St. George, Here we come!

Mac and I were lucky enough to spend a few days in St. George this weekend. Mac had Fall break this week and I took Friday off work, and we were off! This was really our first real vacation as a married couple (other than our honeymoon) and we had so much fun! We visited my grandparents and explored the wonders of beautiful St. George! Mac and I decided we are ready to retire next year and when we do we’re going to move to the Temple View RV Park where my grandparents spend the winter months. Seriously, they are living the life!!

We drove down Thursday after work and spent the night. We woke up bright and early on Friday and drove through Zions National Park. I can’t even describe the absolute beauty of the red rock and the Cottonwood trees changing leaves. I took about 400 pictures over two days—yeah, I have a problem! We stopped at The Watchman and Checkerboard Mesa.

The Watchman

This is my favorite shot of the whole trip. I love pathways and streams. And yellow. LOVE.

The Grand-Parentals! These two are so much fun and I could totally see Mac and I being like them when we are older. Thanks for such a fun trip!!

After our drive through Zions we went to the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab. The Sanctuary spans 3800 acres and is home to countless dogs, cats, horses, pigs, bunnies, and birds. Michael Vicks fighting dogs were adopted by the sanctuary instead of just having them put to sleep. All of the animals have some sickness or injuries that make them less than ideal pets. Some of the horses are unable to be ridden, some of the dogs, cats, and pigs were beaten by their owners and now they are disabled because their bones didn’t heal right. (Yeah, sounds like a social workers dream…right?) I don’t consider myself to be a huge animal lover. I didn’t grow up with dogs or cats, only bunnies and a goldfish here and there, but it made me sick to think of how evil and cruel people can be. I loved seeing how the sanctuary depended heavily on volunteers and donations and how people would come and spend a month there volunteering and helping the abused animals. It was a really cool experience and if you are ever near Kanab you should go visit the Animal Sanctuary.

Horses!

This little kitty loved mac, and I'm pretty sure he loved the kitty too (even though he says he's more of a dog lover.) The lady warned us that this cat liked to jump on people's shoulders, but unfortunately, he didn't perform for us. Oh well, he was still a pretty kitty!

The next day we drove through Snow Canyon and then visited Jacob Hamblin’s home in Santa Clara. I loved snow Canyon because the rock was just SOOOO RED!! I love colors. That is what I notice about pictures and places. The rock in Snow Canyon was so red and the trees were such rich shades of green and yellow. Mac and I climbed around on the rocks a bit, borrowed some lava rocks (don’t tell) and found a tiny lizard!

COLORS!! I love colors and this is one of my favorite pictures too because it is just sooo red! and so pretty.

For those of you who don’t know who Jacob Hamblin was, or what he did, I’ll fill you in with my newfound knowledge. Jacob Hamblin was an LDS Pioneer, missionary, and peacemaker. He was sent to Santa Clara to make peace with the Indians. He was a peaceful and likeable man who just had a way with people. President Brigham Young called Jacob to work with the Piute Indians of Southern Utah in 1854. He dealt honestly with the Indians and won their trust and respect. He was very influential and did a lot of good. It was cool to walk through the home and imagine what it would have been like to have lived back in that time. The tour guide told a story about Hamblin’s wife Rachel that I thought was quite funny. One day she was home alone with the children and an Indian walked right into her home. Rachel got a broom (or some object) and scared and shooed the Indian away. (Ah, beware the wrath of a woman!) Rachel described the Indian to Jacob and he instantly knew who had come to their home.

The next time Jacob saw the Indian he warned him not to come to his home. The Indian then replied “mean squa”, and Rachel never had a problem with him again.

The House

That night we played Pegs and Jokers with my grandparents and their friends Yvonne and Gerry. This game has quite a reputation in my family. EVERY time we play it, opposing teams yell at each other, people are accused of cheating, and each persons true competitive spirit comes out. Last night was no different. The men one a game and the women won a game and competition was thick in the air. We had a great time and can’t wait to play again!

Pretty sunset