Winter in Cedar City

[Family and Friends Friday]


Winter in Cedar City could probably be summed up in one word: cold. But that sounds pretty harsh. It is cold, but it’s also sunny and unbelievably beautiful with snow on the surrounding mountains. The sunrises and sunsets are pretty awesome.

It’s true we do enjoy our shopping trips south to Costco in St. George, UT. What a difference 45 minutes south and 2500 ft. lower in elevation can make in the temperatures.

We’ve found that if you have the right clothing the cold doesn’t bother a person as much, and staying in the sunshine helps. Cedar City hasn’t really gotten that much snow this season and what it has gotten usually has melted before too long. In the surrounding mountain that is another story, the skiing at nearby Brian Head Mt. has been pretty good this year with 62 inches of snow.


Our largest snowfall, about 8-10 inches, arrived over Thanksgiving weekend. Of course Bob and I were spending the holiday with our grandchildren in Las Vegas where it was a bit warmer. On Sunday we were fine driving home north on Interstate 15 until we were about 15 miles south of our turnoff. We were on Black Ridge where the elevation increased and the rain changed to snow and we hit fog. Needless to say, the last leg of the trip was a white knuckle ride. The traffic slowed to stop and go in both lanes, and we saw 3 cars and a semi in the ditch. There was ice on the highway under the snow and it was slippery, as the people in the ditch could tell you. Once we got off at our exit, we were able to breath easier and travel better. When we got home we learned that the Interstate conditions were like that all the way north to Salt Lake City, normally a 3 ½ to 4 hour drive. Who knows how long it took those people driving in blizzard conditions. And guess what? Monday was a beautiful, sunny day! It was just a great day to shovel out your driveway,

That following week it was sunny almost all week and by the weekend the snow was almost all gone! We had a brown Christmas Eve, but it did snow over the holidays, just a few inches. However it’s been so cold that the snow has been slow to melt and it’s been rather pretty. I’ve decided I’d rather have a snow covering than all that brown ground.


We spent about 4 days at Christmas with Carlee’s family in Salt Lake City. How the red headed rascals have grown. Jack is 7 and Katie Jane is now 4. We spent a day in Cedar City to recharge and then spent 5 days in Henderson with Dustin’s family, helping them move over New Year’s. Their blondes are growing like weeds too. Paige will be 3 in February, and Jordan will be 1 in March.





Back in Cedar City to start 2011, we’re back doing volunteer work. I’m the Toy Lady at the Catholic Thrift Shoppe, and Bob is the Dishwasher one day a week at the Senior Center. Bob has joined a rock hound group that goes out on field trips once a month searching out interesting rocks in the area. While I’m searching out other weavers in the area so I have someone to talk fibers with. So far I’ve found about 5 other weavers. Now we’re going to work on getting together.

Up the Road to Cedar City, Utah

While I wouldn’t exactly consider Sew Swanky in Cedar City my local yarn shop, it might be in a couple of years. My husband and I are planning on building a home on a lot we purchased last summer in Cedar City. When he finally retires, for real, we hope to sell our home in Las Vegas and move to Cedar City.

Last week I made the two and a half hour drive to Cedar City on a beautiful fall day to help decide where the house would be placed on the lot. We wanted to give the only tree on the block plenty of room so it wouldn’t be disturbed during construction. You can see the tree in the background of the photos. It’s not really tall, and who knows how old it is, and it’s not exactly pretty. But it seemed a shame to cut it down. We heard that the neighborhood kids were using it as a tree house. It doesn’t look strong enough. Hopefully once the construction starts the club house will be shut down.

The tree is a juniper, and the area is full of them. They don’t grow very tall, and look more like large overgrown scrubs. Of course Cedar City is at 5800 ft of altitude, so that might have something to do with the height of the trees. The early settlers thought the trees were cedars so that’s why the city is called Cedar City.

As soon as the legal paper work is completed the construction company will start digging the basement. A house with a basement will be a treat for us as we haven’t had a house with one since we lived in the midwest in the 70s. Guess what I'm planning on having in the new basement? You’ve got it! A large workroom. Well, large might be overstating it, but at least it will be bigger than the 10 X 12 bedroom I have now.

After the business with the house was completed, I drove downtown to visit Sew Swanky, a cute combination knit and quilting “boutique”, as their advertisement says. My poor photo has Andrea, the owner, hiding behind a book spinner. Sorry about that. I had a nice chat with Andrea while I looked over the Amy Butler, Westminster and batik fabrics. I ended up getting some fat quarters and half yards selections for a making some portfolios. It was an idea that I saw in The Quilting Arts Gifts Holidays magazine 2008-2009 issue on pages 84-87.

Sew Swanky also had some nice yarns that caught my eye. While the selection isn’t large the quality is good with such yarns as Classic Elite. There was some Classic Alpaca in beautiful natural colors that was raised just up the road in Beaver, UT, and marketed through a coop. But I couldn’t linger longer over the yarns as I had a two and a half hour drive back to Vegas. I’m sure there’ll be more trips to Cedar City in the coming months as the home construction gets underway.