My Snowy Valentine I

You might have noticed Jesse is leaving February 13th. He'll be spending Valentine's Day with (travel companion) Jay in Bangkok. Actually, they'll be spending it in an airplane, since they leave on the 13th, and arrive on the 15th. To male up for this huge romantic oversight, Jesse suggested a trip this weekend. The mission: teach Danie to snowboard. I think he almost succeeded.

We went to Cedar City, Utah. We were actually headed to Brian Head Resort, but Cedar City seemed like a nice place to stay. We were wrong, but hindsight is 20/20.

We arrived Sunday Morning. Our plan was to check in, change and head up to the snow. Best Western had other plans. We couldn't check in until 3pm. It was 11:30 in the morning. So. We drove up the mountain, changed into our snow gear in the car, walked around the lodge, and decided to spend a few hours tubing. We filled out the waivers, walked up the counter, and were denied.

Apparently tubing can "fill up" by 1pm on a Sunday afternoon. May that be a lesson to all of us. We were tired, and it wasn't worth the fees to snowboard for two hours. So we walked around the non tube, non ski, non snowboard areas and played in the snow.




I miss real winters, and I especially miss snow. Even though we didn't get to do anything, I had a great time. Still, wintry-merriment can only last so long when you're tired and hungry. So we decided to eat at the Godfather's Pizza attached to our hotel, and hope our room was ready. Again, we were denied.

Godfather's was closed. We assumed it was out of businesses, because there's no reason for a restaurant to be closed at 2pm on a Sunday afternoon. We drove up Main street, and found another pizza place, also closed. Either there's a law against having Pizza in Cedar City, or everything in Cedar City shuts down on Sundays. Both ideas were of course ridiculous. There's a college there. And tourists come from all over to ski. So there is a demand. But alas, there was no pizza. Tired, hungry, confused, we went to the hotel. It was 2:30. Again, we were denied.

Instead of the "King Business Plus Suite" we reserved (and paid for,) we got two Queens. There's no price difference, but if you choose the King, you want the King. Desires aside, none of the rooms with King - sized beds were ready. None of them. Considering this hotel (Best Western Town & Country) spanned both sides of the street, that was impressive. So we got what we got. And we slept.

I woke up three hours later determined to have pizza. In all, we had seen four pizza places that afternoon and I just had a hankering. I searched the guide, followed the map, and foraged for food, hopefully pizza. Know what? Every place that serves pizza in Cedar City Utah is closed on Sunday. That's a fact. Down the street from "5 Buck Pizza" was a KFC. And that was good enough, at least in theory.

When I got back to the hotel, I realized there was no ketchup in the bag. Jesse needs ketchup to survive. He puts it on everything from the chicken to the egg. I knew he would not eat (quietly) without ketchup. So I walked to the Sizzler on the corner, and asked for ketchup packets.

Sizzler apparently does not believe in ketchup packets. The girl behind the counter asked if she could give me a bottle. Another girl reached for a bottle to give me. A manager told her to go get me a fresh bottle. And some so & so hidden manager decided that not labeled for individual sale bottle of ketchup was really worth $3. I paid it. No questions, no arguments.

So there we were: finally about to eat (not pizza) at 7pm. We had water. We had coke. We had ketchup. We had original recipe chicken, biscuits, and two sides. We did not, however, have any silverware.

Maybe I should have asked. But it was as plain as the nose on my face that I was not from Cedar City. That KFC was located between an interstate and a hotel. What makes Missy behind the counter think that I don't need silverware or napkins? I refused to go back to KFC or Sizzler. Cedar City was starting to annoy me. We improvised. I cut a lid from one of the sides, and used it as a shovel. Fortunately, the sides were gross, and we didn't eat them. But it would have been nice to have the option.

Five pizza places, zero bars. Cedar City is Mormon country, and they don't take kindly to debauchery. Jesse found two places in the guide with liquor licenses. Both closed at 10pm. One was only open from 4pm to 10pm. The other was Applebee's. We just watched a movie and went to bed. Jesse promised Monday would be better. He was right.