Lovely St. George Utah

Hello everyone!

This is the close of Day #1 of the California trip.

Since I didn't write anything explaining the California trip, let me catch you up to date. My family and I used to live in California- I did for almost thirteen years. So when we moved to Colorado in 2006, we left a lot of friends, family and memories behind. Now, two years later, we are finally going back for our very first visit. A lot of the people we'll be visiting we haven't seen since we moved!

Today we drove about 10 hours to lovely St. George, Utah.

Some facts about Utah:

1. It is one of the top five ugliest states in the union. (Sorry. If you're from Utah, no offense. I just don't find the scrub, yellow rocks and sand that attractive.) (And if you've never been to Utah and you're not decided what you think of it, look at the picture at the top)

2. There be lots of Mormons here! My mom made it a point to take note of all the Mormon churches. There is even a temple in St. George!

3. It is HOT here! It was 93 when we got out of the car today.

Okay, there's my rough synopsis of Utah.

Here are my observations of the trip:

Observation #1: My brother Tim is a true Yuen- he travels like a dream! He barely even needed his toys to keep him entertained!

Observation #2: The rock formations make me think constantly of the flood. Thousands of pockmarked formations shaped by erosion in round formations, square formations- all with the rivulets of mighty waters marking them.

Observation #3: I have seen only two kinds of plants in Utah. The scrubby kind with grappling clawlike branches and Joshua trees.

Observation #4: Somehow the Joshua trees and the scrubby uglies manage to grow directly out of the rock face.

Observation #5: When I say the 'rock face', I mean it! Many of the rock formations have "faces" in pattern of color.

Observation #6: Roundabouts are EVIL! If you're a Coloradan, this may not sound like a big deal. But the roundabouts here in Lovely St. George, Utah tend to be bigger and MUCH more confusing! A brief roundabout story:

We were looking for a hotel. And when I say this, I should also add we had a very specific idea. When we finally figured out where the La Quinta was, the roundabout business started. We went around the first roundabout twice before moving on to the SECOND roundabout, which we went around once before making a wrong turn that landed us back at the FIRST roundabout- and then we found out that La Quinta didn't have any suites available. I thought we were going to have to go through both of them AGAIN!

Okay, well, Day #1 is about to end. I'm going to watch a movie with my sisters and brother and then go to sleep. Tomorrow, I go from Lovely St. George, Utah to Hugely More Lovely Oakhurst, California. Pray for me!

P.S. Keep watching Sparks of Illumination. I was inspired to a devotional that I don't have time to write tonight. I'll try to write it tomorrow, though. I should have a picture then, too. -C