Parowan and Parks

Bob's sister, Connie, and her husband own a vacation home in Parowan, which provides great access to many of the beautiful parks in southern Utah. Bob and I arranged to stay there July 19-22, and Bobby's family joined us.  We took Elly with us, because the rest of the family had activities they didn't want to miss on the 19th - they would join us the next day.  We stopped at Ft. Cove, a way station for early Mormon settlers in Utah, which was established in 1867.  The fort was constructed of volcanic rock and limestone quarried from the nearby mountains. It was a fun stop not far from our destination.

Cedar Breaks National Monument is a gorgeous 3-mile wide natural amphitheater about 2000 feet deep.  With Bobby's family, who had joined us in Parowan, we hiked around the monument on the 21st.  The canyon was amazing and the wildflowers were beautiful.  And the red rock was really aflame by the end of our excursion.  It was a perfect day - porcupine and all!

Because we couldn't get enough of the beauty of southern Utah, the following day was spent hiking through nearby Bryce Canyon National Park.  Bryce is not actually a canyon formed by a river, but is a series of amphitheaters dotted with delicate hoodoos as high as 200 feet.  Unfortunately, dogs were not allowed on the trails here, so Jill had to stay behind with Messi, while the rest of us hiked the beautiful "canyon".  After reveling in the magnificence of nature, we stopped at a cute little tourist trap and spent some time at the rock shop before heading back to Parowan.

Parowan is a fun little place in Utah. I remember spending time with my friend, Becky Duke, at her grandmother's home here, when we were young girls.  The homemade root beer was always my favorite treat!  I think Elly enjoyed riding around town on the electric bikes most of all.  On our last day in Parowan, we drove out to see the Parowan Gap Petroglyphs.  Not a lot is certain about the origins of these unique designs (including the "zipper"), but they were fascinating to observe.

Leaving southern Utah, we stopped in Cedar City to catch a glimpse of the Shakespearean Festival there and snap a photo of the stately temple.

What an exciting summer of 2021 with the Goodman's!  Will the fun stop here? . . .