Need to relax? For Valentine's Day I took my husband away for the weekend. I wanted to treat him since he usually is the one who treats me. And I wanted to go somewhere warmer, since I prefer NOT to freeze and to be able to enjoy the outdoors as well. I heard of a nice spa in, yes really, Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. The weather was fabulous, hitting a high of mid-sixties in mid-February. Now if you aren't familiar with T or C, or haven't been there for a while, it is like an old-west ghost town meets artist community. It's a tiny town, which was originally aptly named Hot Springs, as you will find several natural hot mineral springs there.
You will also find the newly renovated Sierra Grande Lodge. The building is adobe and the decore is classic New Mexican. It is very small, somewhere around 20 rooms. The staff of the hotel are friendly and fabulous. The best part is the complementary use of the hot spring baths and the spa. My husband and I had a couple's massage by the legendary Alice and Ramone. Here's a link to another review of the Sierra Grande Lodge, praising Alice and Ramone. And what about the products used at this spa? Well the spa uses Madlyn Rose products, fabulous products made locally in New Mexico. I researched the veganinity (new word - I like it) by emailing the company - here are my email and their reply:
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Hello,
I read on a spa's website that your products are vegan, meaning they include no animal derived ingredients. Is that correct? If only some are vegan, which ones?
A list of common animal ingredients can be found at: http://www.caringconsumer.com/resources_ingredients_list.asp
Thank you!
Albuquerque Vegan
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Dear Albuquerque Vegan,
We are very aware of the "hidden" animal products which may be found in cosmetics. We have ONE product with dry honey and milk in it. It is the Almond & Oatmeal Scrub, and when it is gone, it will no longer be offered.
Everything else, all face care, hand & body lotions, hair care and other scrubs are Vegan- 100% animal product free. We are pretty sure you are referring to Aliviar Spa's website. They DO NOT carry the above mentioned scrub.
Thank you for your inquiry,
Yvonne @ Madlyn Rose
We are very aware of the "hidden" animal products which may be found in cosmetics. We have ONE product with dry honey and milk in it. It is the Almond & Oatmeal Scrub, and when it is gone, it will no longer be offered.
Everything else, all face care, hand & body lotions, hair care and other scrubs are Vegan- 100% animal product free. We are pretty sure you are referring to Aliviar Spa's website. They DO NOT carry the above mentioned scrub.
Thank you for your inquiry,
Yvonne @ Madlyn Rose
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So go ahead, vegan, and indulge on that facial!
And what, pray tell, is there for a vegan to eat in ranch country, New Mexico? Well, we found a vegetarian restaurant called the White Coyote Cafe. It was fabulous, and it was easy to find vegan options on the menu, although they had no vegan desserts when I went. They don't have their own link, but here's a link to a description. Normally they are only open for lunch, but we happened to meander down to T or C on one of their monthly Gallery Hopping weekends, and so the restaurant stayed open for dinner that night. After dinner we strolled through some galleries and enjoyed a great break from our normal lives.
On our way back home we stopped and did some wildlife viewing at Bosque del Apache, a wildlife refuge right off of I-25. We did some light trail walking and saw two does, some bobcat tracks, and a huge variety of birds, cranes, and geese. It was a perfect, peaceful, relaxing way to end our little excursion.
