11

Mistress and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary New Years Weekend. I love the Christmas season so much I wanted to celebrate our wedding during this time too. Unfortunately the last several years I we have had a conference on this date for our year end meetings so we have not had the luxury of going out as much as she would like.

This year Mistress decided since it was a weekend that she would plan a date for us. She went all out. I was kept in the dark but the surprise was a getaway to a local 5 star resort called Royal Palms, highlighted with a couples massage and dinner at the #1 rated restaurant in Phoenix and T. Cooks. While this was a fabulous trip it also was another significant event, the first time in eight years we were not responsible for a dog or a child, it was the first time we had slept away from our Mo.

The grounds of the Royal Palms were really quite spectacular. It was unlike any resort I have visited or stayed at. It is not uncommon for Phoenicians to do weekend getaways within their own city limits because each resort is an oasis unto itself and it seems you have truly stepped into another locale. I like resorts not so much for the relaxation of it, though that is nice, but I do indulge in spa's for the whirlpools, steam rooms, sauna's, yes even the quite rooms; not to mention the massages.

The grounds were fantastic, the massage was first class but I give the actual spa rooms just a passing grade. There was no dry sauna or cold plunge, just a whirlpool and steam room. It was plenty for time I spent in them but my favorite spa for pure recovery/ relaxation is the Camelback Inn.

We had never had a couples massage and it was very nice. We chatted, we talked with our LMT's, they had great tables, almost like hospital beds that raise and lower, the legs lift up, back comes up. Very impressive over just a plan massage table. While the entire massage was top notch, it did mess up my right hip quite badly and even as I write this almost two days later, I am on codeine for the pain I am in. The massage didn't do it, my hip has been out for some time, but it did not make it better.

Dinner was fantastic. I love to eat, I have made that no secret and have enjoyed finer establishments that are highly rated. However I truly felt that this was perhaps the finest dining I had ever had. For appetizers we shared mussels and bread with pesto. The pesto was superb. Like the difference between running in a pair or Chuck Taylors all the time and then begin given a pair of Asics Gel Nimbus.

Though I can muddle through a wine menu I felt overwhelmed and defaulted to the house shiraz, had I known it was $15 a glass I would tried the plain old house red. For dinner I had a Mediterranean paella which is saffron rice and shellfish, Mistress the braised duck breast with a duck infused potato cake. It was quite good. For desert I had the almond torte with raspberry and Mistress a dish called Chocolate Strata.

One of the reasons this was such a nice place was that they really made the night special. We we arrived we were told, 'Happy anniversary.' When our waitress arrived she also greeted us this way. Our deserts were served on over sized serving dishes and in chocolate the words, 'Happy 11th Anniversary' was written on it and then frozen. Obviously this was done well before hand. It was the little things that really made this a great evening. The entire meal with tip was $230. Not cheap but I have paid much more for much less quality or quantity.

With my back being the way it is I have been unable to train the last few days, since my last run. I need to see The Machine, my training partner and chiropractor first thing in the morning and many more times this week if I am going to be able to get going again.

New Years eve was uneventful. I stayed up until 3 am playing Halo on my pc and reading. This morning Mo and I stayed home, watching Power Rangers, Peter Pan (twice) and started watching Evolution with David Duchovny and Orlando Jones, which I really like.

Happy New Year all.