Thursday, April 1, 2010
It’s April Fool's Day and the weather on Mt. Rainier is definitely fooling around. I drove toward Longmire today in the sunshine and once in the park, it was snowing. Then there was sun, then snow, more sun and more snow. Crazy.
I’m currently sitting in a tree house at Wellspring Spa and Retreat in Ashford, WA http://www.wellspringspa.com/ . I have wanted to stay here for over 2 years and here I am. I had every intention to be here on my birthday, but I had to work. So I decided I would come during my spring break. So here it is the last 3 days of my spring break and I’m finally here. The plan WAS that I would come and hike and snowshoe, but that all changed yesterday when I went running and sprained my left ankle. It is currently all bruised and swollen. So much for hiking and snowshoeing. So I packed all my books, computer to do school work (what was I thinking!) and all I needed to RICE my ankle in a tree house.
The Tree house is as close to camping as I can get with a roof over my head. I’ve watched squirrels climb down the big tree out my window. It is the largest of the three trees that are supporting this house. The tree house is large enough for a queen size bed in it sitting diagonally with corners big enough to hold your gear. A kid would absolutely love the place. Outside you have a cute dining area (that is wet at the moment) and a hammock (that is dry). I put my gear in a bucket and used a rope that is on a pulley to pull it up. A real Tom Sawyer adventure feel. It’s a little chilly, so I can’t imagine what the place would be like in December or January. They have had people stay here during those months. Thank goodness the heater works. I think the next time I come here, I will stay in a cabin. But I wanted to experience the tree house. The cabins are further back in the trees away from the road (I can hear cars on the road when the heater is off) so I’m thinking it would be warmer with the wood stove going and quieter. I didn’t mention the wind and noise on top of the house. I think it is squirrels that I’m hearing, but then it sounds like the wind and creaking of wood. Hard to say which it is. I can also hear tree frogs. Like I said, it’s as close to camping as 
I can get with all the comforts of a bed, tv/dvd, and lights. Ok, the noise on the roof are definitely squirrels running across it. Funny it reminds me of home. I used to hear critters run across our flat roof on Cook Street. Although I imagined mice in the eves above my head and the thought of them being IN the house didn’t thrill me at all. Anyhow, it is a cozy place. They have a journal for people to write their thoughts in. Most that have come here are celebrating their anniversary or getting away with their husband/wife as a surprise. Great place to escape to. At least another person would help keep you warm. I’m still cold, but I think I’m being a pansy, the heater goes off when it hits 70 degrees. It must just cool down quick since there's not insulation whatsoever.. Anyhow, I’m going to head to the hot tub later, so hopefully it is very hot. If it’s not, I’ll be bummed I paid an extra $10 for nothing. That’s it from the Wellspring tree house for now. Friday, April 2, 2010
I survived the Tree house experience at Wellspring. What an experience that was. It is cute and cozy WHEN the heater decides to turn on. Two in the morning rolls around and I’m seeing 59 degrees on the heater. BURR!! What happened to the “auto” feature on the heater? I had set it to 75 degrees and on auto. That lasted about 2 times through and it turned off. The critters were still dancing too. But wait, the sound on the roof no longer sounded like the pitter patter of squirrels, but LARGE RATs, RACCOONs or something very large and loud. I soon realized it was the tree branches blowing in the wind and hitting the roof. Out came the ear plugs and even that didn’t stop the sound. Needless to say, between having to turn on the heater, listening to the tree branches hitting the roof AND that I had to go to the bathroom, I didn’t get much sleep. (picture below is the bucket basin in the bathroom that sits in a building across from the tree house).
Anyhow, there was no way I was going to head down the ladder to GO to the bathroom. I laid there thinking, "if only I were a guy, I’d do my thing right over the railing". I wonder how many have done that – DISGUSTING! I even dreamt about having to go to the bathroom,. Now if that wasn’t a subliminal sign that I had to go. So I finally gave up at 7 am and headed out of the tree to the bathroom. Having no real reason to get up and go hiking, I returned to the cozy, now warm tree house and slept until 11 am with ear plugs in! By the way, the ankle twist was more of a "twist" then I thought. This one has bruised and I have pain on my inside ankle as well. So rest it is … and that I did.At 11 am when I was heading down the ladder, the housekeeper Diane saw me and asked me how my night was. I was honest with her and told her it was “an experience”. I told her about the critters and then the tree branches. She said she thought of me last night and wondered how I had fared. I’m guessing that the wind had picked up pretty bad for her to say that. Believe me, I heard the branches hitting the roof all night long! I woke up to snow on the ground, so a storm had come through. After listening to me, she offered to move me into a ground cabin at no extra fee. I’m thinking she thought it would not be a good idea for someone being in the tree house since there were high wind warnings out through Friday evening. She also wanted my experience at Wellspring to be a good one. I thanked her over and over again because some time during my waking moments I thought to myself I was not going to go through another sleepless night.. I would have gladly paid the extra $50 to be moved a cabin. So I jumped at the offer of moving. So I got “sleeping in the tree house” out of my system. It was cute, fun and it would be totally romantic for a couple’s weekend or a kid would think it was great. But having a quiet, restful night is out of the question.
So I am currently in the Tuolumne Cabin and it is so cute. This is what I call a cabin and would love to have one just this size only with a loft and a small kitchen for cooking. The wood fireplace is keeping this place toasty warm. I'll tell more about the cabin after I tell how the Cabin experience unfolds...
I left to go up to Mt. Rainier at 1:30 pm and of course it was snowing and they were not letting anyone go up to Paradise because of snow on the road. I did a small hike (Trail of the Shadows) right outside of Longmire just to get some fresh air. My ankle did ok, but it sure was sore after I was done. No long hikes for me. I stopped to talk to a Ranger about the Wonderland trail and she said they got 1000 reservation requests. Another Ranger has them in 3 piles and he draws one out randomly from each pile until all the camp sites are full. So it will be a miracle if mine gets pulled for this summer. I headed back to the cabin at 3:30 and returned to a cabin with no power. So on to adventure #2. There was no power in the whole place. A tree must have gone down somewhere. Diane again pulled through and showed up at my door with 2 additional battery lanterns, 2 candles and a basket of goodies for the morning. She definitely was trying to take care of her guests and I say she did well. I had enough so that I could survive just fine with no power - a wood stove to keep me warm, lanterns and my head lamp to read. It’s an adventure after all and it beats being out in the rain in a tent!
The power came back on around 5:30 so there was no need for the extra lanterns. But I was prepared to hunker down for the evening listening to the birds singing, the rain hitting the roof and reading a book in the feather bed! I would have survived just fine. The night was uneventful other than having to stoke the fire to keep the place warm (almost too hot) and listening to the rain hit the roof. I woke up to 3 inches of snow on the ground. Absolutely beautiful!
So how would I rate Wellspring Spa and Retreat on a scale of 1-10? Tree house
10 - for its uniqueness, charm and kid like adventure feeling- great construction in the trees. Loved the hammock and during the summer months, the eating area , hammock and house would be a lot of fun
8 - for the breakfast basket (yogurt, apple, string cheese, and pastry biscuit type thing and apple juice) – could have used a spoon in the tree house basket though and one apple was rotten inside
8 - for having a tv and dvd player
6 - for bathroom – the décor was cute – an old bucket for the basin (who would have thought.) but that old bucket looked like it had dirt in it even though it didn’t. I didn’t care for the ants in the bathroom. However, it did add to the “outdoor tree house experience”. I could live with the ants.
5 - for comfort of bed - comfortable foam mattress on bed, but there was a valley in the middle. UMM?
4 - for lack of constant heat and insulation around doors – had to stuff the curtain in the cracks
2 - for a night that was sleepless due to sounds created by animals and tree branches
So overall rating a 6 (averaged them all) - YES I would sleep in the Tree house again, but only in the summer time and if I was with someone so I could laugh with another person about the whole experience!
Cabin
10 - for charm, decoration and overall appearance – very comfortable recliners. One could sleep in them.
10 - for having the mini kitchen – microwave, plates etc.
10 - for the comfortable feather bed and down comforter
10 - for the bathroom. Cute and clean and in the cabin!
9 - for constant heat – would have been a 10 if I had someone here to stoke the fire instead of me doing it. Is that being lazy or what!
8 - for breakfast. Same thing but different biscuit
8 - for reduced noise and only hearing the rain on the roof, oh how sweet and peaceful it was. You do get a bit of noise from the clumps of snow falling off the trees onto the roof. However, anything beats the Tree House noise and I didn't have to wear ear plugs!
Overall Cabin rating: 9
Wellspring in general
10 - for Diane, the housekeeper, for making sure I am comfortable and safe.
10 - for gorgeous grounds, woodsy feeling and cabins that are the best
2 - for the hot tub by the green house. It smelled weird which I think was the smell of the wood cuz it was a hot tub/barrel made of cedar I believe. The jets were much to be desired. They just produced air bubbles – not a jet stream. Also, something was attacking my leg in the water. It was dark, so I could not see what it was. After the second attack, I was done! If I get some type of weird infection, I’m blaming it on the HOT TUB. Perhaps the hot tub out in the woods is better. Regardless, the next time I return, I will not bother. You really don’t need that to have a good experience in the woods here. Now a massage might be the better option if you want to fork over the $$.
Any takers for experiencing Wellspring Spa and Retreat during the summer?
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