My last trip to Strawberry Hot Springs?

I've always had a fond spot in my heart for this particular hot spring and have been here multiple times. I LOVE the natural atmosphere of the river rock edges, the secluded mountain valley and the mixture of hot spring with cold mountain streams to give a variety of temperatures. My son has been to quite a few hot springs in his 11 years in Colorado, but they have all been "artificial" with cement walls and in urban areas, so I have been pitching Strawberry Springs as my personal favorite.

So when I started planning the road trip to Oregon and avoiding the major highways was a top priority, it was an obvious choice. It's been a few years since I have been here and getting into this place has changed over the years.

• You need to reserve a 2 hour spot, at least a couple days in advance

• You cannot make a payment beforehand AND they only take cash ($20 each)

• Pets are not allowed, not even in the parking lot nor left in the car while we went to the hot springs.

This last point was especially important as it set a pretty horrible first impression that had my son wanting to leave and skip the whole experience.

In sum, a maintenance guy who saw us walking our dog in the parking lot told us we couldn't have a dog anywhere on the property. We could not even leave her in the parking lot (it was cool and well shaded) so had to park 1/4 mile away and walk back. I was annoyed, Xavier was pissed. The gatekeeping goatboy was just as friendly as the maintenance guy who kicked us out, growling "do you have a reservation?" without any pleasantries. Perhaps it was due to it being 10 am on a Sunday and he was hungover, but the work that I put in getting a reservation (then cancelling it and getting a new one) was wasted effort as he just took our money without confirming that we actually had a reservation.

That PITA behind us, the grounds around the hot springs have really been improved, with new bathrooms and lodging for overnight guests that are adorable . . . but it became clear why the reservation system was necessary as the place was packed to the edge of being uncomfortably crowded. So let's view it through Xavier's eyes: It's a crowded hot spring with a very naturalistic design complete with dirt/rock walkways and bottoms of the pools, moss and algae all throughout the pools themselves and filled with dirty water. In retrospect, all the other times I have been here have been after dark and filled with hippies (probably naked) and I was most likely inebriated. So seeing it filled with families in the full sunlight gave it a much different atmosphere.

Xavier started to enjoy himself more as we soaked and we tried out the various pools until we found the one that was just right for us.

The pool we chose was one of the largest and was right against the cold mountain stream, so we watched kids and adults taking cold plunges and the excitement was contagious . . . Xavier said that he couldn't do it, but it didn't take much encouragement, and a foolhardy bargain, to get him to take a quick plunge.

Here's Xavier's quick plunge:

My folly: I felt pretty brave to do the plunge after my years of white water rafting so I offered to take a leisurely walk from one entrance of the stream to another. I didn't even check how cold the water would feel but I can tell you this was nothing like whitewater rafting! I mean, the water was roughly the same temperature, but I have to admit I've never felt such a shocking experience as taking a slow walk in a cold mountain stream. Perhaps it was because I was getting out of a hot spring, that I was not wearing a wetsuit or that I had committed both verbally and via dad-ego to playing it cool as I slowly walked downstream, I tried my best to look like it didn't bother me at all. But after the first 1-2 seconds of ice cold needlepricks being driven into every inch of my body, I stopped pretending. See if you can see the exact moment where my ego was crushed by cold water.