Happy Birthday Riverbend! 20 years in the making.

Riverbend Hot Springs celebrates 20 years in business this year! It's hard to believe that in 20 years we have gone from a bait shop to a youth hostel and now into an internationally known resort. Enjoy a few pics from our early days as a hostel. I don't think that we ever had bait and baths at the same time, but my folks always had a good sense of humor about our history. Hence the "hot minnow baths" sign above the pools. Curious WTH I'm talking about? Allow me to give a brief history lesson to our new fans:

What is now Riverbend Hot Springs was originally built by the Pierce family sometime in the 1930s or 40s. It was a small building, that the whole family lived in, and their riverside bait shack, where they sold live minnows to the many fishermen in the area. "Pierce's Minnows" later became "Smiths Minnows" in the late 70s and then my family bought it in 1988.

We were taking a little vacation/future home scouting mission and right as we were driving by, Mrs. Smith was hanging a "for sale" sign. My folks asked her to take it down and they bought our little slice of heaven right then and there. My older brother, my dad, and I would trap our own minnows in the Gila Mountains and ran our little bait shop on the Rio Grande for two years.

One fateful day, my brother was to let some of the water out of our truck tank that housed months worth of minnows. He spaced out and let all of the water out, killing all of the minnows and halting our business. It was a happy accident that turned out to be the crossroads that led my folks to following their dream of having a hot springs in T or C. They took the leap of faith, dug a well which hit 109 degree water, bought and transfered our water rights from and old school local healer "Dr. Dave Cloverleaf" and we began to pump the mineral water RIGHT INTO THE MINNOW TANKS! (we cleaned them first ;-) The famous "minnow baths" and Riverbend Hot Springs was born, January 1990.

Now, the question was, how could we make a small building and a couple of mobile homes into a hot springs destination. A friend of the family suggested that we open up a youth hostel. It is like a lodge, but for backpackers, and young international travelers. Bathrooms, kitchens, and sometimes bedrooms are shared among guests and hostels give off this feeling of welcoming community that is lacking from most hotels. Communal meals, shopping and day excursions are a commonplace and you never leave a hostel without having more friends than you came with.

Besides some dormitories and semi private rooms, we had riverside hot springs in bait tanks, a couple of tipis, retrofitted trailer rooms, and a floating room on the river called "The Love Boat"! We were a quirky, unique hit waiting to be discovered. That happened when we were highlighted on the back cover of Lets Go USA in the early 90s. Soon we had guests coming from all over the world and guide books were raving about this little funky hostel on the river with hot springs. A decade of fun ensued that my parents could write several books and sitcoms on, but I'll we'll save the details for the documentary.

In 2001 the world changed as we knew it. The patriot act halted much of the international travel to the US and hostels around the country suffered. My folks knew that if they could focus on private rooms and domestic travelers, we could make it. Times were tough, but they stuck it out.

In 2006, I returned home after eight years away to take the reins from my parents. Quitting my career to take over a youth hostel in tough times may seem like it was a leap of faith, like the one my folks took in 1990, but to me, it was a no-brainer. Riverbend is so special to so many thousands of people throughout the world and I am honored and thrilled to be the new "care taker" (as my parents always liked to be called). I hope you all continue to enjoy the next 20 years as much as we enjoyed the first!

Fun with a few "Before and After" pics

After browsing through our photos from 2004, I realized just how things really have changed. You may not realize it if you are here everyday, but our guests who haven't been here in years keep reminding me that we have come a long way. Hope you enjoy these as much as we do.

Long overdue update!

Welcome back Riverbenders! It has been over four months since our last post and a lot has happened since then. It's not that I haven't had some time or just keep forgetting to post. I just haven't been taking photos lately and I wanted to have some photos to show what we have added. I managed to get out today and shoot the highlights of our recent additions. The past four months were busy indeed. We've had a few major projects and literally dozens of small ones. Only a few really come to mind right now, so I'll start with them, with more updates to come.

First, the biggest ongoing project (Aug-Nov) was the construction of our new stamped concrete walkways. We formed and poured literally hundreds of feet of walkways that go to nearly every place at Riverbend that our guests and staff would walk. The walkways are 3-4 ft wide and are made up of dozens of separate pours that went on all Fall. Though we still have plans to add contrasting borders to the segments in the main courtyard, the walkways are essentially done.

They are comprised of very strong (4000 psi) concrete with fiber reinforcement. We stamped them with a stone pattern and then stained them with a very inexpensive and ecologically safe fertilizer, called Iron Sulfate. The fertilizer is mixed with water and sprayed on the concrete, creating a chemical reaction that stains the concrete to a range of rusty browns. Then we sealed them with low VOC, water based sealer with a matte finish to maintain traction for wet/bare feet.

The guests are all very happy to be able to walk from the springs to the rooms and restroom without shoes and without tracking in pebbles. Checkout the video walkthrough of some of the walkways, below.

The next big project, which we actually did before the walkways, is the construction of the new 12x50' porch covering. The old covering was a very weathered mis-mosh of old twisted 2x4s and 1x4s that did provide sunscreening, but no protection from the rain. We replaced the bad tree-trunk posts and kept the good ones. Then, the structure was reframed and covered with a seamless, and hidden fastener, metal roof colored metallic copper. We then faced the beams with rustic tree bark and added low voltage dome lights and spot lights. The resulting porch is a happy marriage of modern technology and old rustic charm, which is the basis of everything we try to do now at Riverbend. Before and after, below.

The next big additions are our new stone tree wells. The trees used to be simply bordered by a few loose stones laid halfway in ground. The new wells have a concrete foundation and are mortared stone walls that double as casual seating for guests. We stained the mortar joints black for the same high contrast effect on our rock pools and we sealed them with a wet-look sealer that brings out the random local stones' color. The new tree wells, not only add to the look of the place, but will help us to deep water the trees with river water, by flooding them. Coming soon: low voltage dome lights around the exterior of the wells.

In addition to the artwork of our talented hard-scapers, we have also started to add some commissioned artwork from outside sources. Right now, several of our rooms are appointed with the work of the very talented, Mary Alice Winchell. She has sent us more work, that will likely be used in some common areas. Her work is already featured throughout La Casita and the Public Pool Bath House. Stay tuned for some photos of her work, custom made for Riverbend.

We recently acquired some stunning pieces from Aryen Hart. His work consists of metal, treated with heat, grinding, and chemical reactions, then printed over with archival ink and sealed with a gloss coating. Photos don't do his work justice. His work comes alive with spot lighting and movement, like a hologram. We hung 3 of the 4 pieces that we have in front of our King Suites, which really classes up the courtyard. The pieces that we got seem to go perfectly with our Flowing Water motif.

Another well known artist, Georgia Stacy, custom made us a gorgeous entry gate last spring. She designed it for us to be used for our main entrance, but we felt that it fit better between our colorful mural and straw-bale wall. We finally installed it recently, and though it will likely be enhanced somehow on the sides, it already adds so much to the look of our front facade. The flowing water motif shows up here, loud and clear. Click her name above for just a few other examples of her master wood carving skills.

Well, there have been countless other little projects keeping us all busy around here and if you haven't been here in a while, a stroll around the property will reveal many of them. However, I want to save some of them for future posts.

I would like to give a shout out to Big John Murphy, who is here right now brightening up the place with updated and new paint jobs, Keith Pedersen, for his master carpentry and masonry skills on the porch and walkways, the Rios brothers for their work on the tree wells, and of course, Jeff Thomas for his ever dependable help on nearly every project that we have taken on in the past 3 years. Thanks guys! Riverbend has you written all over it.

Riverbend featured on "Explore! New Mexico" radio show

We were recently featured on an hour long episode of Explore! New Mexico, hosted by Cheryl Fallstead. It aired on KSNM 570 AM of Las Cruces on Tuesday July 21st. Click here to listen.

Gift Shop now open!

Check out our new gift shop on CafePress.com

Visit http://www.cafepress.com/riverbendhs to get your Riverbend Hot Springs gifts and memorabilia today!

The Honey Dewdrops to play on Monday, July 20th

Another installment of Riverbend’s Free Summer Concert Series rolls on as the we host The Honey Dewdrops on Monday, July 20th at 7 PM. “Husband and wife duo, The Honey Dewdrops, mix elements of bluegrass, folk, country and old-timey music with modern-day sentiment for something haunting, melancholic and altogether charming" - Jeff Royer, Fly Magazine.

If the Sun Will Shine, their debut record, was just released May 2009. Recorded live and mixed in a 1920s barn, the record is meant to pay homage to their live performances - full of the same energy and emotion the Honey Dewdrops bring to the stage. The album is a collection of songs that The Honey Dewdrops have written over the past two years and it features material that comes straight from the heart. There are eleven original tunes - some of which are award winners, and a few of the songs got Laura and Kagey plane tickets to St. Paul, Minnesota where they appeared on A Prairie Home Companion's "People in their Twenties Talent Show" (and won first place) in March 2008.

Come join Laura and Kagey for this free show on Riverbend's riverside patio at 7 pm on Monday, July 20th, or come soak in the adjacent public pools and enjoy live music in the hot springs for $10/hr. Donations will be accepted for the performers travel costs. 
To hear their music visit http://www.myspace.com/thehoneydewdrops

So far this year, Riverbend has hosted: Raina Rose, Johann Wagner, Harbor Collective, Molly Venter, and Frogs Gone Fishin’. Upcoming scheduled shows include Gabrielle Louise and Martha Reich, both in September. Keep checking the blog for updates.

Another Before and After shot

Though the first shot was taken 8 months ago, all of the work that we've done in this area has been in the last 3 months. Updates and additions in this area include the now famous River Pier, the mineral water feature, new tile embedded grout lines on the flagstones, trex railings with custom copper balusters, new steps and railings to the river, and updated landscaping and potted plants.