Mid-Winter Break

I haven't been down to Southern Utah for a very long time. My daddy was born and raised in a tiny town, Alton, in Southern Utah, so we used to visit there quite often when I was a kid. But that was quite awhile ago. My dear friend Andrea moved about a year and a half ago, to St. George, Utah, so it was a great reason to head on down there for a little vacation during mid-winter break.

Flight was uneventful. Flew into Las Vegas, Nevada, as it was the cheapest airfare. I took a 2-hour shuttle from Las Vegas to St. George, and Andrea met me in the Walmart parking lot. So good to see her!!!! I was looking forward to spending some time with her and with her family. Three of the four kids took piano lessons from me for awhile, so I know the kids really well also. Besides, they were like family to me when they lived up here. I used to walk down to their house quite often, just to get a dose of "family."

We spent the weekend basically just hanging out. Lots of R&R, fabulous food, and great company. One of my favorite events was our chocolate fondue night.

Getting it all set up!

Natalie & Alexis Bird

Andrea

Hunter, Ethan and Roger Bird

Digging in. Sooo yummy!!!

The Bird family, plus niece Riley and her boyfriend Nelson

Smart thinking to use a plastic, throw-away table covering!

It was always fun to gather around the table with the family. We had the most fabulous barbecued ribs the next night.

On Tuesday, when the kids headed back to school and Roger back to work, Andrea and I took a road trip to Zion National Park. They live so close to all the beautiful parks in Southern Utah. Zion is the closest to St. George. It was the perfect time to go as we were in the off-season and got to drive through the park instead of being shuttled through. At one point, we got out of the car and took a little hike to a waterfall. We had perfect weather for our adventure.

These pictures absolutely do not do the beautiful colors any justice. Stunning red and orange cliffs and rocks.

Weeping Rock

Andrea has been to Zion National Park many times, but she had never seen this waterfall. Usually there is water "weeping" off the cliff on a constant basis, but not always is there this much of a waterfall. Very pretty. We hiked up to the waterfall . . . you can almost walk behind it.

I was totally in love with all the layers of rocks and textures on the hillsides and cliffs. I found it quite fascinating.

Lunch at MeMe's - kind of a French bistro in the desert.

We thought it would be a little fun to drive through the town of Colorado City, Arizona, for a peek at the polygamist community. We didn't see much except a bunch of unfinished, large homes, broken down vehicles, and junk yards. Lots of places were surrounded by walls or fences. We only saw a couple of "wives" out and about, but they appeared to be in a hurry to get behind closed doors. Very interesting; a bit sad.

Such beauty all around us as we drove back to St. George. Before getting home we stopped off at the Dixie Rock so Andrea could show me "The Narrows." I'm pretty sure you can figure out why it's called that! I wasn't even going to attempt to try and get through it! I loved all the red rock and dirt, but Andrea is "so over it" as it has stained her dryer.

St. George is noted for it's beautiful sunset, and I was not disappointed.

The next day Andrea and I took off for Las Vegas. It's only about an hour and a half drive from her house. We drove in Utah, Arizona, and finally Nevada to get there!

Lunch at Nacho Daddy

Crocodile at the Shark Reef Aquarium

 Our first stop after lunch was the Mandalay Bay. We specifically went there to see the Shark Reef Aquarium. It was very cool.

Komodo Dragon

Some kind of spotted ray

Yeah, not quite sure what this is, but it was very interesting. It was in the tank with the sharks.

And, of course, everything lights up in Vegas as night falls. It certainly is a sparkly town. Our first stop was to The Fremont Experience. It's a long "corridor" (street) that is covered mostly by a screened canopy, and it is basically "old Vegas." A lot of the old stores and casinos are in The Fremont Experience. This wasn't there the last time I was in Vegas, many, many years ago, so this was kind of cool to experience. But, by far, the most fun was convincing Andrea to go zip-lining with me! A first for both of us. It was so much fun, but it almost didn't happen. After we waited in a cold line, the elevator took us up . . . and up, and up . . . and I watched Andrea's face turn white with concern. I think she wanted to back out. But we conquered our fears and by the end of it we wanted to do it again!!

The Fremont Experience

See the fear?

I'm ready to go! 

This feeling of suspension was cool. The door in front of us opened, we pushed off our blue mats, and . . . 

. . . away we go!!

After the adrenaline rush, we headed to Tony Roma's from some ribs and the ultimate Vegas "lobster for just $9.99."

 

As the night was still young, we drove back up to "The Strip" and check out the action.

We stayed at Bally's

Paris in Las Vegas

The famous fountains at the Bellagio

The music - "Singin' in the Rain"

Chihuly on the ceiling of the concierge in the Bellagio

 The Conservatory and Botanical Gardens at the Bellagio, celebrating Chinese New Year, was gorgeous! Bright, beautiful flowers everywhere!

Peeked around the corner from the Gardens and saw this really cool, one-of-a-kind, chocolate fountain!

We got a good night's sleep (at Bally's) and made the most of the few hours we had before I had to fly home. Our first stop - The Venetian. I loved the painted ceiling - it really felt like we were outside at St. Mark's Square. Loved the musicians and the "statues."

St. Mark's Square at The Venetian

Living statue

Feeling the LOVE at The Venetian. The oversized macaroon was delicious!!

I loved this mosaic pool!

I wasn't able to go on a gondola ride in Venice, so I did the next best thing - a gondola ride at The Venetian in Las Vegas
Our gondolier had a beautiful voice.

What a great trip! We finished up our gondola ride and headed off to the airport.
Thank you Andrea for a wonderful vacation!