After settling in we took a short nap and then were raring to go. So off we went to find some Geocaches. We found 5 that afternoon. It is such beautiful country.
This outfit came into the park while we were there, a contradiction to the saying “You can’t take it with you.”
The picture below shows a very unusual cache. I guess they don’t have to worry about rain in this part of the country so they had it taped to the inside of a brace for a post. We signed the log and were on our way.
On Sunday we were scheduled to check-in at the registration desk for the Huntsman Senior Games. Early that morning Jim & Peggy baked a birthday cake for Gary’s Birthday. After a light lunch we headed in to register. There were an estimated 9300 registered athletes. I wonder what St George is really like without the 9300+ additional folks. That evening Jim cooked steaks and Peggy made all the fixens for the birthday dinner which was topped off with ice cream & cake.
On Monday morning the Square Dancing began. Ken Bower and Gary Shoemake were the callers for the week and Steve Harris was the Round Dance cuer. The first day consisted of setting up teams if you didn’t already have one and then trying to do some practicing with those dancers. On Tuesday the competition began at 9 a.m. We competed in three divisions: Mainstream, Plus and Random. In the Random category each couple’s names were drawn for a team. No preselected squares for this one. Thought maybe we would have a chance in that one but we ended up in 5th place. No medals this year for the Cunninghams. We were glad to have the competition behind us so that we could just have fun after that.
It was a beautiful hall with a wonderful floor. I’m going to enclose a group of photos that will show you the facilities and some of the dancers.
There were 33 general categories of games with many divisions of each. If you are thinking that you couldn’t participate, just not physically able, you are probably wrong. They even have chess and bridge.
On Friday when all our events were completed we had some time to look around and see some of the other events. The pickleball players were practicing near where we had parked our motorhome for our final days in St George. The Lawn Bowlers were also in that area. We enjoyed watching them for quite a while. The judge was sitting near us. He lives here now but is from England.
His wife was playing as were some friends who had come over from England to play. He was a chatty fellow and loved telling us the rules and how it was played. He didn’t play, he was a golfer and will be playing next week. Here is his friend who came from England for the games. The one standing like a broomstick.
Here the Judge is measuring.
There were 250 softball teams here this year. When they did the grand march they had the softball teams enter from one end and all the other sports enter from the other end. It you are interested and want to find out more about the games here is their web site: http://www.seniorgames.net/
Instead of having a banquet for some of the sports they gave a $10 ticket in our packet with a list of restaurants that would accept them. We chose to go about mid-afternoon on Friday and went to the Brazialian Steakhouse. It was advertised as all you can eat meat. We didn’t quite know what to expect but wanted to try something different. It was wonderful. When you went in the waitress explained that this little container on the table was for your meat. It had a green end and a red end. If you want meat you put the green end up, if you want to take a break you put the red end up, then when you are finished and want your check you just lay it down. They had a wonderful salad bar and hot side dishes that were served buffet style. The waiter would come out with a big skewer with meat on it. If you wanted it he would slice some off and you would grab it with your tongs. It was all fabulous and we ate too much as we all do when we go to a buffet but it was really delicious.
After lunch we decided to investigate the Quilt shop we had seen on the second floor of the same building. It was quite a surprise when we entered. It had about 6 open arm quilting machines. They rent them by the hour. You take your quilt in and you can quilt it yourself. Presently it is $10 per hour but starting Nov 1 they are increasing their price to $15. They said you could do a large queen in about 3 to 4 hours. We were able to wander around, ask questions of both the proprietor and the people quilting. The proprietor was a gentleman, he said both he and his father had really gotten hooked on quilting several years ago. His father is 82 and makes several every year. His mother makes them too but that didn’t seem so unusual.
Here she is doing the final stitching along the end:
Friday night we attended a wonderful piano concert at the Tabernacle. The 9’ Steinway piano and the acoustics of the Tabernacle made for a wonderful concert. James Oneil Miner was the performer. He has performed in many countries, 39 of the 50 states and recorded 12 albums. We enjoyed it very much.
This morning we went to breakfast and then attended a Classic/Rod Car Show in Washington, UT. Washington is just north of St George.
As we left the park entrance we found this scene. The car appeared to have come from the overpass. We had to go north to the next exit so we could go south back to town. Don’t know who/how many were hurt.
Tomorrow we are off to Lake Mead. Happy Trails!
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