Desert Flowers

We thought that it would be fun to take a trip to enjoy all the desert wild flowers that are so abundant in the St George area this time of year. The Red Cliff National Recreation Area is near Leeds, on the Freeway before you go up the hill to Cedar City. It was a very good choice There are several fun trails to hike. The small meandering stream makes small pools and waterfalls as it descends to the valley below.

The wild flowers were in their best as the weather has warmed and we have had several rain storms the last few days

There was a large Tree Cholla on the trail. It is rather rare in this part of Utah.

The Scarlet Hedgenette grows near the stream where it is shady and moist.

The color of the Globe Mallow is exceptional, the plant has many many flowers and loves the Heat and Sun. They grow in large groups.

If a person looks in and around the sage type of brush you will find some Desert Primrose peeking out

The Desert Marigold is very abundant and in some locations make the whole hillside turn yellow.

It is truly amazing what the desert can look like when nature's best is all dressed up at this time of year.

Lets go fly a kite, hopefully

There is a annual Kite Festival in St George, it is a great event with thousands of people involved. They stage it in a large grassy area that is normally used as a driving range and park. Many school buses are used to carry folks from the parking lots to the Kite Flying Park. It is very much like a County Fair with entertainment, rides, lots of booths selling food ect.

Marlene and I went with some of our friends, set up our camp chairs and waited and waited and waited, no wind. It was so calm that the flags at the end of the field did not stir.

There was games for the little kids, home made ice cream, Navajo Tacos. Every one waited and waited, No wind.

The kids ran around with their kites dragging behind. Mom and dads cheered them on, no wind.

Marlene and I walked over to the pavilion where the entertainment was going on and listened to groups sing and dance. There was some groups with pre-teen age girls and boys singing their hearts out while all of the mom and dads cheered them on, no wind.

There was some helium filled balloons, that some forward thinking dads tied to kites, good idea but no go!

We went and had some Pizza, had a great time talking and sitting in the shade. We had a very successful day. When we got home the kids in on our street were running up and down still trying to get kites to fly. We found that no matter how much you run around kites will still not fly unless there is some wind.

I think this is somehow how life is? We some times try to fly a kite with no wind and are frustrated and disappointed, but we can still enjoy the sun shine and then sit in the shade and eat pizza and have a wonderful time even at a Kite Festival with out any wind.

Soccer, Birthday, and donkeys

General Conference is a time to be spent with family so Marlene and I drove to California to be with Roy and Angel's. Tyler celebrated his birthday while we were there. Angel had made a special birthday cake with a monster truck on the top of it. Tyler's main gift to to go to a Monster Truck Rally in the near future. We played Conference Bingo, Mom made notes of everything that was said. Roy, I and Nathan went to the Priesthood Session. It was Nathan's first time.

The Truck was removed before the cake was consumed.

Saturday was Soccer day for the Tyler and Megan. It was great to be there and watch them play ball. Megan's team it called the Crushers and they are really good they won the game by a score of 7-2. Tyler's game was not so competitive, at that young age they don't keep the score so it was fun to fun

On the way back to St George we spent a few days at Laughlyn, Nevada which is in the Southeast corner of the state where Nevada, California and Arizona join. We visited Oatman Arizona a old ghost type of town that is about twenty miles away from Laughlyn. They stage a gun fight in the street several times a day and there are lots of small shops that Marlene likes.

Some the Mules were left when the Gold Mining was stopped and are now wild. The Mules come in to town looking for food, many of the stores sell carrots. Marlene had fun with them even though she thought that they had too many flies.

We went on a Paddle Wheel Boat up and down the Colorado River, had lots of Buffet Meals then It was back home to St George.