My trip to Utah

A few weeks ago I drove to Utah to spend a couple days with my kids.  They both have birthdays in April and it was a good time to get away and spend some much needed time with them.  We had some good times and I brought back many wonderful memories.  I took many pictures and put together this slide show.

It is an 11 to 12 hour drive from my home in Montana to Cedar City, Utah.  I did stop briefly in Salt Lake to see my parents and take a little break before continuing on.  The weather was fantastic! I left Montana in 40 degree weather and wearing long sleeves and a jacket. By the time I reached Salt Lake it was a HOT 70 degrees and I was dying in the long sleeved shirt.

I had reserved a hotel in Cedar for me and for the kids to hang out there with me too.  Shellise had a last minute out of town water polo tournament on Saturday, so while she was away I got to have one on one time with Jessie.  We had so much fun!  He let me talk him into getting his hair cut trimmed a little and then he took me to a few of his favorite stores in town, where he wanted to spend his birthday money.  Eventually we drove to St. George  and enjoyed 85 to 90 degree temperatures and where I was basking in and soaking up all the sun I could get. I had to buy me some sandals to wear because regular shoes were so uncomfortably hot.

St. George was so beautiful and green with flowers in full bloom everywhere (you will notice in some of the pictures).  It was like entering a different world.  Where I live, even now, we still have snow and there are no leaves on the trees and no flowers in bloom.  So this was quit the treat for me even if it was short lived, I still LOVED it!

When Shellise returned we went to dinner and to a movie and then went back to the hotel.  Shellise was way exhausted after having to be up at 3 a.m. to go to the out of town tournament.  So we all fell into bed around 12:30.  

This is where things got really interesting....

At about 1:30 in the morning we were woken by several people outside our hotel door screaming, laughing, talking LOUDLY and carrying on throwing beer bottles etc.... They were so LOUD!  After some time a LONG TIME I finally called the front desk to complain.  He came over and I could hear him try to get these obviously over intoxicated people into their rooms and quieted down.  After he left it started back up.  Some of these people were in the room to the left of us and some were in the room to the right (WE WERE IN THE MIDDLE) and they were still just as loud... only now they were throwing things against the walls and still outside carrying on outside my door.  So I called the front desk again and told him that if he doesn't get it taken care of I would be calling the police.  He came back over a second time and tried to get these folks to calm down. But at this point I think it was pointless.  I called the Police and I think the front desk clerk did too.

By this time it was 2:30 or so in the morning.  Shellise and I are peaking out of our window watching what was going on when the Police and Sheriff's Dept. arrived.  To make a long story short, the people in the room to the right of us must have been smoking pot or something when the police came because they were all put in handcuffs, several women and men, and they were searched finding marijuana in the pockets of a couple of the guys.  Then I guess the police got a search warrant and brought a police dog in to search for drugs, which they eventually found but not before one of the woman went ballistic and freaked out on the cops for searching her purse.

This whole thing was taking place right outside my door.  They were VERY LOUD, the language was very FOUL, there were 10 or more police and Sheriff deputies there dealing with this.  We could hear EVERYTHING so there was no sleeping for us... except Jessie.  He didn't hear a thing!  He had been sick and had taken NyQuil which knocked him out.

Finally, they began hauling people away and it finally got quiet at around 5:30 or 6:00 in the morning.  I was so beyond tired at this point.   We slept for a couple hours and then got up to start our day.  We checked the Iron County bookings for the night and saw that every person that we had seen during the night outside our window had been arrested for things like disorderly conduct, drug possession, resisting arrest, assault on police officer, public intoxication etc.  

This is Cedar City, Utah.  Small town Cedar City where it us usually very quiet especially at night.  I couldn't believe it!  It was an eventful and memorable night for me and Shellise anyway.  Shellise kind of got a kick out of it because she had just been through the Jr. Police Academy last summer and she knew most of the arresting officers that were there.   And she got to witness (even if it was sneakily peaking out the window) these people being arrested.



After check out we went to breakfast and just enjoyed being together and talking.  We went to the park and took pictures.  Oh... and I almost forgot to tell you... we woke up to about 3 inches of snow.  So it went from 70 + degrees the day before to snow over night.  Crazy weather!  The snow did melt pretty fast though once the sun came out.

I wish I had more time to spend and I wish there were more things to do in Cedar City, but I had to get heading back home.  I dropped the kids off at their home and left with a heavy feeling on my heart and exhausted from a night of no sleep.  I drove to Salt Lake where I spent the night in my parents home and then left early the next day to return home.  It was a really quick trip, but a much needed one, and I loved every single moment!  Wonderful memories were made that will carry me through until I get to see them again... hopefully very soon!  

I mentioned birthdays..... my baby girl turned 17 yrs old this month... so hard to believe my little girl is not a little girl anymore.

And my sweet little boy turned 15 years old this month...... I wish they would stop growing!

Happy Birthday to my cute kiddos

I Love You!

-Mom