The Blanch Herd: Midwinter Escape to Mesquite and St. George

We brought back our annual trip to the desert after a year hiatus last year (remember 2020?), this time combining some of the elements of our Mesquite trip from 2019 with our St. George trips of 2018 and 2017. We left home on Monday, January 18th as soon as we were up and dressed. We ate bagels in the car as we drove and Gregg worked from the passenger seat. We got to the park in Leeds where we've eaten and played before right about lunchtime, but it was windy and chilly so our stop was just long enough to make meatloaf sandwiches in the back and then eat them in the car as we continued further south.

We made it to St. George (Washington, technically) and the sun was out and the wind was calm! We were hoping to find a park, but we're pretty picky these days about public places we're comfortable hanging out in, and since it was MLK day, the parks were pretty packed. Gregg spotted a trailhead, though, and we opted to check that out since it's a bit easier to social distance on a hike.

We didn't know anything about this trail system and even though there was a map at the start, we just started hiking wherever our legs decided to take us. We backtracked at one point to take a fork toward "Bone Wash", which turned out to be a cool, dry, sandy (the whole hike was sandy!) riverbed with red rock cliffs along the banks that we climbed and played on. The kids practiced being brave on the slickrock (which they realized was actually grippy!) and we basked in the bone-warming sunshine.

Ah! The red dirt in the desert fills me with joy!

We made it to the wash.

Cliff climbin'.

Then it was back in the car for the last (shortest) leg to our destination in Mesquite. We booked a dirt cheap room at the Virgin River Hotel and Casino (just like last time) but stayed away from the casino and buffet and bowling and arcade this time (bummer!). We did keep our park streak up, though! The kids were restless after sitting in the car all day, so before dinner (quesadillas made on our electric griddle in the hotel room! have we mentioned we're cheapskates?) we headed out on a quest to use up some energy. The evening was breezy and cool, so we made a challenge of seeing how many parks we could stop at, play on, snap a pic of, and then run back to the car before it got too dark. Grand total = 8 parks in just over an hour!

Park #1 by the library.

Park #2 by the churches.

Park #3 by the pond.

Park #4 by the dog park.
(Poor Cal just smacked her head on a bar
as she was running up the playground
and it hurt!)

Park #5 by the freeway.

Park #6 by the old gym.

The kids and I walked from Park #6 to Park #7
like a block away.

Park #7 by the baseball fields.

Park #8 by the cemetery.

After Cal's shower she let me braid her
hair like this so she could have crimped
waves in the morning.

Stitching her latest creative project
before bed.

Tuesday was a call-filled morning for Gregg, so we did some school while he worked, and then spent the afternoon in Valley of Fire State Park. The kids and I sneaked out to a couple of repeat visits to favorite parks to get some wiggles out before we left.

Homeschool for the win! (Again!)

Sam was getting in on the action, too.

The "Ropes Course Park" (#5 from our
adventure the night before) was the first
choice for this morning's outing.

Valley of Fire was just as great as we remembered, though we only hit up about half of the attractions we did last time we were here. We loved the hiking and climbing and sun-soaking! We played on the rocks near the entrance/fee station, walked to Elephant Rock, hiked the Mouse's Tank trail (we learned this time that Mouse was an outlaw who hid in these canyons and rocks for months and used this natural "tank" so he had water to survive), hiked the White Domes Loop, bought treats and a keychain in the gift shop, and scrambled on the Seven Sisters.

The entrance parking lot caves and rocks might be
the best in the whole park!

Elephant Rock!

The first of many petroglyph-covered
rock walls on the Mouse's Tank trail.

I spy some bighorn sheep!

I spy some bighorn sheep spies.

Mouse would be in trouble if he were hiding
now - the tank was empty!

The kids begged to walk back on the warm
sand barefoot.

I just love the silly gooses in the corner!

Starting down the White Domes Loop.

So stripey!

Mini slot canyon!

Seven Sisters picnic area is just full of
little caves and crevices and is the best
playground!

Looking out toward the desert I noticed
these little fluffy seedpods on this bush
that caught the light.

We left Valley of Fire around 3 pm and decided to head toward Lake Mead National Recreation Area and Hoover Dam, then hit the strip in Las Vegas to show the kids the lights before heading back to Mesquite for bed. The road through the recreation area was interesting, but there wasn't a ton to see, including the lake which we kept expecting around every bend but it never appeared till we were almost done. We did spot a couple of wild horses (we assume) which was kind of cool. The best part of the drive, for me, was listening to the kids interview each other for their "podcasts" (I'll like to those recordings below once I get them off their cameras!). We made it to Hoover Dam at about 4:45, as it was sort of dusk-ish light, which gave us a half an hour before the parking garage closed to get out and explore. The visitor's center and tours were closed, but we were able to walk across the dam and read the interpretive signs (and use the bathroom!). What a place! It's ginormous! Makes Flaming Gorge look like a shrimp! And that freeway bridge was incredible, too! We were practically the only ones in the whole place, which was a nice covid perk!

Las Vegas was lit up and the strip was full of cars, but there weren't too many people out and about walking. We didn't get out of the car though, except when Gregg got gas after we picked up In 'n' Out burgers and fries for dinner as we drove back.

On Wednesday morning after breakfast (French Toast on that trusty griddle!), we loaded up and checked out of the hotel and headed toward St. George again, where we spent the day with Gregg's parents who were also on a seek-out-the-sun vacation down south. We took the alternate route from Beaver Dam on Old Highway 91 instead of the freeway through the canyon, just for fun, and it was a cool drive dotted with Joshua Trees. We met Paul and Kim at Snow Canyon State Park, where we hiked on the Jenny's Canyon trail - it was short and easy and really, really cool! After we had our fill of that slot, we parked at the Hidden Pinyon Trailhead and wandered along that trail for a while. The kids were wanting more climbing and scrambling that all the adults were up for, so I walked with them a bit further while the others sat and chatted in the sunshine. We made a bit of a loop out of it by walking back on the bike path.

Then it was time for lunch! We picked up Cafe Rio and took it to Pine View Park (ha! I know!) where we picnicked, napped, disc golfed, biked, scootered, played and chatted the rest of the afternoon. We hopped back in the car around 4 pm and were home by 9 ish. It was a shock to get out of the car once we pulled in to our 19 degree garage after wearing shorts all afternoon in the 60s at the park. But it was a great getaway and recharged us for a few more months of snow and cold at home.

Ready to tackle Jenny's Canyon!
(It was while we were hiking here that
we heard the official news that Biden
had been sworn in as the President!)

It was such a cool, deep canyon that didn't
have an outlet.

Gregg and I climbed up to the overlook
fork of the trail to see what we could see.
And all that we could see was back into
canyon, which was actually pretty cool.