St. George Getaway!

I'm recapping our short 2 night adventure to St. George today! Normally, every summer, we pack up and head to Oregon for a week or so in the summer. We all love a good road trip and seeing family. However, with Covid we decided to skip our annual Oregon getaway this summer. We are hoping we can go this fall, fingers crossed! However, when online school officially turned into summer, both AJ and I were itching to get out of town. We are still taking social distancing seriously and wanted a fairly contact-free getaway, in state, and preferibly a place where could lounge pool-side. I searched AirBnb and VRBO religiously in May and was able to score a cute little cottage in St. George with its own private pool (It was actually the guest house of a larger home).It was booked solid all summer except for the middle of last week. Done and done! 

We left mid-morning for the 4 hour drive and arrived in the afternoon. On the way from Salt Lake to St. George is a tiny town called Parowan where Meri from Sister Wives on TLC owns a Bed and Breakfast. It was all closed up, but yours truly insisted we stop and check it out. (In my defense, we did need a  gas stop anyway!)  

It was still a bit early to check out our place, so we drove around a bit and checked out this cool park I've heard about called Thunder Junction. Guys, this was the coolest place. It was WAY too hot at that time to let Hank play, but we did a quick stroll through and promised him we'd return the next morning. We found our rental, settled in, picked up some groceries like milk and drinks, ordered some amazing pizza from a place called Regattis, and then swam and played in the pool till bedtime! We brought some floaties and toys but the place also had all kinds of rafts and pool fun we could use. 

The next day we were up and at 'em early. I was a little nervous because Hank has only ever slept on vacation in a pack and play (it's Oregon grandparents) but he slept in bed with us and did just great. Whew! We wanted to get to Thunder Junction right when it opened to enjoy it with less crowds and less than 80 degrees. We learned you have until about 11 to be outside and then it's just too hot--like over 100! We stopped for coffee on the way at this cute cafe (thanks Yelp) and I had an oat milk hazelnut white chocolate cold brew (it was their special) and it was oh so delish. Hank had a great time and we rode the little train around the park. It was pretty quiet that early. We found another fun park with a playground and pretty gardens that we walked around and explored. 

We went into "downtown" St. George to check it out, but by then it was like noon and we were all tired and hungry. We came back to our cottage and had leftover pizza. We all laid down for naps, but yours truly proceeded to read for the next few hours! We headed back out to the pool and played and swam until dinner time. We picked up these amazing wraps from this place my friend Tracy told me about called Viva Chicken. It was soooo good! 

This statue made us laugh because Hank reads on his belly like that 

After our takeout dinner, we found a fun soccer park and Hank had a blast kicking his ball around and running. After the morning park adventure, swimming, and all that running, he was one tired toddler! We stopped on the way home at Rowley's Red Barn for ice cream. The perfect sweet ending to a super sweet day! The cottage had this cute shaded area with a hammock so when it cooled down a bit in the evening, I took advantage of the space for some quiet "me time!" Heaven! 

The next morning we went on a quick walk on a paved trail and then headed home---tan, tired, and happy. These covid days are so hard and with cases on the rise, it's super scary and uncertain. A little time away in the desert beauty was such a wonderful gift. We already can't wait to visit again! 

Savor Your Sparkle,

Leslie