Hot springs weekend

MEET MY BODY: strong for the most part, reasonably fit, but subject to temperamental episodes and sporadic freak-outs.

Now meet my soul: See body, .

My mind, the third part of this "me" trinity, has decided to indulge body and soul for a weekend in hopes that all three will play nice for a while. So I wallow, neck deep in the 90° water of McCauley Warm Springs, 7,350 feet up in the Jemez Mountains, north of Albuquerque. It's the first stop on a fall road trip built around springs and spas in northern New Mexico.

Getting to McCauley involves a moderate 1.5-mile hike; that's enough to keep away the crowds who opt for bathhouses and drive-up springs along State Highway 4. So it's just my wife, Becky, and me surrounded by schools of tetras, tiny tropical fish that someone released into this pool long ago. They swarm around us, a glittery aura.

Next Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs Resort & Spa