Family Getaway -- St. George, Utah

Most people probably don't realize, but summer is the busiest time of year for Chris.  He works hard. And not only does he work hard, but he's usually putting in 10+ hour days, sometimes Saturdays, in the summer heat. And this summer has been a doozy!  If you think it's hot just being outside, try working on a deck that is radiating additional heat.

What I'm getting at, is that once Chris gets going for the summer and the demands from his clients start coming, it's hard to break away, even for a weekend.  So when my work sent me to St. George for a few days, we packed everyone up, loaded the rental car (better gas mileage) and took off.

Chris drove all the way there... I drove all the way home.  We believe in a fair and equal partnership.  

While I was in meetings all day, Chris and Brielle enjoyed time without a schedule, without school and without any rules.  They walked through the local Wildlife Museum and raved about it, they swam in the hotel pool and took a random drive to Mesquite and back.  Funny story...

He thought the hotel/casino with the roller coaster was on the Utah/Nevada border. Ha!  It's on the Nevada/California border.

We also decided it would be fun to see a play at the Tuacahn Amphitheatre.  I had never been and neither had Brielle.  Aladdin happened to be playing and it did not disappoint!  Live camels!  They seriously had live camels!  I certainly didn't expect that.  Pics are forbidden... sorry.

Mary Poppins is playing in 2013.  I anticipate another St. George trip in our future...

I told Chris that I had never been to Zions National Park before, so we should go.  It's funny though, I recognized a few things, so maybe I have been.  Who knows.

Brielle couldn't get enough of the scenery.  Her head was sticking out of the car most of the way through the park.

We'd stop, stretch our legs and climb some rocks for a bit.  We didn't go nearly as prepared as some of the "granolas" was saw, or even the tourists trying to look like the granolas.  But seriously people... folks have been hiking for years without your fancy boots and aluminum walking sticks.  I'm pretty sure you'll manage, too.

I was amazed at the beauty of this place, and we didn't even see a quarter of it.  Had we known this was a stop we'd make, we would have consulted with our Southern Utah Family Expert (Aunt Ang) and asked for a guided tour to the non-touristy places.  Next time...

We did, however, hop on a shuttle that took us to the Zion Lodge.  From there, you could head out on many hiking trails OR take a tour on horse back.  I wanted the horse back option but Chris refused to pay to ride horses when we've got some at home.  Every party has a pooper...

We headed towards a one mile trail marked "Emerald Pools."  With a name like that, I was expecting cool, crystal clear water to soak our tired feet in.  What we found was a nasty, muddy, stagnent pool of water.  There was nothing "emerald" about it.  But we had fun walking along the trail anyway...

Let's play "Where's Brielle?"

Even though the Emerald Pool did not live up to its name, there was still some amazing scenery along the way and occasional water falling from the cliffs above.

That's Chris way back there, carrying all our water bottles.  He's useful, that one.

This trip made me realize that there is so much of Utah that our family has yet to explore, all within a short drive.  That, and if I plan far summer trips far enough in advance, Chris will have no choice but to walk away from work for a couple of days and get away.  Summer goes by way too quickly, and this summer was no exception.  Spending a few days with my loves has me looking forward to our next big adventure... Florida!