Monday, July 15, 2013

Hot, Dusty, and Thoroughly Happy

Last week marked a singular event in our household: we went on an actual vacation! A few months ago, MIL and FIL asked Husband to search for a rental home somewhere within a 500 mile (or so) radius of where we live. Husband found one in Southern Utah, an updated pioneer home that allows pets, has room to sleep all 11 of us, air conditioning, and is very reasonably priced. The in-laws booked it immediately.

As vacation time drew nearer and nearer, all the adults started having second thoughts. We worried about the money, the work I wouldn't be doing, and the cats that would get left behind (MIL had just adopted a new little Siamese kitten who wasn't eating very well). We almost scrapped the entire enterprise. There were two reasons we ended up going: the bitter disappointment the kids would have felt after all that anticipation and the fact that FIL couldn't get a refund so late in the game. Husband and I successfully worked on meeting extra work assignments before we left, so that worry was also eliminated. The Siamese cat (who had been abandoned in this hot weather and was pretty limp and sad when MIL adopted her) was perking up and starting to eat like a ravenously hungry, playful kitten.

Sure, I know that driving to Southern Utah in the middle of the summer sounds like an absolutely insane thing to do, but we're just crazy like that. I didn't care anything for the heat because ROAD TRIP!! Have I mentioned that I love road trips? I love road trips. What with the price of gas, the longest road trips I've been on in the last few years are to The Big City and back, which isn't enough of a distance to in any way adequately satisfy my wanderlust. But this, this was five-and-a-half hours of driving the scenic back roads to the St. George area, looking out the window, and enjoying the sensation of stretching your legs during rest stops. There were also any variety of non-nutritious snacks to enjoy along the way. I love road trips (have I mentioned that?).

Rather than bore you with a day-by-day replay of events, I'll mention the highlights and post some pictures.

  • The house proved to be absolutely perfect. It was spacious, quaint but modern, very clean, and had plenty of room for the dogs to run and play in the fenced backyard. I had only two complaints: the bathrooms were both located in bedrooms, so that meant a lot of traffic in what would otherwise be considered private spaces; and the air conditioning was so powerful that I was actually wishing I had a sweater while it was 110 deg. F (43 deg. C) outside. If it was pleasantly cool downstairs, it was uncomfortably warm upstairs where the kids were sleeping, so we kept it at arctic temps downstairs and slept under all the covers at night. That's not really a complaint, though, since no air conditioning at all would have made for a very miserable week.
  • Samson, the in-laws' crotchety but lovable old black labrador, had to go to the vet the morning after we arrived, where it was discovered that he had a malignant-looking tumor growing on his spleen and that his spleen had burst at some point during the last 24 hours. Poor Sam was bleeding into his abdomen, which explained his disinterest in food or water or walking since he had arrived. Given his age and condition, MIL and FIL made the hard decision to put him down, and by this time he had already collapsed onto the floor of the clinic, each breath rattling in and out. It was a very sad event in an otherwise fun time.
  • It was hot. Hot. Sear your face and bake your head in seconds hot. And then, the last two days, it rained. Flood the earth and require an ark kind of rain. At least the temperature was a little more reasonable when it rained.
  • We tried to visit an abandoned mica mine located somewhere on a dirt road that just barely dipped into Arizona, but recent rains had caused a four foot, fast moving river to develop in a dip of the only road that would allow us access. While we didn't get to visit the mine, we did wander around in the desert for a while looking at rocks and sagebrush.
  • Zion National Park is indescribably beautiful. We took the shuttle up the canyon from Springdale and got a good look at the amazing scenery. Bonus: someone left behind their valid national park ticket, so that saved us the $25 entry fee. We left it behind as well, in case someone else could use it.
  • The kitchen of our house made it easy to prepare meals, so we didn't have to worry about eating out all the time.
  • A good time was had by all and, aside from poor Sam, no one was injured in any way.
Here are some pictures of our trip up Snow Canyon, which is outside St. George.

Sophia, Sian, and Gabrielle read about lava tubes on the information board at our stop at White Rock. 












Gabrielle, Joseph, Sophia, Elannah, Sian, Little Gary, and my nephew from Wales take the trail in search of the lava tubes. MIL made sure they each had their water bottles, but we all decided we wouldn't walk far in the heat. We didn't find any lava tubes, which looked like they had collapsed into black, volcanic rubble. Little Gary was upset about that.




For some reason, I kept feeling like I was in a theme park. I don't know why. No theme park budget or skilled craftsmanship would have been able to cover the extent of the scenery or those hills of sandstone, and the red sand and volcanic rock weren't in any way fake. Maybe I just don't get out enough. More road trips would easily dispel any future false theme park impressions (note to future self).



Nope, this is not a theme park. I'm just going to stand and look at this rock for a while because it is too wonderful not to be stared at and thoroughly appreciated.









Little Gary is wearing MIL's hat and sitting near Joseph. By this point, the heat had overcome MIL, and FIL drove her (with a bag of ice from the cooler held to her face) and Elannah back to the house. The rest of us stayed a little while longer. MIL was fine after sitting in air conditioning for a while. Remember, she's from England, and even though they are currently enjoying a heat wave, it didn't really compare to the temps here. At least it was a dry heat, she said, smiling quietly to herself.
Joseph, Husband, and Little Gary. We poured water over Little Gary's head to keep him from melting. I allow Joseph to make his own wardrobe choices, and though I suggested shorts, he chose black trousers. 

On a side note, we celebrated Joseph's ninth birthday while we were on vacation. He desperately wanted a DSi, which we found for a very reasonable price (along with surprisingly low-priced games) at a pawn shop. Also on a side note, I think I've mentioned that the English accent makes "pawn shop" sound like "porn shop" to my ears. One day a few months ago, MIL called Husband and told him that they were at the pawn shop buying a dolly. I'm still laughing about that. 







Sophia is the cute one on the rock and I'm peaking out at the side. I found a pen in the car and used it to twist my hair up into a bun. That probably saved me from heat exhaustion.









The gang (minus MIL, FIL, and Elannah) climbed a rock to pose in the afternoon sun. 


















It's no wonder that John Ford chose this part of the country to film so many of his Westerns. I kept daydreaming about building a house with a wall of windows just so I could look out into the vast deserty space at all times of the day. That kind of distraction would not be good for writing, but I think I could manage just fine anyway.






Sian and my nephew climbed a hill before we finally left Snow Canyon.



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