St. George and Zions Trip

We decided to on one last trip before this baby comes. A "babymoon", if you will! : ) It needed to be close by. St. George is somewhere I've heard a lot about but had never been to. So that was the plan! And we made sure to visit Zion's National Park while we were there. I am the trip planner in our marriage. It's interesting, because in my family my Dad did the trip planning. But I inherited the love of it from him. And in Jeff's family his mom was the trip planner and he doesn't have any interest in it. So I do it and I love it! This trip brought back a lot of good memories of all the awesome trips my family has been on and made Jeff and I look forward to taking our future family on fun trips.

Ok first of all, at this random gas station in small town, Utah on our way down I-15 there was a petting zoo....with zebras! I got to touch a zebra! I saw a little coin operated machine with food in it -- so I think these animals are so accustomed to getting food from people that they just come right up to you. I pet the donkey too. And then liberally applied hand sanitizer. There were cute baby goats, mini-ponies, peacocks and ostriches too!

 

We drove down Thursday night and stayed in a hotel in St. George two nights. Friday we went to the St. George Temple.

After a lunch of leftovers in our hotel we went around town to visit historic sites. We went to Brigham Young's winter home and the tabernacle and got lovely tours from the senior missionaries there. We went to a bookshop I literally found just browsing through google maps of the area. By the way, we do not have smart phones and we didn't bring any mobile devices. I wrote down directions beforehand and we used the old-fashioned map! The Utah grid system definitely helps with this endeavor.

I got used copies of Pride and Prejudice and Emma. Jeff got 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

I recently decided the has come in my life to read this classic. I was watching the BBC movie again the other day and was reminded how much I just love the way they talk! It's so thorough and clear. I was trying to decide if I should fork out the money to buy a copy or just get it from the library. Getting it for $4 at a used bookstore seemed like a great compromise. And I love this cover!

8 months pregnant and feeling good!

At an art gallery we stopped at

Saturday we went to Zion's National Park. It was beautiful. It was fun to see so many different people -- nice young families, outdoor enthusiasts, Asian tourists, adventuresome retired people, and even the occasional pregnant lady! 

There were plenty of "easy hikes" for people in like myself and they were very clearly outlined in the info guide. We took the tram all the way in and started with a nice riverside walk. On the way back Jeff did a more strenuous trail for his man-hike. I walked an easy trail and waited for him at the lodge. When he got back we did one more easy hike to the Emerald Pools.

Kolob Canyons

The sites were beautiful and it is wonderful to be in the outdoors and a part of something so good our country has to offer. I feel like National parks bring out the decent people of society. It gives me hope for our country.

"National parks are the best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst."     -Wallace Stegner, 1983

Kolob Canyons

aww :)

Zion's National Park

A little river side seating for lunch

 

"There is nothing so American as our national parks.... The fundamental idea behind the parks...is that the country belongs to the people, that it is in process of making for the enrichment of the lives of all of us."      -Franklin D. Roosevelt