Why I Love St. George

Because we are heading to St. George in less than 7 hours, and because I am bored at work, I decided to post about why I love St. George. In no particular order:

1) It's Warm! Warmer than Salt Lake anyway. Even when I was younger and we'd go down over Thanksgiving weekend, the most we had to wear was a jacket, if that. And we still managed to go swimming outdoors.

2) The Red Rocks. As soon as the mountains get a little smaller, and the rocks start to turn red, I know we've made it through the long 4 1/2 hour drive. :) I get excited every time. And they're just beautiful. I especially loved hiking the narrows when I was younger. I was so skinny that I was able to walk almost the whole way through facing forward, while everyone else turned to the side. I haven't done it in years, mostly because I start to get a little claustrophobic. But I remember the good ol' days of climbing up there and running around. And then just playing in all the caves around there. (And giving a tour of our beautiful home, right Lisa & Heidi?)

3) St. George, for as long as I can remember, meant family. My Grandma & Grandpa Barlow moved there when I was young, and so we would go down & visit them all the time. They had this great condo with plenty of rooms to explore. At least it seemed huge when I was little. And when we would drive down after mom & dad got off work, we'd arrive really late, but my grandma would have warm homemade cinnamon rolls waiting for us. :) They were SO good. And they had a refrigerator with an ice dispenser in the door. That is where I discovered my love of eating crushed ice. I would just grab a cup and eat ice all day long. Which worked in St. George, because if I got too cold I just went outside for a couple minutes to warm up. :) I could go on forever.

Anyway, I just have a lot of good memories of going down there for huge family reunions and packing everyone in wherever they would fit. And a few years ago, when my Barlow grandparents moved up north to be closer to family, my Walker grandparents bought a condo down there instead, so we still continue the fun of gathering down there as a family.

4) Shopping! I was never a huge shopper during high school, and even my early years of college. It's not really fun when you don't have the money. But when I moved home from Logan, I went down to St. George with my aunt and her kids, because I needed to get away. And it was then that my aunt taught me a very important lesson. "Why spend $100 on therapy, when you can spend it shopping & feel just as good?" One of my favorite places to shop is the outlets in St. George. I especially love when Brian comes with because if he likes what I try on, then he doesn't feel bad about spending the money for it. :) There is also a Chocolate Factory Outlet that sells really good candies. Their carmel apples are also a favorite.

5) The Frostop. This place is my absolute favorite place in the world for burgers. But there is only one in St. George. It's kind of a cross between Arctic Circle and Sonic, but way better. They have great burgers, and the scrunchy fries, which are awesome. And the shakes and freezes are wonderful. And Nat will understand this more than anyone, but they have the "good ice"! It's the little ice balls, which are the best to munch on. :) We're weird, we know. I have to go to Frostop every time we're down. It's just better than anything. I'm already craving it.

I could probably keep going if I waited long enough, but I'll stop there. It's a pretty good summary of all the things I love. And it explains why Brian and I want to move there one day. Just as soon as we have the money to build down there. :)