Day 15 – St. George UT

Megan’s Take

We couldn’t get ourselves going early enough to go to Zion National Park today, so we decided to stay in the St. George area. We hiked the Red Reef trail in Red Cliffs National Conservation Area.

The views were beautiful, but our little hikers were whinier than usual. (I think they just wanted to stay at the campground with the awesome waterpark all day, because they kept asking about it during our hike.) Plus, we had an issue with a super smelly hiking carrier. Here’s a hot tip for traveling with young children: waste bags are great for lining travel potties and bagging up poo while on the go, but DO NOT forget about them or leave them in a truck bed in 100 degree heat. Everything in the back of Phil’s truck smelled like something had died in there. And that smell followed Phil/us for the entirety of the hike. We stopped at Walmart this afternoon for febreeze, but I don’t think we (including Phil’s truck bed and our gear) will ever be the same.

After that scenic but slightly traumatic hike, we went to the Red Hills Desert Garden which was really so cool (and free!). The kids loved wandering the paths, and we enjoyed seeing the various desert plants. If we have time and we’re back in that area again this trip, I wouldn’t mind stopping by for a second visit to read some of the plant signs more closely and enjoy it on a “cooler” (below 100 degrees) day.

Next we found Phil’s favorite ice cream shop (Handel’s) and went to the St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site. I thought the discovery site would be fun for our kids, but they’re too little to appreciate it. There are dinosaur tracks with informational signs, and I don’t think they really understood what we were looking at.

This afternoon, the kids had playtime at the water park. I’m sure we’ll go every afternoon until we check out next Thursday morning. It’s funny how different Emilia and Emmett are. Emilia stand under the giant bucket that dumps water, run through all the water sprays, and basically do all the things. Emmett will stay along the edges and avoid getting sprayed as much as possible. He initially told me he was too scared for the kids’ water slides, but he worked up the courage and had fun on them! But at one point, the giant bucket dumped on him as he ascending the stairs to the water slides. Poor little dude screamed and was terrified. After that, I had to carry him up the stairs past the bucket. Eventually, though, he told me, “that’s enough” and was done with the water playground, opting to stay where he felt safe from getting wet.

Phil’s Take

The smell. My God the smell. Megan was there, but she didn’t have that smell on her the whole way. I don’t think I’ll ever be the same. The views on that hike were awesome though.

I also fixed a water spigot that was leaky. Even though I really wanted to escape the smell, Megan offered for me to go view the dinosaur tracks toward the beginning of the trail while she took the kids back to the truck to potty.

I know the truth. It wasn’t out of the goodness of her heart. She just wanted to escape the smell.

The botanical garden was cool. They had different sections for different kinds of plants, and it was really well done for being free. I caught this shot of a yucca. I had no idea they grew that tall.

I don’t really have much more to add, except that you can see the details in our gallery below.