Last Days

Greetings Family and Friends,

Well, here it is the last day of February and our St. George adventure is winding down.   In the picture at the right, you can see we just couldn't resist one last dip in the hot tub at the clubhouse in Sports Village.     It was a nice last night in our condo.   We did some last loads of wash and packed up the car this morning.   We sadly closed the door to our condo at about 11:00.



We decided to spend a couple hours strolling the streets of the historical center of St. George.
At the right is a picture of Bob in front of the old, one room jailhouse.   It still has the original bars on the windows!








The second picture is a statue of what they call the
"Watermaster".  In St. George, as in all of Utah, it's all about water.   This area is filled with neat statues of different sorts and that charming waterfall and stream meanders all through several square blocks.   Quite pretty and charming.








The third picture is taken in front of one of the best places to eat in St. George.   It is called the Painted Pony-hence the interesting horse sculpture!  Roger and Marsha-we have to investigate this place next year!    Looks very neat.










After we left the city of St. George we drove out to an area that we had explored a bit a week ago.   It is called the Red Cliffs Recreation Area.   It was such a gorgeous day!    We ate our picnic lunch, hiked to some Anasazi Indian ruins and even ran into some people from Richland Center!   They actually even knew
Deb's cousin Rod Perry very well!     And their daughter is an archaeologist and lives quite near Scott and Sam.   Small world.






This area is literally 10 miles outside the city limits of St. George.   We have been continually amazed at the wealth of places to go and things to do all within such a short drive from the city!    It certainly doesn't hurt that the weather has been wonderful to experience it all.


After we left the Red Cliffs area we headed into the small city of Hurricaine where we will stay tonight.   Checked into our hotel and immediately headed off to the nearby golf course for Bob to have his last round  on these beautiful courses.   At the left is a picture of him as he ends the round as the sun begins to set in red rock country.   Doesn't get much better than this.  

We are settled into our hotel room watching American Idol (which just happens to be at the Mirage in Las Vegas where we saw the Cirque du Soleil!).     Looking forward to tomorrow when Karen (Bob's sister) and her husband Kenn will drive up from Vegas.   We will spend a few hours with them going to Zion National Park.   Check out the blog tomorrow.   It is supposed to be a gorgeous day and Zion will be amazing.

Hugs to Everyone.

Bob and Debbie

Hitting the Trail

Well, when you are in Utah, guess you have the urge to become a cowboy!   Yesterday when we were hiking yesterday we saw a group of horseback riders and that's all it took for us to be hooked.    We came right back to the condo and started researching options.   Lo and behold, the best option was a trail ride through Snow Canyon.   We knew how beautiful it was out there, so it didn't take us much time to decide it was a yes.   We headed to out to the canyon at 11:00 and our ride started soon after that.   It was a peaceful and beautiful ride.  

 The good news is that we could all even walk quite well when we got of our horses!

Jeff and Ruth are quite excited right now as Ruth's son Nick and his wife, Brianna have surprised them with a visit.   Nick is a Marine and stationed in San Diego, so they decided to hop in their car and join us for a night.   Great for them to get together and we are happy to be a part of the mini reunion.

We will blog more tonight after we get back from our little tour of St George with Nick and Bri.

The Utah Troops

Hiking and Petroglyphs

Greetings to Everyone.

Jeff and Ruth (Deb's brother and sister-in-law) arrived on Thursday night.   They had a long day of travel from Wisconsin to get to Las Vegas and then drive north to St. George.   This morning we headed out to explore two areas very close to the city.  At the right you can see some ancient Anasazi petroglyphs.   We had a long hike to get to
the area where the drawings were located, but it was worth the hike.
We were told that these drawings were created about 1100 AD.   They are etched into the rock and the black surface on the rock is called dessert varnish.   It takes centuries to cover the surface of the rock.

The picture above is Jeff and Ruth deep in what is called a slot canyon.   It is in Snow Canyon State Park which is literally on the edge of the city.   We hiked here and also on another trail where climbed up on some pure white rocks.  You can see a picture of this below.  

Needless to say our legs are tired tonight, but it was a good day here is St. George.   We look forward to more adventures tomorrow.

Toodles,

Bob, Deb, Jeff and Ruth

Hiking Snow Canyon

Hi All,

Scott and Sam joined us today and tomorrow to get a taste of St. George area.  We spent the afternoon hiking some of the trails at Snow Canyon State Park.  The first trail we explored was Lava Flow.  The picture at the right shows Ben and Hunter in a Lava Flow.

 The next trail (shown above) was called Pioneer Names.  As you reach the sandstone cliff we saw hikers and rock climbers.  As you look up you can see the names of three early pioneers that have put their name on the wall using axle grease.  One of the names of the Morman settlers was dated 1894.  The picture at the right is the last trail we hiked.  It was called Jenny's Canyon.  After a short hike we reached a slot canyon and another branch of the trail took us to the overlook.  Hunter discovered a lizard hiding in the rocks and spent time trying to catch it, but the lizard won out. Scott and Sam and family leave tomorrow.  We have enjoyed the grandkids' visit and had lots of adventures.  Many memories for them and us.  That's part of our reason in being in St. George.  We are over the halfway point of our stay and it still feels new and fun.  We look forward to Jeff and Ruth arrival on the weekend.

Goodbye for now, love to all.

Bob and Deb

Lazy Days in St George

 Greetings Everyone.

Well, we have "kidnapped" 3 of our grandchildren from their parents and are enjoying some fun times here in sunny St. George.   On Wednesday this week, we went to a local wildlife museum and saw hundreds of full-sized mounted animals from all over the world.  It was quite amazing.    After lunch at the condo, we enjoyed exploring the clubhouse here at the Sports Village complex. Mini golf, fooseball, ping pong, air hockey, basketball, baseball, etc etc.   The pool is under some winter maintenance, so we are eagerly awaiting Friday when it is supposed to be ready    for us.                                                                      
 The picture at the top shows the kids enjoying the warm sunshine on the sidewalk in front of our condo later that afternoon.  

On Thursday we experienced a really unique place.   The picture at the right shows the kids at the Dinosaur Track Discovery Center here is St. George.   It has a few dinosaur bones, but is mostly the site of hundreds of preserved dinosaur tracks-in fact the largest concentration of such things in the entire world.   The site was discovered years ago during some excavation and the decision was made to preserve the entire area for research and study.   They just built the museum around it!   The kids enjoyed the museum, but they were all "inspired" to become young archaeologists.   They used some of the souvenir $ they had gotten from Mom and Dad and each bought a mini dino dig kit.   They literally spent hours carefully digging and brushing  through small slabs of plaster for "dinosaur parts" and "fossils".   As you can see from Hunter's picture below, they were truly enthralled by the process.                              

                                                                              After we finally pried the kids away from their digging, Bob and Hunter headed off for the nearby golf course for a round of play.   Kate, Ben and Grandma enjoyed some time out in the warm sunshine at the playground and then came home to make home made egg rolls and heart shaped brownies for our Valentine's Day dinner.   The sun set beautifully once more over St. George and we enjoyed some Skypeing with the Metcalfs and the kids finished watching The Lion King .   Bedtime and tea for the old folks.  


We hope all is well with friends and family.   We are certainly enjoying our days here in this beautiful corner of Utah.   So far we couldn't have asked for better weather.   Warm days, cool nights and no precipitation.   From what we hear, certainly not the same back in Wisconsin!  

Hugs to all,

Bob, Debbie, Kate, Hunter and Ben                          

On To Las Vegas

 Greetings Everyone.

On Sunday, February 10, we headed south toward Las Vegas.   We decided that we would do some sightseeing around Lake Mead and Hoover Dam before we checked into our hotel in Vegas.   We stopped for lunch at a wayside along Lake Mead.   As we were leaving the picnic area we looked out our windows and  caught sight of this fellow and two of his friends.   They came so close to our car!   We have never seen a coyote in the wild, so needless to say we were excited.   We figured they were on their way to our picnic

  area to see if we left any goodies behind!  

Then we worked our way down to Hoover Dam. What a marvel it is!   The picture at the right is taken from a wonderful walkway which is a fairly new overlook of the dam.   Quite the sight.   Then we drove down toward the dam along those roads that you can see on the left.      First we drove across the top of the dam on a new road and then we parked and walked along the upper edge as well.   We learned a lot about the construction of the dam.   It was started right in the middle of the depression.   They had to divert the Colorado River while they were building it.   It is certainly an amazing engineering feat.



Then it was on to Las Vegas.   We checked in at the Monte Carlo and then headed out to explore The Strip.     Hard to describe all the lights and glitz you see in that compact area.   We worked our way to the north end of the strip and the Mirage.   There we had dinner and then stayed for a performance by Cirque de Soleil.   It was called LOVE and was centered around all Beatles music.  It would be hard to describe what this performance was-part music, part high-tech special effects, part story, and a lot of acrobatics.   The show lasted 90 minutes and we felt nearly out of breath when it was all done.   We never knew where the people were going to come from-out of the floor, from the sides and from the ceiling.   It was quite the show.

We then worked our way back to the Monte Carlo, stopping at the Bellagio to see the famous dancing water fountains.  The picture certainly doesn't do it justice, but you get the idea.   After a few minutes of trying our hands at the slot machines, we headed to bed.

This morning we had breakfast together and the Nolls bid farewell the Andersons.   Roger and Marsha will spend tonight in Vegas and fly out on Tuesday morning.   It has been a great week.  We have so enjoyed our time together.   We have seen such a variety of amazing natural sights and had lots of fun and laughs in between.  

For us Nolls, it is back to St. George to get ready for a busy and fun week with our grandkids-Kate, Hunter and Ben.   We will be meeting them tomorrow afternoon and then bring them back here to our condo for about a week.   We are hoping that it works out that Scott and Sam can join us for a day or two before we send the kids back home.   It is quite cool here today-45-but supposed to be back near 60 by the weekend.

Hope all is well with everyone.

Love and hugs,

Bob and Deb

      

Snow Day

Greetings from the Nolls and the Andersons from atop the Sand Pitch Mountains at about 10,000 feet!   What an adventure we had getting to this beautiful spot.   We arrived at Scott and Sam's home up in the mountains just outside Nephi, Utah at about 1:00 on Thursday afternoon.   We sat and chatted for a while and then we old folks got talked into a snowmobile adventure up Log Canyon road which runs directly up the mountain behind the ranch house.   As you can see in the picture at the right, we had to share our snowmobiles.   On the right you can see Roger and Marsha with Hunter. In the foreground you can see Bob and Deb with Ben.   Scott and Sam were taking the picture and had Katie with them.   To say it was a white-knuckle ride would be a bit of an understatement-especially for us rookie snowmobilers!    Roger and Marsha are seasoned riders and of course Scott and Sam are always up for a thrill, but for Bob and Deb life got really exciting for a while.   When we were all safely back at the ranch we could honestly say it was all worth it, but there were moments...


Marsha took the picture at the right of Scott and Sam's new house.  It was a view we had as we came down the mountain.    What a beautiful setting they have.  We traveled over to the house and got to see the progress.   Things are moving along well and their whole family is certainly looking forward to actually being in the home.

Scott and Sam then made us a wonderful dinner and there was some terrific after-dinner entertainment.  Katie and Sam had worked on a stick puppet play of Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves.  It was so fun and we were most impressed with the performance.   Then the 3 kids sang a song for us that they have learned in their voice lessons.   So cute-it made Grandma Debbie cry!

We stayed overnight at a hotel in Nephi and headed back to St, George this afternoon.
We had a lazy afternoon with take out pizza for supper.  Tomorrow will be a low key affair as well and then on Sunday morning we will head for Las Vegas for our last couple days before the Andersons head back to Wisconsin.   Hard to believe our week is nearly over.   It has been great fun.

Toodles to everyone.

Bob, Deb, Roger and Marsha

A Day at Bryce Canyon and Kodachrome State Park

It is hard to believe that each day could possibly get any better, but that just seems to be the case with this Southwest journey of ours.   We left our condo this morning at about 9:30.   It is now 6:00 PM.   We were just commenting that we have only traveled 125 miles, but Oh the things we have seen!   The top picture was taken at an area called Red Canyon.   As you can see, we had traveled up quite a bit in elevation as there was snow all around.   Roger was nearly beside himself with the look of all the snowmobile trails. We all knew exactly what he was wishing!   As you can see in the picture, sometimes the road just had to go through the rock!

The second picture is a wonderful view down into Bryce Canyon.   The structure you see in the center is the famous Thor's Hammer.   It was magical to see all those hoodoos covered with that light frosting of snow.   We ended the day coming back to the same lookout at sunset.   The colors were so different and the shadows were almost eerie.




The bottom picture is taken at a park called Kodachrome State Park.   One ranger told us that in any other state this would be a national park, but it can't quite compete with Bryce and Zion.   It was so unique.   We hiked up to this overlook.   The park is filled with strange sand formations.   We were the only people in the park.   It certainly makes you feel like you are in God's country when you seem to be so far from any real civilization.  

We are staying tonight in a place called Ruby's Inn.   It was the first lodging here at Bryce Canyon.   Very rustic looking lodge and comfortable rooms.    We will head back toward St. George tomorrow and hope to spend the afternoon exploring the historic city center.   Might even take in some entertainment at the Morman Temple.  

Bob, Deb, Marsha and Roger

This is from Debbie:   A special hello to two groups of folks.   First of all, hello to all my friends at the Jefferson County Literacy Council.   I hope you are following along with me on my adventure.   Hope everything is well back home.   We hear there has been lots of snow.

Second hello is to all my friends in Mrs. Rawinski's 4th grade class at Barrie School in Fort Atkinson.  I hope all is well there and that Mr. Rawinski is doing a good job listening to your book reports.   Maybe he will want to take over my job!  

Mrs. Noll

A Day at Zion

Greetings Family and Friends.

Today we explored Zion National Park.   It is another beautiful day in southern Utah.   The temps down in the valley by St. George are in the 60's and even up in the park it was sunny and mild-we only needed sweatshirts or sweaters.   The park is so peaceful at this time of year.   We probably only saw a total of about 50 other people the entire 2 hours we were in the park.

We ended our tour with lunch at a charming, eclectic cafe called Oscar's  in Springdale (a small town just at the entrance to the park).    We shared a fantastic one pound delight called a BigA**Burger and some mahi mahi fish tacos.   Topped it all off with some local beers-St. Provo Pilsner and Polygamy Porter!   Apparently the Mormans have no trouble making beer for all of us non-Morman folks!

Tomorrow we head to Bryce Canyon and all the other interesting points along the way.   We plan to stay in Boulder, Utah tomorrow night.   It will be another wonderful adventure for sure.

B, D, R and M

The Andersons Have Arrived

Sunday dawned a bit overcast and cool.   We even had a few raindrops on the way to Las Vegas to pick up our traveling buddies, Roger and Marsha Anderson.   The drive was very interesting.   We felt like we were driving "downhill" all the way.   Rugged, desert-like terrain and not much civilization for many miles.  The skies cleared and the temps rose and by the time we met at the Vegas airport it was sunny and 68!    Stopped for lunch at a little diner and then headed north to St. George.   We settled in a bit and had a cold beer, then headed out for a drive.   This is a picture of the Andersons in Snow Canyon.   The sun was just beginning to set and it was still close to 60.   Nice.    Back to the condo for a steak dinner and watching the Super Bowl.   The Andersons have been up since 3, so we won't be partying to late tonight.

Tomorrow we will head to Zion National Park and some areas right around St George.   Have our fingers crossed for a bright, sunny day.

So long till tomorrow,

The Nolls and Andersons

Awesome scenes in St. George

 Our second day in St. George started with a great sunrise off our deck.  You can see changing levels of the plateaus that form the Grand Staircase.  After lunch we decided to drive out to Snow Canyon State Park, which is about 5 miles northwest of St. George.  The second picture is a bronze sculpture of a cowboy and wild horses located near the entry to Snow Canyon.  The third and fourth pictures are from our hike in Snow Canyon.  The landscape in Snow Canyon is unique in many ways.  On our short walk with saw blue green grasses, black lava rock, red rock formations and arches sculpted by wind and rain, and colorful green pinyon and juniper trees.  What will tomorrow bring?

It will start with meeting our friends, the Andersons in Las Vegas as they join us for the week.  We look forward to sharing some more great scenes and fun times with them. There are so many great scenes to discover in this corner of Utah. Goodbye for now.

Bob and Deb

First Day in St. George

We just arrived at our condo and were very pleased at our new home for the month.  This is the view out our very large deck.  It has table and seating for 6 and sitting chairs off the master bedroom.  We have 3 large patio doors from the living room dining room and the master bedroom. It was 61 degrees at 4:00 PM we we arrived.  The weather forecast for next week is sunny and 60's.  We surely love this retired life!  We spent last night at Scott and Sam's near Nephi.   What a difference between here and there-just 3 hours north.   They have 3 feet of snow on the ground and it is a beautiful winter wonderland.  

Our friends Roger and Marsha arrive on Sunday.   We plan to make the best possible use of our week together here and a couple days in Las Vegas.  

Heading to the local Walmart to fill the fridge.   Will blog more tomorrow.

Bob and Debbie