Last year after we visited my friend Rachael in Canada, we wanted so much to get together again! She was planning to come to Utah this summer for a family reunion, and we thought maybe we could plan something around that—and then we thought it wouldn't work out—and then we thought it would again—and finally we booked a condo down near Cedar City and made plans to go to the Shakespeare Festival and let our families spend time together again! We were so excited!
Then the pandemic hit, and everything was uncertain—though we had hope things would be better in July. But of course, when July came…nothing was better. The Shakespeare Festival was cancelled, the border was closed, and we were SAD.
But. We still had the condo rental we couldn't cancel without a fee, so (without Rachael! *sniff!*) we went to Cedar City anyway. It's a beautiful place to visit. A relatively short drive away, but different enough to feel interesting. Sam's sister lives there, too! We pass through fairly frequently on our way to other places, but we haven't actually stayed there for almost ten years! Our last trip there was when Junie was a baby!
We actually stayed in Brian Head, which is a ski resort town in the mountains above Cedar City. It's up at 10,000 ft. altitude, and when I went running, I could tell! I thought I was used to high altitude, but 4400 ft. doesn't really compare, I guess. I was dying on the hills! It was really beautiful, though. Seb ran there too (much faster and farther than me) and it was fun to pass each other and wave.
Mornings really are the prettiest time in the mountains!
I love watching the sun start to light the tops of the trees.
Some parks were closed for the pandemic, but Cedar Brakes, just up the road from Brian Head, was still open. I've always loved Cedar Brakes—it's like Bryce Canyon, but smaller. I think it's more impressive in some ways because of how much color variation there is in the formations. It worked out well, anyway, because there are lots of viewpoints and not as much hiking. Since we hadn't brought the hiking backpack for Gus, that suited us nicely!
