The importance of a good hot soak...

This past weekend was spent at Harbin Hot Springs - I need hot water and spring wildflowers in greater doses, please! Weather was outstanding - it was absolutely beautiful. I passed giant fields of lupin off of Hwy 101 -- thanks to the late spring rains, we have some kind of show going on in Northern California!

I spent hours in the very hot pool this weekend - and it really helped my neck. This makes me realize that it really a muscle tension issue which can be resolved with more time in hot water. The problem is that I have not lived in a place for 5 years which has an adequate bathtub. My current abode of 3 years has such a small tub that I can't straighten my legs and to get hot water on my neck, I have to stick my legs in the air on the wall over the faucet & taps - and even with a completely filled tub, that means my chest is not covered (and I'm not that big - about 5'10" with a 32" ribcage!).

Indeed, I have always been the soaking queen - I would have one good hot soak every week with bath salts, candles, book and music. I would get so hot that I'd be all flushed and red and rest on my bed with a dizzy head for five minutes in my robe with a towel on my hair. But in the last five years, my soaking opportunities are limited.

About 2 years ago, my friends who gave me free access to their hot tub in the Berkeley Hills behind the Claremont started suffering a series of mechanical failures and it became to expensive for them to maintain the tub. Soaking at local bathhouses is spendy - $20 for 1 person for an hour at Piedmont Springs ($30 for 2 people).

I'd consider putting in a bigger tub in my current apartment - at my own expense, even - but the bathroom just isn't big enough. And, yes - I have been looking around for alternate apartments -- basically since I moved in here (well, at least I have heat now) but the market is just that bad. I don't want to live with roommates (3 cats - remember?), I can't afford much more than I'm paying now ($1200), I do love my neighborhood and my yard...

so, how can a girl get her weekly hot soak on? My neck & stress demand it!