3 Days in St. George

bottom two photos found on this site: https://churchof 
jesuschristtemples.org/st.-george-utah-temple/news/

 We spent Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in St. George where Kevin and Tara have been living the last year or so. They had been living near Buffalo, New York when we saw them in 2020.  Archer had been born on Jai’s 16^th birthday.  He was three months at the time we saw him last.  Now he is almost two and has a baby brother born 2/22/22 which was on a TWOsday.

Richard made breakfast each day we were there.  The first day he made french toast with bacon and eggs and Kevin made tater tots. I did some laundry on our first day there.  Jai had hoped to go to Arctic Circle sometime during our travel as she has fond memories of having gone while living in Utah.  We went to one in St. George.  I don’t think anyone was impressed with the food.  Afterward we went to the Alumni Creamery – a chapter of BYU creamery.  That was good.  I have missed BYU creamery chocolate milk. 

Kevin wanted to play pickle ball with Richard and had taken us to a pickle ball court but it was extremely windy and we weren’t there for very long. I didn't know that the wind blew in St. George. The next day Kevin took us to Pioneer Park where we climbed rocks.  

I would have loved seeing more of this; Thank
you Aaron D. Adams for the eagle project

Apparently I wasn't ready for the tackle of the climb

Kevin and Jaime crawled in spaces while Richard and I held back with Archer.  We also toured Brigham Young’s winter home in person (I had toured it myself virtually just last year; this post) 

We ate at a place called Hawaiian Grill and had dessert at Nelson’s frozen custard.  I have not had a lot of frozen custard in my life, but have always enjoyed it.  I wasn’t disappointed.

Richard and I had been put up in the room next to Archer’s.  He was having a rough night our third night there.  I had gone into his bedroom to see if I could calm him down.  I would sing to him – which seemed to work, but then he would cry again whenever I would stop.  Finally Kevin offered to take over.  He fell asleep in the rocker holding Archer.

Tara was the one who normally slept in as the baby kept her up, but on Thursday she got up and let Kevin sleep in after his rough night with Archer. We went to Smith’s market place as I was in need of some toiletries and something to sooth my dry throat. Jaime and I both had dry coughs and she had nose bleeds as well as the air in St. George does not offer the same amount of moisture as western Oregon – which is why we moved initially.

We’d gone to the Dinosaur museum and temple visiting center.  The temple was closed due to renovation.  This is the original.  We also passed by a second temple that is being built in St. George.

Day 4: Shopping and Sibs

 We checked out of Layton’s Comfort Inn and headed toward Salt Lake City.  Richard had decided that Jaime and I would need to bring some Salt Water Taffy home to our friends.  He decided that we would have to buy from the most expensive place he could think of:  Trolley Square.

Hey, Trolley Square does have its perks – but they are also rather pricey.  Wherever he believed the taffy was no longer exists – but hey, he did find some kitchen equipment that appealed to his eyes.  We made our purchase and headed out to Valley Fair Mall.  I do remember having purchased candy there.  But that was seven years ago.  Before the pandemic. Neither Jaime nor I especially cared about the taffy.  It claims it’s made with the salt from the Great Salt Lake (which by the way has not been that great for a couple of decades now) I wondered if there was any lake left.

 

While at the food court, Richard saw what appeared like a bowling alley.  We discovered an arcade and bowling had been added to the mall.  I took some pictures of Jaime enjoying herself along with some of the machines. 

From there we went to the West Valley Library.  Richard was happy to be in a real library again.  Jaime and I walked around to look at Fairbourne station.  She was disappointed that the water was not on.  I had not expected it to be. We did take a few pictures.  Mostly to compare then and now. 

Jaime went on a scavenger hunt leftover from St. Patrick’s Day.  We hung around until almost 3:30 and then drove to Midvale to have dinner with my brother Patrick and his wife Sunny and my sister Kayla and her family.  It was so nice to get to see them.  I should have invited Peggy who is a dear family friend who lives closer to Su Casa than either of my siblings do.  Jai was definitely happy to be at Su Casa as she misses the tradition of having gone there so often with grandma (her grandma; my mom)

After we finished eating and took some family pictures, Richard, Jaime and I continued to drive further south and made it to St. George sometime between 10:00 and 11:00 p.m.  

We stopped in Beaver to gas up.  Richard took our photos in front of the famous chair.

Randy greeted us at the door and put us up for the next four nights.

Photos From Day 2 and 3

From Jaime's phone. I did not have access to these photos when I originally posted.  The first four are from Rush

Famous Daves

Jai with Aunt Julie

Target with two neices

you get a coat

and you get a coat

Mod's pizza

Day 3: Games, Aunt Julie and Alex

 Richard’s initial plan was to spend a day or two with each boy.  However we had Tony drive up from Salt Lake over Saturday and Sunday as both off for the weekend. Both work graveyard jobs and would rather spend two days with us together than just one day with each boy.  Biff and Tony are the oldest of the three.

We slept in finally.  Called the boys and asked them to meet us for lunch. Before they arrived Jai and I walked from the food parking lot to an adjoining that had a Ross.  It was cold and had started to snow.  I bought a few items for myself but we did not find anything of interest to Jaime.

 We went to MOD pizza – which I had never heard of before.  Jai told us it was almost identical as to going Subway in which there are a variety of choices on display and the customer can choose what will go into it.  I chose a miniature pizza with white sauce, spinach and bacon.  It was divine.

Biff was the first to arrive – but had not brought Claire or Ally as Ally was not feeling well.  In the excitement of having the grandparents and Aunt Jaime come, Ally’s medication had been forgotten and she is suppose to have shots twice a day.

Tony was not dressed appropriately for the weather.  He had on shorts dressed like he’d be going to the gym.  None of them were wearing coats even though Rochelle had said that it had been raining in Salt Lake. There was a Target across the street from the complex that housed Mod and so after we finished eating we all went across the street and Richard bought coats for almost everyone.  (Neither Jai nor I found a coat to our liking - we both already had coats anyway; I had mine on when we had gone to Ross)

We all met back at the hotel and played games in the breakfast serving area and played one game in the lobby. Tony had brought a bunch of Disney theme games and an interactive card game called Happy Salmon that reminded Jenna of Pit - but with physical interaction.   

While we were playing games when Aunt Julie dropped by for just a few minutes.  She is the sister of the boys biological mother.  She did not stay for very long but it was fun to see her and a surprise for the majority of the family because they did not know I had invited her over.

Richard had told Tony that we would drive down to Salt Lake and take them to Olive Garden, but Rochelle thought it would be more practical to eat in Layton.  Surely they would have an Olive Garden closer than the drive back to Salt Lake.  Thank you for your thoughtfulness, Rochelle.  So after we had finished playing games, Biff returned home to check on Claire and Ally and the rest of us drove to Olive Garden where Biff later met up with us.

After the boys had gone, Jai and I dressed for the pool which was very cold and the Jacuzzi was quite crowed.  We sat at the table where we had played games and ran lines for a while.  After we finished several pages and stood up to leave, we heard a comment from the desk, “Now I will never know how it ends”

Jai and I decided to go upstairs to change and returned to the lobby so that our “fan” could hear more of the play.  The play she is doing is called “Saving Grace” One of the character’s name is Alex – which was also the name of the clerk behind the desk. He clapped after we had finished reading. That is when he told us his name. Jai and I left to turn in for the night.  We were impressed with Alex’s mannerism. 

Day 2: RUSHing Headache

I believe we went to Rush Funplex directly after eating at IHOP.  Ally was so excited. I rode with her and Biff and had Claire ride with Richard and Jaime – just in case we separated.  Tony was pretty much on his own. Three kids in car seats. 

When Ally saw me in the front she asked if I would ride with them.  She said she was glad I was with them because she likes me. Biff zigzagged his way to the fun center where eight of us had never been.  I don’t know how many pictures Jai had taken.  I know I took a couple with her phone, but not on my own.  This is pretty much how Rush made me feel:

NOT taken at Rush but shows same trippiness feel

And that’s only the visual.  I think it was the loud noise that contributed most to my headache.  I was already disoriented.  Each time we passed a sign or anything indicating the BYU logo I would think, “That is the same sign as BYU.  Wow.  Didn’t think I would ever see that in Oregon . . . oh, I’m not in Oregon.”

Same with Seagull Books.  It took me longer to process information than usual. It was as though my mind and body had separated.  For the most part I didn’t even know where I was. RUSH just made it worse.  Jai and I left for a bit to go out to the car for a breather.  We ran lines from a scene and returned. 

When I learned that Rochelle had taken the youngest to the car I returned to the parking lot to visit with her.  Rochelle felt just as tripped as I was.  She is the one daughter-in-law with whom I share the most in common with.

We then took the gang out to Famous Dave’s for dinner.  All four of the grandchildren ordered mac and cheese and Jaime ordered from the children’s menu also.  The rest of us had our food served to us in a garbage can lid.  We all enjoyed samples of ribs, pulled pork, chicken, potato wedges, coleslaw, muffins, corn on the cob and baked beans.   

For more info about Rush, see here. 

Day 1: Leaving Bonnie

 Richard has been wanting to see each of the boys and families for some time.  I had told him to take a few weeks in April but he would have to go by himself as Jaime is still in school.  Hopefully the mornings would be light enough for me to drive her.  If not, I think we’d be able to arrange something. 

When he learned that Jaime would have a week off for spring break in addition to the weekends that surround it, he decided that we could both accompany him

We were unable to find a dog sitter for Bonnie; those who were willing to take her already had dogs and after having my thumb and fingers mutilated due to her pulling away from her leash, I wasn’t willing to drop her off to anyone who seemed even remotely fragile – for I didn’t wish for her aggressiveness to become their problem.  We ended up taking her to a kennel in Winston. 

We had to go north to the kennel but had to return south to go to the high school for Jai’s parent teacher conference – though I think we would have been okay not going as she excels.  We spent more time with her first instructor than the other four put together.  Her teacher made the comment that she couldn’t always post upcoming assignments right away because of Jai – who will finish them ASAP – sometimes without the proper instruction.

 Our 240 trip started after that.   We hit several patches of fog.  I laughed when we passed the sign that said "Sunny Valley" because it wasn't even close to being sunny.

We went by way of Winnemucca instead of Boise.  While riding through the Fremont-Winema National Forest we  saw Lake of the Woods. We stopped in several cities along the way - usually to gas up or eat.  But there were also the many bathroom stops because I always drink more than my bladder can seem to hold.

We arrived in Salt Lake before midnight.  I had not made reservations for lodging as I didn’t know where we would be when Richard became tired.  He insisted on a hotel and not a motel.  I just wanted to sleep and did not have a preference.  Places were booked and we were turned away.  Finally we found lodging in Layton.  I remember looking at the clock before I fell asleep.  It said 4:30 a.m.  What????  And why did we get up early the next morning?

All of our boys used to be early risers.  But two now work graveyard and take advantage of sleeping in.  It was almost like pulling teeth to get them to meet us at the I-HOP the following morning.  And they got more sleep!  But they did both show with their families.  It was good to see all of them. 

After we dropped Jaime off at the church this morning we went to the library. I returned all the audio books we had checked out.  We arrived at the kennel before it opened and decided to get breakfast.  Bonnie was very hyper when we picked her up.  Jai has missed her and will be excited about her return.

240 hours

Ten days have pass

since I have last written

lots of driving 

in the car

a lot of miles

a lot of time.

Spring Break

in the car

10 days to

visit three sons

and three sibs

in the car

Lots of driving

We'd gone north 

to drop off Bonnie 

and then the high school

for parent teacher conference 

and then our way 

out of town

First to Layton

to see Biff and

his wife and

daughter

We ask Tony to

bring his family

as well

 

They drive up from

Salt Lake and we

eat breakfast

11 in all

 

And then we go to Rush –

a family fun center with

overpowering loud music and

neon lights 

bowling, bouncy houses,

lazer tag, arcades, rides,

did I mention LOUD

 

I think it is called RUSH because

you are getting the same kind of rush

that you might get from drugs – or

so I assume. 

I have never done drugs. 

No desire.

I was already disoriented from

being in the car. 

I don’t need further add to the cause

 

Did we have dinner?

Or did we part after Rush? 

I can’t remember. 

I didn’t write it down. 

 

More driving.  Pizza. 

Back to hotel for playing games.

I think that was my favorite day.

Taking over the lobby.

Surprise visit from Aunt Julie.

Monday’s drive to Salt Lake

Trolley Square

Valley Fair Mall

Roland likes to shop

Jai and I would have

liked to ride the train

however we did not.

 

We did reminisce at

West Valley Library

before we got back

into the car and drove to

Su Casa.

My sibs had already

reserved a table.

 

I don’t remember Patrick

having been so tall. 

He’s always been tall,

but not that tall. 

Maybe I shrunk.

 

Jenna is freaking that

Kayla’s kids have grown and

are getting taller still. 

She asked them lots of    

questions as Roland and I

continued to visit with

Patrick, Sunny and Kayla. 

 

When Bill arrived I asked

Roland to trade places

with me so I could more

easily visit with my sibs

while he visited with Bill  - 

who separated his boys.

 

That was our entire

activity in Salt Lake before

we went back to the car  

to spend more time

on the road driving

to St. George.

 

We stayed with Randy and

his family for four nights  

On Tuesday Randy took us

to Pioneer Park. 

We climbed rocks. 

It wore me out.

We then went to

Brigham Young’s Winter home.

 

Randy drove us in the

company truck. 

Roland fixed breakfast three

mornings we were there.

We spent a lot of

time in the car or

the truck on the roads to

go out to eat or

shop or explore

It was dry.  Not hot

but dry

 

Jenna had a nose bleed

I don’t know how I lucked out

The air was not very nice

to either one of us.

Jenna and I had cold

cereal on Friday and

Randy and Roland had

hot cereal. 

We left shortly after that.

 

Next on the agenda

was Las Vegas. 

Normal drive is 1.5 – 2 hours

but longer during construction. 

It took us 3.5 hours!

 

We arrived at Corey and

Joh’s who said

we could spend the night.

After we brought everything in

we went back to the car and

drove on the strip to find and

to explore Coca-Cola and

M&M world

 

We drove some more

as we had tickets to

the Omega Mart

Las Vegas is NOT

a fun place to drive

Omega Mart was trippy

 

Drove back to Corey and Joh’s

Jenna stayed up and

talked with Joh while

Roland and I went to bed.

Corey and Joh wished to

sleep in the following day

Roland, Jenna and I

played a few rounds of spades

before we called them

on the phone as we

(well, mostly Roland)

wanted to load up

the car so that we

could be ready to go

after taking them to IHOP

Our final visit

 

 

More drive

We hit every tiny

town in Nevada on

the way home 

in the car mostly

for nearly 2020 miles

2020?

That sounds familiar,

Doesn’t it?