On the road!

Just returned home from a great trip to St. George! I had a wonderful travelling companion, my daughter-in-law and sweet little granddaughter. It lifts my spirits to visit my Mom. Deep down inside I guess even 50 yr old grandmas need their ‘mummy’ once in a while!
Itinerary:

Weds-
• Left in the early a.m. before it had a chance to get too terribly hot as it is over 100 F degrees in St. George this time of year.
• We didn’t want any melted tires like that time we drove to Cali in the summer and had to buy a new set of tires in Las Vegas.
• The trip down was good and happily uneventful except for a lot of road construction on the freeway.
• We started listening to a recording of the “Hunger Games” during the trip. Whoa, good story, I did not really get sleepy driving.
• After a snack and some visiting with Mom and Norm, we went out to Kohl’s to get matching shirts as we are silly and like that sort of thing.

Thurs-
• Left about 10:00 am for a trip to Las Vegas to hunt for the outlet malls and have some fun girl time together.
• Parked in the garage at Caesar’s Palace and enjoyed the inside mall there.
• Had lunch at The Cheesecake Factory and window-shopped.
• Walked over to the Mirage to see the gardens.
• Dang, it was 107 in the shade there in Las Vegas!
• Walked over to Treasure Island to check things out there.
• We found treasure at one of the pick-your-own-pearl out of an oyster shell shops inside Treasure Island. Mom found a coral pink one, Jo and I found green-pink pearls, and Bri picked a bonus pearl. She chose a rather smallish oyster and inside was a beautiful blue pearl. All were good sized and bigger than the examples they showed us. Pretty exciting, yeah it’s a gimmick but now I can’t wait to go again and pick another pearl. Mom had hers made into a lovely ring, which she has always wanted to match her other pearl jewelry. I had mine mounted in a sterling lizard for a necklace and Bri’s was mounted for a necklace also. Jo is saving the gorgeous blue one for something else.
• Visited the M & M factory and Coke-a-Cola store too. Cokes from around the world were mostly nasty tasting and Bri was so tired and grumpy by this time we had to leave. Mom was also pretty worn out as well.
• Left sin city just as it was getting dark as I did not want to be anywhere near the strip when the more colorful types decided to venture out.
• We never made it to the outlet mall but we had a great time anyway! Can’t wait to go again!




Friday-
• Went to Michael’s crafts and picked up some greenery and silk flowers to redecorate my Mom’s floral arrangements, as that is one thing I usually do every time I visit. This time she wanted blue accents.
• Was treated to an early birthday lunch by Mom and Norm at a Japanese restaurant….ton katsu...yes, please. I did not want to gross everyone out by eating too much sushi though as Jo hates fish and nobody else at the table wanted to indulge. Oh well.
• Went with Mom to the re-hab center where she goes every Friday and helped with Bingo! Got a prize for helping, too.

Saturday-
• No sleeping in for us, we were off to get pics of the four of us in our matching shirts!
• Made a quick stop at Michael’s to get the last few bits of greenery for Mom’s arrangements.
• Had lunch with Jo’s cousins, Aunt and Uncle, etc. at their old standby Ernesto’s, where the food is yummy, his wife makes the mole, and the Latino trumpets happily add to the atmosphere while you eat.
• After that it was a quick stop at the Kid to Kid store to look for bargains and Robert’s Crafts to hunt down a different type of flowers for the hair clips Jo was making. That little Cabbage Patch baby doll I found will wash up nicely for Bri!
• Off to the Splash Path in the afternoon, a free water attraction downtown, and a ride on the carousel. What fun! Wow I’ve never seen a toddling baby run as fast as Bri did to play in that water!
• Well, Bri thought the carousel horses were fun until they started moving up and down, then…panic… and reaching for Grandma to cuddle her. All in all, a super day with super good company.
• Headed for home on Sunday and my own bed and pillow will feel really good tonight!