I just returned from an interesting 5 day spa visit.   Our San Francisco friends, Barbi and Warren asked us to join them as they had been to this destination before and loved it.  They are the newest of our old friends and we were happy to be there with them. The spa idea generally doesn’t appeal to me as it conjures up facials and massages and things that seem to me to be a bit of a waste of time.  I have had a change in my thinking (and joined the 21st century, my wife tells me). This spa provided high intensity, focused fitness classes every hour all day long.  Sue and I, like most guests, took part in 9:00 a.m.  – 1:00 p.m. fitness classes and after lunch, backed off and did spa stuff.  I was up at 6:00 a.m. and on a hike or run for an hour before 8:00 am breakfast.  Ray, a great guy from Rhode Island, and Ed, a young successful entrepreneur from Malibu, were valued partners in this early morning ritual.  Sue slept in.

My schedule, which I would receive at breakfast for that day’s classes, I religiously stuck to. There was no competition or awkwardness that can accompany learning something new in front of others.  My experience with TRX is a good example of a great work out where I looked ridiculous as I wrestled the two straps on and off my hands feet while trying to stay in a plank.  No one seemed to notice or care.  We met very nice people largely in their 50s and 60s looking to recharge.  The 3 or 4 large French dining tables at mealtime meant you ate and talked with others. The small 30 guest resort quickly made for a feeling of community.  That distinguished the experience at Cal-A-Vie.  We shared a few laughs mid afternoon over a ¼ glass protein shake or sitting arm to arm on a compact love seat waiting for a treatment.  It was intimate, interesting and unexpected conversations often arose.  One gentleman asked if I would go into business with him.  Thinking about it. Back home in Indiana, I feel inspired and lighter as a result of my week at Cal-A-Vie.