Week Nine also consisted of a refreshing break from the Northern Utah freezing weather. We took a drive down south to Zion National Park. We packed a basket full of goodies and our bathing suits and were on our way. We left Thursday morning with one goal: Find a hotel with a pool. Simple enough right?
WRONG! Believe me, we, ok, Rich - did a little bit of research on places to stay before we went, but in the end we decided we'd wing it and find a place when we got there. In case you're ever going to Zion's in the winter, don't plan on swimming. All the pools are OUTDOOR. With FRIGID UN-heated water. Sure they have little heated spas... outside... The girls were so excited to go swimming that Rich and I determined that we could not fail in the venture to find an inside pool, whatever the cost. After visiting and calling many hotels, motels ect, we ended up driving BACK to Hurricane which is the town through the canyon from Zion. Luckily, there was ONE hotel that had an inside pool! We actually stayed at the hotel across the street which was a LOT nicer and cheaper. They had an outside pool and had a deal with the hotel across the street that their customers could use the other's inside pool in the winter if the other's customers could use their pool in the summer... Make sense? Anyway, done deal. We settled into our room, got on our swimwear, went for dinner and then ended the night with a swim. The girls were in heaven. I was in heaven in the hot tub.
I didn't realize how much I needed this break until we were sitting by this little river with the sun shining down on us, the girls playing in the sand, throwing rocks, birds chirping. I felt a sudden recharge of my soul (which I believe only comes from relaxing by a beautiful body of water). It was like my whole being was filled with sunlight and happiness. It was sunny... but this was an inner sunshine that I had been missing. Ah, warmth, water, family and no schedule to keep.
Friday was our day for exploration. We went on some hikes, played on rocks (another requirement of Jane for the trip - there must be rocks to climb) and played lots of hide and seek.
You know your child lives in snow country when the first thing she does when playing in the sand is make a sand angel. While growing up, we always made mermaids and fish.
We just played, and played....
And held hands. Usually while running.
And when the girls got tired and were ready to conk out we went for a drive. Yeah, that's snow. We drove up to Brian Head - and while the girls slept we drove and enjoyed the view, hopping out every once and a while to take in some views over the man-made view-spots.
We stopped in for dinner at the only restaurant in Brian Head. Rich wasn't hungry and just wanted to sleep. So us girls went in and stood in line which was about 15 people long. Suddenly, Jane needed to go potty. We got out of line and by the time we got back the line had grown to about 50 people. We decided to go to the little grocery store/shop which was connected to the restaurant/hotel. We got ourselves some microwavable dinner and cooked ourselves a nice little meal right in the store (i love when they have microwaves!). We went and sat ourselves in the lobby and ate. It sounds all nice and pleasant, but actually, that was the most stressful part of the trip. Besides my girls being tired and touching/rearranging everything in the store and the sauce from the dinner spilling all over - it just was one of those "it's the end of the day just get the kids in bed" kind of times. But we still had to drive back to Zion which took FOREVER. Seriously, I think it took two hours, felt like 5, but was probably only a little over an hour. It didn't help that we had to pull over twice for Jane to take a pee on the side of the road. That girl has a bladder the size of a peanut. Sigh.
Saturday morning we went swimming again. We had to take full advantage of the pool. Then we got ourselves cleaned up and checked out. We were planning on making one last hiking trip in Zion but thought it best we get on the road. We stopped in Cedar to see my brother Gary and his family and then made one more stop. Not every trip ends with a new dog. But this one did.
Meet Bear. The best, sweetest, most mellow tempered lab I've ever known. I have fallen fast and am in doggy love. So is Mazy.
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