Clay and more fun times in St George

Clay, Allison and their family came to visit us here in St George for several days last week. We had a busy time with lots of fun things to do.

The City of St George's Parks and Recreation Department is very busy in finding innovative things for the folks here to do. The "Sunset on the Square" takes place every other Friday night.

Every one brings blankets or lawn chairs and enjoys a movie in Town Square Park. They have just acquired a old rebuilt Carousal for the kids to ride on. Their are group games to play before the movie starts. The "Blue Bunny Ice Cream Company", their factory is here in St George, supplies cheap Ice Cream.

We watched the Movie "Fly Boys" a new soon to be distributed movie made here in St George. It was pretty good, lots of action. Aaron really liked it because it was about a couple of kids being forced to fly and land a airplane after everyone else bailed out.

The Clay Glad's like to go to Sand Hollow lake while they are here. It is very unusual in that a large sand dune ends up in the lake. The contrast between the red sand and the blue water is very nice. The lake is quite shallow by the dune and it takes a long walk in the water to have the water come up to your shoulders, which is very good for little kids. The water is also quite warm, The lake water was almost 90 degrees when we were there.

One of the best places to visit in Zion National Park is Weeping Rock. The water from rain and snow melt, on the top of the Canyon Percolates through the sandstone until it reaches a different layer of rock that is harder and then it comes out through the interface between the two types of rock causing a area where the water drips out over a shallow cavity. The water is very pure after being filtered though the sand stone for such a long distance. They have done a study where they used the permeability of the stone and the height of the rock to come up with the time for the water to move from the top of the cliff through the stone and come out at at the bottom of the canyon, some where around 1,000 years.

We left the kids in the care of Cody and went to Tuachan to see the musical "Grease" it was very good. They several used old cars from the sixty's as props for many of the scenes. They used a picture of "South High School" , where I went, for a backdrop. The music was great but I have always been uncomfortable with the theme of the show, since I was a child of that age and did not like ending where Sandy let Her standards down.

Angel's family comes to visit

Angel, Nathan, Megan and Tyler came to St George so spend time with us as Roy had to go for a week back east for his work. We had a great time spending time with the grand kids.

We went to Town Square Park several times to cool off. The park has a fountain which changes the squirts with time. It is fun for the kids to run through. There is also a "lazy River" That the kids like to run through.

We went to a is a special place, that we know of, to collect Petrified Wood. Everyone was able to find lots of pieces, then as we went home, we drove by Gunlock Reservoir. This had been a very wet year so the lake is overflowing the spillway. This is a special treat that only comes after a very wet cycle. The spillway water is a natural flow with many waterfalls and pools in the red rock. many people come to play in the water.

We took this picture of the grand kids at the Snow Canyon over look just prior to returning from our petrified wood trip.

One of the best places to go in Zion Park is the Emerald Pools. It takes a short hike to see the waterfalls that cascade down from the middle pools to the lower pool. The trail goes behind the falls so it is a special treat. The middle pools are at the top of the cliff where the water from the pools causes the waterfalls. The pools are at the edge of the cliff so the water flows directly off causing the waterfalls.

Megan and Nathan at the Middle Pools. Tyler with his stick in the background

Marlene on the Trail.

We parked by the Visitors Center took the bus to the trail head and then returned for a nice picnic supper.

Snow Canyon overlook

Snow Canyon Over look.

We went to Razor Ridge park to fish. The kids liked to spend time with Grandpa seeing how many fish we could catch. The first trip all we caught was Bluegill. There are lots of them in the pond but are too small to eat. Nathan caught three trout on the next trip they were taken home to eat later. He cleaned one of the fish with some help from Grandpa. The last fishing trip Megan and Grandpa caught two trout each, their limit, while Nathan got lots of Bluegill. It is fun to fish at the pond because there is always lots of fish to catch even if most of them are small Bluegill.

We had a special treat in that we went out for a buffet dinner at the "Golden Corral".

There was lots of food to choose from and every one could choose his favorite. The kids had Blue cotton candy to finish off the meal. Grandpa liked the steak and the sauteed Shrimp with Alfredo sause over rice.

It was a great week for everyone.

July 4

The Fourth of July for us this year in St George was great. It was a little cooler than normal with just very light rain for a short time. We went to the St George City Parade, not a really big deal, with some commercial floats with lots of candy for the kids along the route. The Alexander family, some of our friends, went with us. Their three year old had a really great time chasing the candy. The Parade went around the city park just a block north of the Temple parking lot. There was a lot of events in the Park, Hot Dog and Water Mellon eating contest ect. Many Booths has been set up in the Park selling food and other goodies. We had a great time sitting in our lawn chairs just visiting with our friends.

We had lunch at home as it was staring to warm up outside. Mesquite, a half hour drive away, was hosting a special event. The Nevada Pops Orchestra put on a concert staring at 9:00 PM for one hour. We took our lawn chairs and were able to get in the front row. They played patriotic songs. Many John Philips Sousa numbers and some Glen Miller numbers. It was great. The Fire Works started at ten. The Orchestra continued to play as the sky was bright with the display. There was some, new to me, fire works. It was kind of cool to have unexpected stuff in the sky.

When we left we found that there were folks all over the hills and parking lots in the area. The traffic was so heavy that it took us twenty minuted to get back on the street. Having our lawn chair on the center front row was great. It pays to arrive early, put your chairs up and then enjoy the Barbecue Buffet before the show.

When I review the events of the day, I think the best part may have been sitting around in the shade visiting and our afternoon nap. I think that I am getting Old !!!!.