A difficult day at work on Sunday, with several unusual and unpredicted situations arising almost simultaneously, convinced us we'd earned those four days off circled on our calendar. On Monday, we slept in (past 5 AM!), packed our bags, locked the RV and drove to SunRiver, an active 55 and over community south of St. George, for a two night "Stay and Play". The accommodations and amenities went far beyond what we expected: we were assigned to a 2-bedroom, 2-bath villa with a two-car garage, full kitchen, den, great room and laundry room. We had access to the well-equipped community center which housed the fitness center, library, ballroom, computer lab, meeting rooms, craft facilities as well as indoor and outdoor pools and we received a credit at the restaurant on SunRiver's golf course.
Fun Sculptures Abound in Downtown St. George
Carousel in St. George's City Park
After settling in at the villa, we had dinner at an excellent Mexican restaurant we discovered during our 2012 winter sojourn in St. George. Afterwards, Fred relaxed at the villa while I walked around for a closer look at the neighborhood and golf course. On Tuesday we drove through the community, toured a number of model homes and spec houses, ate lunch at the on-site restaurant and wandered through the historic district of downtown St. George. Late in the afternoon, Fred worked out in the weight room while I attended a Zumba class in the community center. A trip to the nearby Walmart to stock up on nonperishables, a quick dinner and a little TV finished our day. We chose Route 9 through Zion for the return trip to Kanab in order to hike the Hidden Canyon trail we'd so enjoyed in 2011. Either my body has gotten more fit (unlikely) or my memory has deteriorated (probable) because the hike today seemed appreciably easier, shorter and less scary than the first time we did it. Setting out on the trail we soon encountered a group of 30 middle school students from Los Angeles who were on an extended field trip through canyon country as a reward for being the school's top seventh graders. They planned to hike to Observation Point and explore Hidden Canyon on the way down. We were quite flattered when a young person asked if we'd hiked the Angel's Landing Trail. 'Yes,' we replied proudly. Her follow up question--'This morning?--' deflated us effectively. Back at the trailhead, we took the short spur to Weeping Rock and were rewarded with lovely yellow columbine, shooting stars, pink penstemons and red monkey flowers.
That ledge is the trail to Hidden Canyon.
(Note the 'sissy chain' bolted to the wall.)
Arch Tucked Away in Hidden Canyon
Fred has posted video of the chain portion (i.e., the scary part) of the Hidden Canyon hike at http://youtu.be/582ROFmuG2Y
