Summer Sweataway: Part V - Spaaaaah Time

Still enjoying this trip?  Yay, me, too! 

Our pretty hotel

Yet another item included in our screaming ridiculously awesome deal was a trip to a local, natural, organic, green, etc. spa.  It may sound funny, but when I snapped up the deal, I decided Jared was going for the spa treatment, not me.


Here's why...the man has some ongoing tension in his back...it can be due to injury, stress, overwork...or even complications from a previous injury.  I knew I wanted this trip to be really relaxing for both of us, so I signed him up for a deep tissue massage.  (If you're headed to Bend, check out anjou spa & salon for some rejuvenation!)

After we checked out of the hotel, I dropped Jared off in massage heaven.  It was a glorious day, so of course I decided what better to do than toodle around on foot!  I stopped at the car to grab a snack...if you've never noticed I'm like an inverse camel when it comes to food.  I can't eat much at once, and so I can't go long without it!

A plum, Food Should Taste Good chips, and homemade trail mix

See, for me, one of the most relaxing things I can do is walk.  By myself.  With yummy food.  In the sun.  Throw in a book and a nice place to read, and I'm golden.

So I walked with my snack...and took lots of pictures.

lulu store!!!  I did not buy anything.
 Will power of...a very strong-willed person?

Also hard to resist...but I had my
pre-made snack!  Yay saving money.

And then, I saw Dudley's Bookshop Cafe.  I love books.  Ever since I was tiny, I loved reading, being read to, and reading aloud to others.  I used to correct my dad if he didn't keep the voices consistent from night to night on a longer story.  I listen to books on CD at work (currently enjoying Dickens' Dombey and Son).  So bookstores, especially cozy little used book cafes, are like home to me.

I strolled on inside to find rows and rows of bookshelves, a large old grand piano and a rather grouchy barista.  After sifting through some amusing Jane Austen spin-offs, I wandered upstairs to the children's section. 

This is it folks...that warm, fuzzy feeling.  I love children's books.  Perhaps it's due in part to the fact that I'm a bit of a snob and find many classic "children's" books to be much better literature than most of the popular adult nonsense today.

I found two gems: an old favorite, and a book I'd never yet had the pleasure of reading:

I was a huge Brian Jacques fan back in the day (even met the old fellow himself once, and heard him speak "hare" with one of my brothers).  Naturally it seemed fitting to have Mattimeo on hand, for good measure. 

And...prepare yourself for a shock...I had never read any of the Harry Potter books.  Ever.  I'd never even seen any of the films until I married my husband.  He'd been a fan as a kid, so he got me caught up on parts 1-5 so we could watch number 6 in theaters the summer we got married.  I've thoroughly enjoyed the whole series on screen, and figured now was a good time to go back and read the books!

I sat on a bench in the sun and immersed myself in the misery of life with the Dursleys'...how fitting to have purchased Harry Potter at Dudley's Bookshop Cafe.  Two kids walked past me and one of them said, "That's a great book!"  I smiled at her.  The friend said, "She didn't even hear you."  "Yes, she did.  She smiled!"

Stay tuned for the conclusion of this exciting saga in Bend...