We've driven through St George many times - it's on the
direct route from Phoenix to Cedar
City - but never done much more
than stop for a meal. So we've only seen
the part around the Interstate. With
time to explore we discover its (a) much bigger than we thought; (b) in a
beautiful location surrounded by red rocks; (c) hot; (d) more Mormon than Salt
Lake City with LDS churches seemingly on every
corner. Brigham Young used to spend his
winters here and his home is preserved.
We drive into the historic downtown. It's too hot to explore but we do find a cool
pet store that has frozen raw cat food - they even have a brand Vicky's never
been able to find. We buy two flavors of
this and discover our cats have a taste for duck! The store also has an adoption center which
you can walk into so we spend time with the kittens. There are several we could happily bring home
with us, including a black one that follows me everywhere and a tabby who melts
in Vicky's arms. But Quill and Cosette
won't let us have any more animals in the RV, so the kittens stay where they
are.
We have a light but nutritious lunch at a crepe restaurant
and return to the hotel, where Vicky works on an HRB
class and I hit the pool. Nice to have a
day with not much to do.
Sunday is more of the same until the afternoon, when we find
a movie theater and enjoy a private screening of "Christopher
Robin". The plot is totally
predictable but heartwarming, and the animals are exactly how you imagine them
from the books and remember them from the earlier movie. It's really cute. We're amazed nobody else is in the cinema!
Time to find a place for dinner which proves difficult. Maybe Mormons don't eat out on Sundays. I really don't want to go to a chain
restaurant but there's not a lot of choice.
We end up having Mexican food at The Green Iguana - really very good
although Vicky generally finds Mexican food predictable and boring.
We spend the evening consulting on our plans for our 40th Anniversary next year. We've looked at several alternatives and have
finally settled on a trip to Italy. We will cash in Marriott points for stays at
two unique properties. First 5 nights at a country resort in a small
village in Tuscany, close to Lucca. Then 5
nights at a 12th Century hotel in Venice. This leaves two days in the middle which
we've decided to us to explore Padua,
another new locale for us.
I confirm the reservations for the two long stays and
investigate air fare options. Norwegian
Air, the low fare carrier we've used before and like, flies from Los
Angeles direct to Rome
and this will be our best option. We can
then take the train- Trenitalia services are fast, inexpensive and comfortable - within the
country. Many years ago we stayed at a cute
walk-up B&B just around the corner from the Duomo in Florence
and I'm able to find it again and make a reservation for the night we arrive in
Italy. Vicky's concerned about driving while
jetlagged, remembering the time when we arrived late at night at Heathrow
Airport (London) and I couldn't find the lock on the car door (it had push
button keys which were new to me at the time!).
So we can take the train from Rome
to Florence and get a night's
sleep. I've arranged a rental car in Florence
to drive to the Tuscany
hotel. We'll keep it for 6 days, then
take the train to Padua.
I also found a reasonably priced spa resort just outside the
airport in Rome where we'll spend
the last couple of days before flying home.
It gets great reviews from everybody and will be a cool ending to the
trip.
Another quiet day in St. George. Tomorrow we'll find out what's happening with
the car.
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