Red Rocks, Blue Sky

There are some things I really miss about St. Geo.

One of those things is when the sky is a brilliant, sapphire blue next to the fiery red mountains of Sugar Loaf. Our hike was filled with blue skies, red rocks, chipmunks, lizards, and desert flowers.

And then there are things I don't miss: the horrible, pimping development; the traffic due to the development; the politics and close-minded conservative attitudes of most of the people who live here; cockroaches the size of VW Bugs.

To conclude the rental car story: I'm waiting for Thomas to drive into the hotel parking lot so that we can finally go eat some breakfast (of course by this time it was lunch) and what does he pull up in? A White Convertible Mustang. They (the rental place) felt so bad about giving our car away, that they made up for it with this sporty car! He was grinning this cheesy grin and the kids were so excited.

However, speaking on the practical side (as I always do), it is the MOST impractical car for traveling ... at least with more than two people. I think there is more space in our Prius trunk than in this car's trunk. It is a little cramped. Luckily, we give it back tomorrow.

That's the next funny story. Because we couldn't get a car down here, we are taking the Greyhound Bus to Salt Lake Saturday morning. This should be really interesting.

Today (Friday) I talked the kids out of going to the SHAC (a local swimming pool) and swimming instead at the Ranch's new pool. Since we always go to the SHAC and the ranch had a really cool looking pool, they agreed.

But first we had to eat lunch at their favorite place, Pizza Factory. I swear, I've eaten my way across the southwest. Ugh.

Anyway, we finally got out of St. Geo and headed to the ranch. An explanation is needed here.

The Ranch. This is a place just outside of Zion National Park (the east side) that belongs to Thomas' brother's (Gary) wife's (Rose) family. Rose's father bought several hundred acres of land around the 50's. It's been a place where the family goes for reunions and Rose's family has spent tons of time there. Well, a few years ago, David and Steven (Gary's two older sons) decided to create a sort of resort place from some of the land. So they built cabins, a lodge, pool, stables, restaurant, etc., on this spot. They've also expanded to summer rental homes. This is where we are going.

To get to the ranch, one has to drive thru Zion Park. Now, we've gone lots of times with the kids to the ranch but they were young and barely remember. Felix remembers riding the horses and the three-wheeler with her cousin April but that's about it.

So now they're older and we're driving into one of the most beautiful places on the planet and the kids are awestruck by the mesas, buttes, bluffs, canyons and colors opening up with each turn. AND the convertible top came in real handy too! They were able to see so much more. Felix had me taking picture after picture for her travel journal for school.

I know people like to take their little kids on trips to exciting places so that they don't miss out on anything and so they can see them get all excited, but any child under the age of about five will forget everything. The best ages to take kids so that they really appreciate it is six and over. It just is. If you have to take them so that you can see their happy faces, then you have to take them again when they're older because they just won't remember.

It was so wonderful for me to watch the kids gasp and shout at the wonders of Zion Park. This was worth the whole trip. Even though they've been through this canyon several times, this was the first time they actually SAW it. And I saw it through them. It was tremendous.

So here we are at the ranch. And it was a bust. Felix didn't get to ride and Robee didn't get to swim. They closed the horses at five and the pool closed because of the rain. They weren't happy kids now. We decided not to eat here but drive into Orderville (the ONLY town close) and eat at the famous Thunderbird cafe. Again. Eating my way through the southwest. 10 pounds in two days.

I'm printing pictures tonight for the kids to work on their journals during our five hour bus trip to Salt Lake. Eric is going to pick us up so we can go to a BBQ for Ryan's birthday (now eating my way north) and then back to our hotel in Salt Lake.

Whew. I'm beat. AND the time is so weird here. Mountain time goes way faster than Pacific time.