Utah Getaway Part 2

OK so now let's pick up where I left off on my part 1 Utah Getaway story.

On a very short notice we hooked up with the owners of the cabin and they agreed we could stay there Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of last week.

My partner Richard agreed to cover my day job, and my night job schedule was for Monday and Friday 4 p.m. to midnight so I could cover Monday before leaving and Friday after we returned home.

The dogs knew something was up as the car was partially packed and ready to go by Sunday.

Personally I wanted to leave after I got home from work Monday night, however the wife Vicki would not agree to that.

Through intense negotiations she did agree to a 6 a.m. departure time on Tuesday.

We missed the 6 a.m. time due to me not having a recipe printed so we rolled out of the driveway at 6:03 a.m. sharp.

Of course as I got to the I-15 I realized we were running naked so I had to pull over and get my radar detector from the back and hook it up so we could stretch the legs out on the car and see if she was born to run.

Now we were rolling, and as luck would have it, traveling through Nevada, Arizona and Utah we did not get stopped for speeding. Of course everyone that knows me knows I only go about 1 mile an hour over the posted limit.

So here we are out on the interstate just putting along at the posted speed limit of 75 with me wishing Nevada would go back to the days of no speed limit. (You kind of have to be a little older to remember those good days.)

Here's the deal with cars - I have always felt they should be able to go the top speed as shown on the speedometer otherwise that is false advertising and then you can get your money back and a car that will do as advertised.

The problem is, every car I have owned since October 1976 has had a governor in it, usually sitting in the passenger seat.

Tuesday was no exception so I thought maybe if I made idle chit chat with the governor Vicki sitting in the passenger seat she might not notice is I opened it up a bit.

That didn't work so I hoped she might take a nap and I could put the hammer down but alas she was too excited about our trip to doze off.

So there I was with 200 miles of freeway and a car with a speedometer that goes to 140mph and we are just putting along.

My biggest fear was being passed by one of those Smart Cars, how embarrassing would that be especially since our plates say ZOOMBYA?

I may have gone a mile or two over the speed limit just to blow the carbon out of the car since the wife Vicki is the primary in town driver and I think the computer had her average speed at 12.5 miles per hour.

We finally hit Cedar City and the anticipation began. We took the dogs to Zoe's favorite park so she could show it to Chloe who now, after chasing the tennis balls with Zoe' for 30 minutes, loves it as well.

From there we grabbed an early lunch, hit the store for some last minute groceries, gassed up and headed up the mountain.

The drive up Cedar mountain brought back many memories and stories as Vicki and I over the years had spent many a weekend camping at Navajo Lake at the top of the mountain.

We took the turn off for Swains Creek and as we are headed to the cabin we start to wonder if the cabin is as described or if we will be disappointed.

As we reach the cabin, see the setting in the trees, the deck with chairs sitting there inviting us to kick back and relax we are saying we hope when we open the door it too is as described.

We were not disappointed when we opened the door and walked inside as it was more than we expected and better than advertised.

We rushed to get unpacked and settled in so we could fill those chairs sitting empty on the deck. The dogs, without missing a beat, were roaming with their noses to the ground checking out all the new smells of friends that they would later encounter as would we.

I fixed my ice tea, Vicki grabbed her water and we picked out our chairs, positioned them to our liking and the getaway started.

So there we are, kicked back enjoying the mountain air when we found out how friendly the animal kingdom there is.

It started with a loud greeting from a squirrel sitting in the tree yelling out greetings to us and to Zoe' and Chloe.

He was a chatty little fellow that visited us often during our stay, I think to confuse Zoe' and Chloe as they could never figure out just where he was in the tree.


The wife Vicki has a fascination and love of hummingbirds and was excited to see a feeder hanging on the deck side of the house and commented that she hoped one would stop by for fuel so she could see it.

Much to her delight a hummingbird was the next to stop by and welcome us to the cabin. That was one of many that stopped by during our stay.





Stay tuned for part 3 of the Utah Getaway.