Wednesday morning found us transferring our tons of luggage and other stuff back into the truck. We had a “continental breakfast” worthy of the Econo Lodge name and then went to soak in the pools at the Pagosa Springs Inn (or whatever the hell it’s currently called). We spent all morning there, and had a great time. I think we both enjoyed those hot springs pools (we tried about 8 of them, I think) more than any we’ve soaked in before. Beth had a facial at 11:00, and I took the opportunity to walk around town some. It was good to get a little exercise, plus I found the original Pagosa Spring, which is now cordoned off by a fence and no longer spills hot water over into the river.
Once Beth was finished having her face attended to, we grabbed a couple sandwiches at Subway and headed out of town. For the first time on the trip, we took a road I’d never been on. By late afternoon, we arrived at the Black Mesa B&B, near Ojo Caliente, New Mexico. After clearing up a little misunderstanding (I thought I’d made reservations for the 28th, but the proprietor thought they were for the 29th), we got settled in, did some laundry, rested a bit, read a bit, and just generally relaxed. Lara, our host, offered to cook a gourmet dinner for us, which we accepted. Boy, she makes a great meal! It was $60, but included wine and dessert and personalized service and fresh baked bread, so that seemed like a reasonable price.