On our road trip up to Utah this past August, we did the drive from Orange County to St. George in one day, with a stopover in Vegas. Carol-Diane was with us, Peter was staying home taking care of business. We decided to stop by Uncle Tom's castle on our way into St. George so the kids could see his crazy place, and have a swim in his cool pool. (all of this is here)
The stretch between Vegas and the Virgin River Gorge outside of St. George on 1 -15 is pretty much a desert drive. Not many towns, just the land stretched out in front of us, with the mountains we are heading towards in the distance. As we approached this area in the late afternoon, it was apparent there was a mean storm ahead of us. We watched the lightening flash for miles as we drove towards the dark foreboding storm clouds. Soon the rain started to fall lightly, and then as it does in the desert, just immediately started to pour down on us. We drove through the torrents with the windshield wipers on high, still barely able to see through the rain.
The kids were nervous but a bit excited by all of the drama. Some cars were slowing down in front of us, others were blowing past us in the left hand land. Soon we began to drive out of it, the rain tapered off, and then it stopped just as abruptly as it began. At about that time we hit the Gorge and knew we were getting close to St. George.
In the Gorge it was apparent that there had just been a desert downpour. The Virgin River was running full, the rocks were glistening, and all along the high peaks were impromptu waterfalls running down the rock walls. It was really beautiful, and everything seemed so clean and freshly washed. The late afternoon sun was trying to shine through the heavy clouds that were now in our rear view mirror, making for perfect rainbow weather.
We reached Tom's place, and it was apparent the storm had blown through there as well. At his high profile house up on the bluff, the storm had raced through, and the wind had shattered his master bedroom window in the hour before we had arrived. He had it boarded up and was in his same high spirits as always, was a welcoming, entertaining, gracious host to me and my kids. They swam in his pool and we all admired the view of St. George, as well as the dark storm clouds which were heading away from us, further and further west.
After our visit and our swim, we loaded up the kids for the short drive over to the condo where we would spend the night before continuing our journey on to Salt Lake in the morning. We stopped and picked up smoothies, pizza, and delicious twisty bread sticks at The Pizza Factory, then settled into the condo to eat, relax, watch a movie, and talk to our papa on the phone. We were all happy and healthy and well.
At nearly the exact same time that we were having this mini adventure, a small private plane crashed in Arizona that was carrying a young couple and their flight instructor. I'm sure that probably 95% of my readers have followed the story of Stephanie Nielson and her husband who were severely injured in that plane crash. The flight instructor was killed and the Nielson's were severely burned. Stephanie was a popular "mormon mommy" blogger before the crash and many, many people read her tales of motherhood and married life. Now the Internet is returning the favor, her sister has commandeered her blog to continue to tell their story after the accident. Many people in the blogosphere have responded with donations, auctions, fundraisers for the family etc. and millions more, like me, are following their story daily.
I mention all of this merely to say if you haven't read about their story you should, it is very sad and inspiring and uplifting. It is a tragedy that I can barely begin to identify with. The future for the family is completely uncertain, recovery is not even guaranteed, but what is certain is that this young couple will always have the unwavering love and support of their own family, regardless of the future. And that is something I can identify with.
You can read Stephanie's blog The NieNie Dialogues here
and
her sister C Jane has her blog about their recovery here
It is very worthwhile reading. And, now if you'll pardon me, I'm going to go hug my kids.
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