Happy Nevada-neer Day

Due to the fact that Tim had last Friday off of work to commemorate the annual Nevada Day (Pioneer Day's step brother), we decided to forgo all of the parades and fireworks and celebrate in Southern Utah. Mostly, we used it as training for the big Thanksgiving trip to San Diego to see if Paisley was up for the challenge.

We loaded up the car on Friday morning and headed north. We weren't quite ready to go rugged with the tents and sleeping bags, so we made a reservation with one of the hotels just outside Zion National Park in Springdale. Flanigan's Inn had caught our eye 2 years ago when we were looking for a way to spend our one-year (dating) anniversary but we ended up having to alter our plans at the last minute due to family health circumstances. It seemed fitting that it just so happened to be the same time of year.

After our arrival and getting settled into the room, we walked over to The Spotted Dog, our favorite area restaurant, for dinner. Luckily, the pumpkin seed chicken pesto fettuccine was still on the menu. Paisley must have felt that we were enjoying ourselves a little too much, and so one of us had the benefit of enjoying the rest of the meal one-handed. We tried to eat early enough and Paisley happens to be cute enough that the Germans sitting behind us didn't seem to mind. One of the extras touted on the Flanigan's website was a nature hike that leads up to this little chakra maze and overlook. We decided to explore it, not to get all mental and centered, but mostly just to stretch the legs and see how well Paisley would tolerate her baby carrier. Turns out that she's a huge fan of hiking as she squealed in delight the whole time - but it could have just been all the dharma in the air. (It's probably heretical for a hippie to be bagging on the whole yoga thing, but like anything, it can be taken WAY too far bazaar. There's also a good chance that we're just jealous that we can't do any of the moves.)

None of the dessert menu items sounded too appleing so we took the stroller out of the car and headed out in search of some sugar delight. We ended up at Blondie's Diner for their highly recommended homemade apple pie. Appleing! Get it yet? Paisley was beyond ready for bed and we ended up eating half of our pie inside and half outside. Voluntarily, of course. We got back to the hotel room, Paisley ready for bed, and tucked into the Pack 'N Play that we borrowed and put her down for a good night's rest. Or so we had hoped. The reality was that she just wouldn't settle down and would wake up after only sleeping for a few minutes. Even when we "sacrificed" our evening by turning the TV off and going to bed at nine. That maybe bought us a few more minutes, but in the end, Paisley spent the night cuddled up with her mom. (Paisley's idea of cuddling entails a lot of kicking, scratching, and squirming, which isn't the best recipe for a solid eight.)

Morning finally arrived and after a return to The Spotted Dog for pancakes and bacon, we loaded up and headed into the park. The place was beautiful as the leaves on all the cottonwoods had turned yellow and the few oaks had turned red. Coming from an area where the seasons mean one shade of brown to another, this was pretty rewarding. The weather was perfect except for the shifted winds had moved smoke from the fires in Southern California creating a thin haze.

As good as Paisley was, no one was ready to take on Angel's Landing, so we pretty much just rode the shuttle around the park, took a short hike to the Weeping Rock, and watched the video at the visitors center. If people's reactions are a fair measurement, one of the more popular sites in the park that day was a little 3-month-old girl riding around shotgun on her mom. For the most part, she did pretty well and only acted up when she got tired or hungry - which forced us to work on our skills as discrete nursers in public.

If we had to give the whole weekend a letter grade, we'd go with a B+. Traveling until we replace our iPods is always going to suck a degree or two, so this leaves us with room for improvement but the trip was definitely well mannered enough to look forward to Thanksgiving.