St. George 2017

We made a spontaneous trip to St. George after a planned weekend of camping turned rainy. Last minute we were able to book the last condo available at WorldMark, and we are so glad we did! It turned out to be a fantastic trip and the boys LOVED it!

We left after work on Friday around 5:30 pm. The boys did well on the drive. We stopped in Cedar City on our way for dinner at Cafe Rio. We enjoyed a gorgeous sunset while we were there. We didn’t arrive at the condo until nearly 9:00 pm. At that point we unloaded the car and walked by the pool. Of course the boys were so excited to swim the next day. We had some very antsy boys that night going to bed. We had a two bedroom condo, so the boys got to share a room across the hall from us.

Saturday morning greeted us with a beautiful sunrise. Life was good! While it was still early (8:30 am) we left for the Red Cliffs Recreation Area for a hike. We wanted to beat the heat. All of our activities were ideas we found on the internet on different blogs. We chose this hike because of the stream that was said to go through it, but unfortunately the stream was all dried up by this time of year. I had no idea that could happen. That was a little disappointing; however, we still had a great time! The boys didn’t know any different, and in all honesty, it probably made it easier overall anyways. The boys loved climbing, finding caves, and seeing lizards. It was perfect weather and a perfect temperature.

After a very successful hike we had pizza for lunch at Riggattis. It was AMAZING pizza and we pretty much had the restaurant to ourselves. Jason and I were raving about it to each other, and in the weeks that followed Charlie brought it up, wanting to go back there. That is saying something. We were happy to learn that they were planning to open one in Lehi.

After lunch we went back to the condo to swim in the pool. That is always a highlight no matter what WorldMark we go to.

Next we went to the All Abilities Park. We had never been there or really heard anything about it, other than seeing some pictures online. Holy cow, we were so impressed! It was so close to our condo and to us it was like Disneyland or Thanksgiving Point, but FREE! It was such an amazing park and it was just beautiful. You just have to go there to really understand how awesome it is. After exploring that park, the boys rode across the street/parking lot on their bike and scooter to a garden park. They rode around that park, which then led us to another park past that one! Park after park after park. So fun! Like I said, the weather was perfect and the scenery was gorgeous. In the September St. George weather I really felt like we could live there and love it (if it had been midsummer, that may have been a different story).

For dinner we went to George’s. This dinner choice was just random and convenience, but we ended up loving that too! It was great food and the boys loved the atmosphere and the music. Charlie kept dancing to the live music and clapping at the end of each song. It was so cute and such a hoot!

We were pooped after a long day, but we were ready for more the next day. Sunday morning we made a pancake breakfast, packed up a bit, and then visited Cottonwood Cove Park. This is another awesome park near the condo that we had been to and loved before, but we were surprised to learn just how close it was to the All Abilities Park. This area is just prime for great parks. We played in the park and rode bikes/scooters along the trail that branches off from it.

a small park at WorldMark

Then it was back to packing and checking out by noon. From there we went to Pioneer Park to climb some red rocks. We got out the drone and got some cool footage. I’m not going to lie, being up there with the boys gave me a bit of a panic attack. I was gripping Colson’s hand like you wouldn’t believe! It was so scary for me. Charlie had an intense moment when he cut his thumb, but luckily he was able to get over it and still enjoy the day. We also saw the gardens and fish across the road. That was pretty cool, but we were pretty spent, hot, and exhausted. It was time to head home. The boys were so sad! Jason and I were really surprised what an impact St. George had on them. They just LOVED it! Colson kept crying on the way home and, the few days that followed, sobbing that he wanted to go back to our new St. George house. Besides dealing with heartbroken children, the drive home was good and fast. We got home just before 7:00 pm.

I’m so grateful we made the effort to make this spontaneous trip to St. George. We hoped the boys would have fun, but didn’t anticipate them falling in love! To date, that is still their favorite vacation spot. Good old St. George, we will just have to make it an annual destination.