Toroweap, April 26, 2023

 I went with Ross and Cindy Williams, and Ross's Mom. Mike was supposed to go, but was still sick with his head and chest cold.

Perfect day, perfect weather, perfect company.

Long dusty drive down many dirt roads. They drove their Blazer. They had been there before-- 25 years ago. Roads have eroded considerably since then. It was a good core body work out! And Ross did a superior job of navigating rocks, ruts and washboard bumps and beyond. 30 mph was the average speed.

It was pretty barren country we traveled through. This was near our potty stop on the way. Hardly a bush to pee behind. But we did find various trees, so all was fine.

THIS part looks like a road. After we entered the park, there were signs that said to stay on the road. "Road" should have been in quotes on the sign. It wasn't much of a road for many, many miles. But we did make it to the lookout. We packed a picnic and had a hearty late lunch which was yummy.

A Road (?)

At the picnic area.

Crowds were minimal and we had a shaded table to enjoy our meal at. We wandered to the overlook. 

It's thousands of feet down. Eeekkk!

The Mighty Colorado River is very brown down there!

I had a hard time , initially, getting close enough to to edge to SEE the river.

Too close for comfort. I skittered right back. I still shiver thinking about it. 

Cindy, Marlena, Ross.

Cindy, on the other hand, enjoys scrambling over rocks. It doesn't matter that they are scarey and close to the cliffs. So I took pictures of HER while *I* remained far from the edges. Never bring kids or pets here.

I did enjoy the wildflowers, however.

This yucca-type plant was about ready to bloom.

More wild flowers

More clambering over rocks way high up on the edge of the canyon.

Holes in the rocks. 

Aaaaagh! 

Cindy and I walked 5 minutes over to a place to see Lava Falls Rapids.

I think we could hear the water from clear up there. Or maybe it was wind.

Here is a picture of the "road" up near the lookout area. It's rock. Very rough and bumpy rock. Cindy and I opted to walk a mile or so out rather than ride.

There was a composting toilet up there.

And the ranger station was set in a picturesque spot!

It couldn't have been a more perfect excursion! 

 Here's a picture of Ross resting after lunch. He did ALL the driving!

Jane turns four!

 I forgot to take pictures of Jane opening her gift, but here's some of the family while they and others were here to Cedar City this weekend .

We made it work and had fun in spite of Mike being sick with a bad cold ( he mostly stayed in the bedroom), and Rachel throwing up-- twice!! Poor girl. There's been a bit of a tummy virus going around her school and neighborhood lately. 

They came on Saturday afternoon late, we had dinner together and bedtime is early for those kids! And when Church is the next day at 9 a.m. , that's a good thing. James birthday was Saturday April  22nd.

We enjoyed lovely fancy raspberry waffles for breakfast on Sunday, Nick came to Primary with me and Jane and Logan. Kaylee went to Relief Society with Emily, and Rachel stayed home with Mike. Two sickies. 

At noon, Eric and Matt came up from St. George, My Mom joined us, and we had a lovely dinner of hamburgers and the trimmings. Cake and ice cream followed. Presents for Jane AND Emily (whose birthday is in May...close enough).Visits. Games. More games in the evening. Leftovers for dinner. Mike kind of felt a bit better. Rachel, not so much. 

Oh, Rachel! Those eyes! I kept this photo because Logan is visible. And Kaylee looks so pretty.

Kept this one because Mom's looking and all of Emily is in it.

I didn't know that you could CLAP birthday candles out. But Kaylee did it!

Emily as a paniolo cowboy.

Jane "Bedazzled" one of Emily's boots with stickers. Just one boot.

At 11:45 pm Sunday night, a big hail storm roared through with marble-sized hailstones! It was LOUD. And poor Rachel was awake and throwing up right then, too. We had lightening and thunder, and that was exciting. And some rain, which was exciting in a nerve-wracking kind of way.

Monday morning, I went with Nick and Family to St. George to the Thunder Junction all abilities park. It was fun, warm and sunny. We ate lunch after at a nice cafe (Morty's)  that's been on Nick's Bucket List for a bit. Then home to Cedar to drop me off, a potty stop and change of clothes from the splash pad suits into comfy stuff for the drive home. And they were off. Fun times.

You can walk behind the waterfall at the splash pad!

There were fun spinny toys, shady spots to leave your belongings. (Nick is in Orange shirt).

Logan by the splash pad. The kids loved it!

Jane on a zip line

Rachel assisting Jane on Zip line.

Look! My swim skirt is all wet from splashing.

A Zipline SEAT for Emily.

A swing to accommodate anyone safely!

I even say and twirled on one of these dizzying stools. I didn't last long! 

I'm so glad I went with them.

Thanks for a fun weekend, Little Liebhardt's!