Pure Relaxation

For a rundown of the whole trip and links to other activities from our vacation, go here.

Our first day in Pismo Beach we hit up the natural mineral springs hot tubs in Avila Beach at Sycamore Mineral Springs Resort. Brando had the brilliant idea of splurging on massages beforehand. Generally they have you use the hot tubs beforehand, but because we were headed to dinner afterwards and Brando wanted to make sure we could rinse the massage off, he insisted we use them afterwards. Fortunately, Ashley (oh I hope that's her name!) at Sycamore Mineral Springs was kind enough to make sure we would have one afterwards as she knew they were not booked at all for the Friday afternoon.

We arrived for our massages and entered the cute little gift shop area,

and then through a walkway to our massage area. We were met in the lobby by Ashley and sent back to change in the lush bathrooms.

Once changed into our robes we headed to our beautiful private couples massage room.

I love the details adorning the door handles.

The entire grounds surrounding the massage room were stunning.

Inside the rooms you could hear the birds tweeting outside. The ceilings were open at one time when the rooms were private jacuzzi rooms and now have gorgeous wood covering them giving them an open airy feeling. The black curtain appears to be used to separate the two massage tables. After our fantastic massages (wish I could remember the names of the masseuses),

we headed straight up to our private outdoor natural mineral springs jacuzzi. The walk itself was lush green, and gorgeous. When we got to our stairs that had the sign directing us to our hot tub,

I absolutely LOVEd that we had a private little walkway to our very own hot tub.

The views of the other hot tubs through the trees was beautiful.

Once we got to our own little place (as you can see, I couldn't be bothered to stop walking to take the picture, thus the blur of action)

we were relieved to see no one could be looking down on us from above.

Brando hopped in right away.

An hour or so of soaking,

taking fun photos,

and taking in the beauty surrounding us, we leisurely headed back to the main shop area to walk around.

We had seen a purple tree orchard and a sign for a labyrinth on the way in, so now was the perfect time to check it out before the sun set.

The labyrinth was mesmerizing.

Yes, I attempted to walk it, but gave up after the first 5 minutes as were on our way to dinner to see my childhood best friend. The purple tree orchard was my priority any way, with it's gorgeous blossoms and volcanic mountains in the background.

Stunning. I love how relaxed my smile looked and felt after the massages and soak.