. They have such happiness and peacefulness about them. I also love the little javalinas by the clubhouse and the large woman in a very relaxed pose near there. All the angles of that statue work so well. I took some photos of the flowers. I never reviewed any of the photos (we have a digital camera and usually I look to see if the photos come out or if I have to retake them), but I just kept going and never stopped.

When it was getting close to 9am I went back in to Yoga Basics. I seem to really be enjoying my yoga this trip. There was a woman teaching it this time. I forget her name. I wish I could remember them all, but memory is not my strong point, and I'm lucky to remember my own name!

The class was quite good, but I still liked George the best and Randi a close second. I wish I could find some Yoga teachers at home who are as good as these. After yoga I went to women's stretch. I wasn't in love with this class. I remember two years ago I liked to take this class at 4pm, but I'd rather be doing cardio work at this time. In addition I don't like aerobics all that much and really dislike machines. I probably should have signed up for more hikes but with my knee problems I was leery of doing too much - and with a hike you can't just stop, you have to get down off the mountain. Anyway, nothing interested me at 11am so I wrote in my journal, then met the rest of the gals for lunch.

This was the second best meal I've had on this trip. The parmesan encrusted flounder was fabulous. Second only to the tuna I had the first lunch. I really liked the sweet potato cakes, but Karen didn't and Donna thought they were just ok. The pizza was good today too, but I liked the Mexican one yesterday better. And of course I had another Mango guava smoothie.

Dessert was grapefruit sorbet - I wouldn't have ordered it but Donna wanted to try it. None of us liked it all that much. In addition there was an apple strudel, but I wasn't interested since I had so much food already. The cookie of the day was peanut butter. Which I had to go as always. I usually eat them the next day around 10 or 11.

We didn't want to take too long at lunch, because I wanted to try Tai Chi at 1. It is something I've always wanted to try. George taught it in the yoga dome. It was very interesting. He showed us the martial arts aspect of it and talked us through how we are supposed to be opening up our chi and our six points, as we went through each of the poses. But I think Tai Chi is something that takes a lot of time before you are good enough, for it to be really useful for you. One beginner's class is hardly a good introduction to it.

Our next class was of a whole different flavor. Totally tubing - a strength class that uses rubber tubes for resistance. Tubes are fun for a change, but I really like free weights the better.

At 3 Donna went to core board. Karen had taken it and said it was mostly strength. I thought I needed some aerobics which I haven't gotten at all today, so I went and spent some time on the rowing machine. I wish they had more things like line dancing (tomorrow) or ranch bo, but so many are into aerobics that there is more of that.

After getting a good workout I went to the hiking office to find Charlie. He was in charge of the hiking poles. Now they give out walking sticks to anyone, but I wanted hiking poles and you have to talk to Charlie first to get them. He was quite nice and he got me set up for tomorrow's hike. He put them behind his door for me just in case he wasn't there tomorrow morning.

At 4 I went into the hot tub to relax. I was getting a little stressed out. I have an appointment for acupuncture today at 5 and needles make me very anxious. I always have to lie down for shots. I figured for the first time I would have acupuncture here because I might be able to handle it better than at home. People are so nice here and really help you through things. Plus you tend to be more relaxed so you don't get doubly stressed.

So I de-stressed a little then got dressed and walked over to find the health and healing buildings. I found the building fairly easily, but had to wait a while to get in. While waiting I gabbed with some of the other gals there. One had had acupuncture before and told me it was very easy. Well Maryann was quite nice and helped relax me, but I still got nervous part way through. The first part where the needles go in is ok. But the second part is where she moves them until I feels something and let me tell you, I don't want to feel anything when needles are sticking out of me. The sensations were usually very strange but sometimes they hurt. One bothered me quite a bit and I started getting faint. So she gave me a break and came back 5 minutes later to finish up. Then I waited there for about 15-20 minutes. I had such strange sensations while just lying there. But I survived. Maybe I'll get up the guts to find someone in Boston to go to.

The acupuncture took so long (it started late) that I came to dinner late. Karen had an appointment at 7 so they ordered without me. Unfortunately when I ordered they waited until all the meals were ready. We told the waiter not to do this because of our scheduling constraints. It took 50 minutes for Karen's dinner to come out and she had to leave before she could eat. She did get some food at the pasta bar at least. Karen was none too happy and stressed out by it all. I think this was our one time we have had a problem here. Usually Canyon Ranch is excellent with making sure everything runs smoothly. After Karen left, Donna and I ate our shrimp and spaghetti with sausage. We took quite a while to eat. Afterwards we walked to the store in the clubhouse and looked around. Nothing much interested me.

Then we went to the spa and waited for Karen to get out of her facial, and all went back to the room to rest.