Last weekend we went down to southern Utah. We had plans to stay at a condo in St. George, but just a few days before we were supposed to leave those plans fell through. So we were trying to decide if I should just go down for one night with Miquelle (long enough for her to dance in her competition) or try to find another alternative for the whole family to go. The kids had all been talking about it for weeks and were so excited that we decided that it would need to be a family thing. Well St. George was pretty booked because of this competition especially for a room that would fit our family. We had planned to spend a day at Zions and Trevor was able to find a room in Kanab and that would be pretty central to everything we were doing. The hotel was great. Really good breakfast and an indoor pool. The town was a DIVE! I seriously would not last a week if I had to live in a place like that.
On the way there we missed the turn of to go to the armpit of Utah so we had to take a different route. Well our map didn't show elevation and we had no idea where we were going but it ended up being over a mountain during a blizzard! It was crazy and there were a lot of times that we had to stop because the wind was blowing so hard and we couldn't see where we were going at all! So much for warm southern Utah weather. This sign was almost completely covered by snow and there were others that were just barely peeking out.
Our first stop was the Best Friends animal sanctuary. Advertised online as the biggest domestic animal sanctuary in the US or something like that. Horses, pot bellied pigs, rabbits, birds, cats, dogs, stuff like that. I thought the kids would love it. They liked it fine but it is a good thing we did it at this age, I think if we had tried it when they were teen agers they would have refused to ever go anywhere will us again! It was a "guided tour", which basically meant we got in a van and drove around and a lady said, "The pigs are down over there" as we drove by "There are the horses right there" as we drove by "The rabbits are in that building" as we drove by. We did stop where they keep the cats and the kids got to pet a bunch of cats. And we stopped where they keep the dogs and we got to look at dogs behind a fence. Whee! And I just have to say one little thing here and I'm toning this WAY down because I don't want to get myself in trouble. But as I looked at some of these poor animals that were being "rescued" I felt the same way that I feel at work a lot. Just because you can keep an animal or human alive doesn't mean that you should. That is all I will say about that!
The kids LOVED swimming at the hotel. They would have been happy doing that the whole three days! I felt so stressed the whole time we were at the hotel that my kids were going to be too loud and disturb other people. But at least when they were swimming they could scream and have fun and I wasn't stressed.
I have lived in Utah for over 30 years and never been to one of the National Parks. We spent a day at Zions. It was beautiful. Just amazing. We took one hike that was up to some "pools" and a waterfall. That was fun but I was so NERVOUS that one of my kids was going to fall off the edge! It was really narrow in some parts. But we all made it to the top and back to the BOTTOM safely. (Gosh I was not this nervous or stressed about things before I had kids! What happened?!)
Saturday was Miquelle's dance competition. I was so happy to drive to the BIG city of St. George! It was really fun to watch her dance. But I heard enough little girls screaming to last me until next year, at least! One thing I love about clogging is that it isn't....sexy. I hate seeing little seven year old girls shaking their booties and doing pelvic thrusts. Clogging is just plain fun. (Did I ever tell you I used to be a clogger?? Yup, I danced with the back porch cloggers for three years!) And the costumes are modest and fun.
We also stopped at the St. George temple. It was nice and quiet which was really nice since most of the rest of this trip wasn't!
The kids had a fun trip and that was what mattered this time. They didn't even care that we were staying in the armpit, they thought it was great!
5 comments:
Glad MOST of it was fun :) I didn't know you clogged too. Let's get our clogging shoes out and we can clog up the driveway...wait that sounds weird,doesn't it :D
I can so relate to the whole Kanab thing. Reese ended up staying there (1) night and that was plenty! It was a fun experience to go to the towns movie theatre.
Okay, as a nurse, I just have to totally and COMPLETELY agree with your assessment that some people/animals shouldn't be kept alive just because they can be. There's such a thing as quality of life, and over the years I've learned a new appreciation for mercifully helping people move on.
Geez, that sound dreary.
I also like that the clogger costumes are not too sexy. My 9 year old is in jazz and ballet and I really really just want her to do ballet, mostly because of the costumes! Luckily her studio is good about keeping the jazz moves for the little ones clean. But I see the older girls and what is coming. Ugh.
It sounds like a fun trip! I had a crush on a guy in college that lived in Kanab. It's probably nicer when you're there with a local who can show you around! Haha!
Post a Comment