Snow Canyon State Park 2013

Our Annual UEA, or nowa days they call it Fall Recess, found me and my Sweetheart near St George, Utah at Snow Canyon State Park. I always thought the park was named because right at very the top of the canyon is the white rocks, that might look like snow from a distance. Nope it was named for Lorenzo Snow, 5th President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I hope he enjoyed this area as much as we did.

We drove down on Thursday, 17 Oct, and set up camp. After everything was in order, I wanted to make sure I had done the most important job of the week. Camp chair, sunshine, sunglasses and I grabbed my camera just before grabbing her book

and diet coke.

After a short relaxing rest we headed out for a beautiful hike. Of course I had brought my GPS and we chased after several Geocaches while spending time together. We had walked about an hour and spied a gorgeous bouquet out in the middle of this desert. I know it had been placed here by the Grand Floral Designer. In this photo, there are at least two different cacti and then this very delicate yellow flowering bush. 

 The Cacti all had sucked that poor little basalt rock bone dry too.

We loved to hike and bike around the park. On Friday we went out to Three Ponds chasing after a geocache and it turned out to be our prettiest and most fun hike. We had been told it was about two miles round trip but by the time we got back it was closer to 4.8 miles RT and a lot later then we had expected to get back. The last 3/4 mile was dark but as we rounded a bend we thought someone had hit us with their spot light. Turned out to be the full moon rising in the east. I had to stop and get a picture of it, which made it a little later and darker when we got back to camp. It really was a lot darker than this picture makes it look.

In the mornings we were entertained by the birds. Scrub Jays were the funniest and the most daring. We tried to put nuts on the table to see if they'd come grab them while we ate breakfast. Many were tempted but none actually tried. They would though, eat the nuts we threw on the ground around us. Then when we got up to clean and put the food away, they'd swoop in and grab the nuts off the table when we weren't looking.

On Saturday we went into St George and rode our bikes on the Riverside path. As always, my biking buddy is one good looking woman. I'm glad we like doing so many things together.

We hid two geocaches for others to find and we also had to stop and let this guy cross the road before us.

And what is a trip to St George area without stopping at the temple. Even outside, shooting the pictures from the driver's seat, this place brings a special feeling to my heart. The sun was settling down in the west and so it caused a little challenge taking a good photo, but perhaps you know how it is when ever you're near a temple. 

We rode past this next creature and couldn't believe what we saw. We turned around to get a better look, all the while

we're thinking someone has placed a huge plastic Great Blue Heron out near this pond. We looked again and almost started to laugh that someone had fooled us so badly, when the bird turned it's head to look at us. We about fell over. It stood there for the longest time on one foot. It was so unbelievable that the next day we both had to go by the pond again to make sure it wasn't still there tricking everyone who passed. It was gone.

The last thing I'll blog about is the moon this trip. About a week before we left we noticed the moon was nearly a full moon. We wondered if it would be full when we came camping. Yep it was. So full, so bright, so marvelous. In the middle of the night, when one of us had to get up to go pottie, we would both get up and walk over to the restrooms, just to enjoy the beauty. It was like a super bright street light, that lit up the whole neighborhood. It was so bright, the rocks and trees and sky still had color at "O Dark Thirty" We loved those short quick trips and back and will look back on this trip with many fun and wonderful memories. Thanks Sweetie for letting me tag along. I Love You Forever.

Sunday Morning view from our tent as we awoke and knew we'd return to this land of color on another day. I can't wait. 

"God took all the left overs from the Creation, dumped it here, and then set it on fire."

We are so blessed to live in such a beautiful place.