After being persuaded to hang around mormon country it's time to move on.

I worked in Yellowstone for 2 summers, 1989 and 1993.  I was a waitress in the Grill, at Grant Village.  It was a great experience both times and I haven't been back since.  So when my mom and sister decided to coordinate a family reunion for Memorial Day weekend next year, which is about a week after Ethan's fifth birthday, I decided that would be a good time to go back up and see how things have changed since the fire of 1988.

Ethan's birthday is the Friday, the week before Memorial Day.  So what I am going to do is go home for the birthday and then head up on Saturday.  Saturday night will be spent in Jackson Hole, WY and then I can hike on Sunday through the Tetons, on the way up to Yellowstone.  Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday nights will be spent in West Yellowstone, MT and this is where the interesting part of the trip starts.  I have been traveling a lot lately, as you all know, and this is the first trip in a while where I am going somewhere familiar and don't feel obligated to plan things to do for three whole days of the trip.  I thought about this yesterday afternoon when I had a few dull moments at work, and planning ahead for a Yellowstone trip is pretty much impossible, beyond the regular "Where am I going to sleep" details.  The weather is unpredictable, roads may or may not be open that early, and the hiking and activities schedule is subject to change at any time.  So this will be a nice change of pace for a vacation, because this gives me the freedom to do what I want, when I want, without having to plan ahead.

Wednesday night I am going to stop in Salt Lake, on the way back home, and then Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights I will be at home, with the family.

And yes, I have already booked the hotels..   Lol!  Why do I feel this compulsive need to plan so far ahead?  I want to buy plane tickets to Orlando, and that's not for another year! 

This is a great venue!

Just a FUN place

We again woke up slow but this time Eric was recruited into making his famous omelets. He had foolishly made them for my folks last time they were in town and they've been dreaming of them ever since. They are wonderful and the best part is I don't have to do anything but tell him what I want in it.

The rest of Sunday was spent watching football and checking in on our fantasy football teams since 3 of the 5 of us are all in a league together. I finished knitting a poncho and matching hat for Eric's niece and once the games were over we packed up fixed the holes our dog dug in the back yard and headed for home. 

Once out of the city we made good time and arrived at my parent’s house at 7pm and the drinking and eating began immediately. The family had already done the shopping and asked only that we bring the beer since Utah's liquor is controlled by the state and the beer is all 3/2 beer and as such has less alcohol.

* I'm going to add a little note here. My parent’s beer fridge was completely bare and therefore all the beer we brought was warm and frankly I don't enjoy warm beer. I had recently watched a Mythbusters where they cooled beer down by putting it in a cooler with ice and then covering the ice with salt (chemistry at work) and wouldn't you know it, it works. Our beer had ice on it in 10 minutes way faster than putting it in the freezer, just looking out for you!

Our friends Jessika and Mike arrived shortly after us to make the party complete. Dad made shrimp and chicken on the barbeque and mom made a wonderful spinach, mozzarella, walnut and mandarin orange salad. Unfortunately she forgot the oranges so Eric and I ran to the store to get a few extra's including desert and the oranges but as they were our original mission we naturally forgot them. Somehow the night went on without them. We all sat around chatting, playing cards and laughing into the night. Although St. George is only 2 hours away it seems such a world away from Las Vegas, everyone knows there neighbors, my parents feel comfortable leaving their doors unlocked or their motorcycle parked in the driveway (something I'd never do in Las Vegas), yards are green and well manicured and the weather is always 10-15 degrees cooler, it's just beautiful.

My parents took some friends who claimed to be sushi connoisseur but if that’s the case then apparently I’ve never had really good sushi and I never want it, I'll stick with the sushi I've been eating. The place was packed with a line out the door, but considering it was Saturday night and therefore date night in St. George that didn't say much. The sushi was clearly frozen and not fresh (not surprising as St. George isn't exactly a hub of cultural activity ) I was shocked they had sushi at all I should've known better. There was no variance from the menu and the menu was very limited not to mention pricey. I thought I'd try the hibachi since the sushi didn't have much to offer, wouldn't you know it neither did the hibachi. I settled on teriyaki chicken, I love to watch the chef's work and this one was no slacker but sadly my chicken was over cooked and dry. Jessika complained that she did not receive enough steak and Mike not enough scallops. What Eric and I did split in sushi was less than impressive and we left with a healthy bill all the same. So now my parents have been given to opposing opinions, but considering it may be there only option I don't suppose it will change there opinion and since they don't eat sushi I suppose they will continue to go.

When we got back to St. George we went to Sushi 21 which my parents really like for the Hibachi Grille and have heard the sushi is really good (since they don't eat sushi they didn't know). I can say that the company was really good. After dinner Jessika and Mike had to head back to Las Vegas but we stayed and enjoyed my parents’ hospitality for another night enjoying a movie and good company.

The flexibility of Greyhound's Discovery Pass has payed off. Anette and me were preparing ourselfs to spend 15 hours on the bus from Flagstaff to Salt Lake City, after having to acknowledge that doing all the fantastic parks of southern Utah, just wasn't possible without a car. Sitting waiting for a bus at midnight isn't the greatest thing, so we were both quite grumpy, trying hard to ignore the long line in front of us, which might fill up the bus before we could get to the gate, when we were joined by two italian guys we had met on the hostel arranged trip to Sedona, and I had hung out with the night before. They were on the same bus as us, but getting off in St. George, apparantly the town working as base for trips to Zion and Bryce. They didn't know how they'd get to the national parks, but confident something would come their way. A bit different attitude towards travelling than ours... Anette and me debated in the bus; I had already said that I'd love to see the parks again since I didn't have much time with GT (+ the wheather had been terrible) and really thought Anette would love them, sharing a car four people would be fairly cheap since the guys had passed the magic age of 25. So when the guys got ready to leave the bus in St. George we jumped off as well, not giving them much chance to refuse our company ;-)

We found a car, headed to Zion, where the sun was shining, I could barely recognise it! It's not that it was more beautiful, just different because of the sharp sunshine. First we did a short, but steep, hike up to a small hidden canyon which was fantastic since it wasn't a main attraction and it felt like we were the only humans for miles.

Off course we had to do the Narrows as well, which is definetely the most popular route in Zion; it's an easy short paved trail into the narrow part of the canyon. On the way we saw a little deer family grasing and sweat little squirrels tricking food from the tourists. At the end of the trail you can walk further in the river, and so we did for a mile or so. Luckily Anette chose to stay behind after a little while in the muddy river, so we could leave all our stuff with her, because at a point I had to swim a little bit, and I don't think my camera had been too pleased with that... It was amazing, and we kept wanting to know what was around the next bend, but realising it continued for 16 miles, we turned around.

St. George as a town has few offerings that interested me, but Zion National Park, just an hour plus away, is always worth a drive. The majesty of the canyons and solitude there is very peaceful.