Snowbirding - A Review

We pulled the trailer home yesterday after our four-month stay in beautiful Hurricane.  It’s cleaned up and back in storage.  So what was snowbirding really like? 

Well, we were truly rookies.  If we had been experienced snowbirds, we would have brought a coordinated bistro set, a small gas grill, and a plant or two.  We would have also known that our trailer didn’t fit in the smaller driveways with the cutout, and would have missed the fun of vacuuming dust and mud every other day.  Now we know.

It was great not to have to shovel snow.  Yes, it did get cold in Hurricane but it never snowed.  It was also great to be so close to so many activities: Zion National Park, three state parks, and so many backroads that it would take years to explore them all.  It was also great to be able to run any time without worrying about falling on the ice or breathing the bad air.

Being in Hurricane felt like a four month vacation, and that’s just too long to be on vacation.  Every day we made a plan to go do something, because it just didn’t work sitting home in the trailer all day.  This was a good thing – we’ve seen a lot of beautiful country and done a lot of fun things.  But there were no projects to work on, and in such close quarters I didn’t feel comfortable taking time (and hogging the shared laptop) to write or scrapbook.  I even neglected my blog.  And this trip reminded us that three months in the trailer is pretty much our max.  We thought we could handle longer if we didn’t have a job, but having a job actually gave us some structure to our days.

We volunteered for VITA in St. George, and found ourselves doing far more instruction than production.  They needed Paul to be a site coordinator for an established site at the Red Rock Center for Independence, so that was our regular spot.  It was appointment only, and we only had six appointments each session for three preparers, so it was a much slower pace.  We were also asked to help a new preparer at the Deaf Center.   He was deaf, as were his clients, so we worked with him through an interpreter and helped him learn the program.  He’ll be able to do this on his own next year.  That was an amazing experience.  American Sign Language is so beautiful.  Learning it just may land on my bucket list.

What I really learned about myself is that my life is in Salt Lake City.  For better and for worse.  The air may be bad, the traffic may be bad, but our kids, our friends, our extended family, and our volunteer work are all in SLC.  I guess Dorothy had it right – there’s no place like home.

That said, we won’t rule out snowbirding again.  After all, now we’re experienced.

Hurricane, Utah, USA

Now that we’ve been in Hurricane for two months, it’s time to share the best and brightest about this beautiful little city of 11,000. The city name is pronounced “Hurr-i-kin” as opposed to “Hurr-i-cayne.” Local lore states that it was named after the wind that blows fiercely every afternoon. Other lore states that the area was settled by English converts to the Mormon Church, hence the British pronunciation.   Many of the city streets honor the names of the founding families.

I love small town grocery stores.  And small town hardware stores.  And even small town Walmarts.  Really – haven’t you noticed that small town Walmart stores are SO much nicer than their big city counterparts?  But I digress…

Lin’s Market is a delightful little grocery store, walking distance from WillowWind.  Lin’s carries most of the products I buy and has a great selection of meats and produce.  But the best thing about Lin’s is the deli.  All their salad entrees and dinner items are homemade.  They make fresh sandwiches to order.  They seem to be the alternative to the Hurricane High cafeteria; we’ve often seen high school students munching on chicken, corn dogs, and potato logs at one of the several tables in the deli area.  Best of all, they are fully stocked and ready by 8:00 AM. 

Hurricane’s Buck’s Ace Hardware has a little bit of everything.  And I do mean everything.  They were able to match our ATV key.  They carry fishing and hunting gear, trailer supplies, and of course, the usual hardware.  What’s that delightful smell as you pass the front door?  Fresh popcorn – free to customers.

The local movie theater is Coral Cliffs Cinema 8.  It offers stadium seating and has a VIP Theater.  What’s that?  It’s a fabulous concept that I haven’t yet found in Salt Lake City.  The tickets are about double in price, but the price includes recliners with tray tables and the ability to pre-order both theater concessions AND Mexican food from the Durango’s restaurant across the street.  Your food is delivered to your seat.  About halfway through the movie they pause for a bathroom break and bring in mint truffles.  A great date night experience.

Hurricane has curbside recycling.  It’s on the curb at 400 South and 700 West.  We’ve brought our recycling several times.  The bins are regularly emptied and the area is always clean. Add to this a view that I’ll never tire of looking at, two golf courses (it’s getting warm enough to golf), the close proximity to both Sand Hollow and Quail Creek Reservoirs (it’s getting warm enough to fish) and of course, the miles and miles of ATV trails, and you’ve got a great place to visit.  Or vacation.  Or snowbird.  Or live????