My boys have a wonderful Grandmama who selflessly watches them so that Kevin and I can go on little get-aways. We try to go away once a year to renew and rejuvenate. This year we went away over our actual anniversary and stayed in Cedar City. It was perfect and I totally came back full of new energy and ready to take on the family again. It was perfect.
Kevin and I love to explore nature together and our first stop on this trip was to Cedar Breaks Monument. It was one of our stops on our honeymoon but we didn’t do any hiking then. This time we went prepared.
We did the Ramparts Trail which follows the edge of the monument 2 miles out and then 2 miles back in. It was breathtakingly beautiful.
This guy was NOT breathtakingly beautiful. He was a HUGE looking rat. We stopped to watch him for a while. I decided he was a R.O.U.S. (rodent of unusual size). Back at the trading post, we found out he was just a Marmot – or a freakishly large squirrel. Yep, a R.O.U.S..
One of the reasons I wanted to do this trail is because after the usual look-out point, you come upon some bristlecone pine trees that are 1600+ years old. Absolutely gnarly!
We felt like the only people in the world …
and we had this amazing view all to ourselves!
Another thing Kevin and I enjoy is going to see plays. We had the chance to see two while on our trip. The first night we went to the Shakespeare Festival. I’ve wanted to go since I was a teenager and Kevin finally took me! We saw performers dancing and singing and ate their famous tarts. Then we watched “Twelfth Night” and laughed. It was very well done and very humorous!
The second night we went back to Tuacahn and saw “The Little Mermaid” again. We’d have chosen to see a different show there, but we got free return tickets after all the technical difficulties when we took the boys in June – you can’t turn down free tickets!
We took a lot of selfies of the two of us. Partly because it is easier than asking others to take pictures for us. But more because it is just fun to do. I’ve been doing it since we were dating and I had to aim carefully with my film camera!
We spent our anniversary day exploring the mountain country. We found a beautiful little lake that we contemplated kayaking in, but it was freezing cold water! We opted instead for a couple of kisses, a couple of pictures, and then moving on to the next adventure.
We were told to take this great hike to a great waterfall. The waterfall is the outlet for Navajo Lake (our frigid photo stop place). It wasn’t so amazing. We laughed when we got there. It was hardly more than a trickle.
But the hike was pretty amazing!
As we continued along, we found a village – truly it was called Duck Creek Village. It was a tiny little place with Aunt Sue’s Cafe that suited us just fine for lunch. HUGE burger and yummy smelling pies!
That led us to the lava flow tunnels. All along the state road we were exploring, were large piles of lava rocks from thousands of years ago. There is one spot that is touristy and the lava flows have left tunnels or caves for exploring.
I thought I’d do just fine since I knew the one specific tunnel was just that, a tunnel, with an opening on each end.
Yeah. The claustrophobia hit when we had to start crawling because the ceiling was getting low. I tried to keep a happy face, but then we reached the end. To get out, I would have had to crawl on my belly through the rocks. Nope. No way. I saw visions of Winnie the Pooh stuck in Rabbit’s hole and I wasn’t doing it. Kevin was a good sport and turned back with me.
But from the outside, we found the exit I wouldn’t go through and Kevin played around. He’s a much braver dog than I am. I felt like I was going to throw up for the next half hour!
We had other dinner plans each night or we would have stopped to eat at Rusty’s. We did take a picture just for son number 3!
We did a little sunbathing and swimming at the hotel pool. It was kind of crowded for a hotel pool, so we didn’t stay long.
We did a session at the St. George Temple – another thing we did on our honeymoon. Despite our faces in this picture, it was a good adventure, too.
We stopped at a tiny cemetery in Kanarraville. My dad had a brother who died as a baby and was buried there. I’d never seen the headstone before. We took flowers.
Then it was time for us to come home. We missed our boys, but it was just so nice being together…being able to hold each others’ hand instead of the sweet little hands waiting for us at home.
I love my husband. I’m the luckiest girl!