Sand Hollow State Park and Hadley has surgery {St. George, Utah}

Travel dates :: April 27 – May 2, 2016

After leaving Page, Arizona (see all the amazing things we did here) we headed north and then east to Sand Hollow State Park just 20 minutes outside St. George, Utah. This route was part of our original plan – but after Hadley broke her arm in Page our focus in St. George shifted from exploring the area to getting her the medical care she needed.

We arrived Wednesday night and had a great pull-thru full hook-up paved spot in Sand Hollow State Park. It had a covered picnic table, not shown.

There are THREE campground areas at Sand Hollow – full-hook ups in the Westside campground (up on a hill, some spots have great views), the Sand Pit campground (partial hook-ups, campground geared toward off-road vehicles) and primitive camping on the beach near the Sand Hollow Reservoir (also geared toward off-road vehicles). If you don’t have an off-road vehicle (and don’t want to hear or be around them) try to get a spot in the Westside campground – this is where our initial spot was and we loved it!

This is another spot in that Westside Campground – our friends @UpInTheAirstream got it as a walk-up spot and it had fantastic views of the mountains.

We had planned to take Hadley to an appointment on Friday with an orthopedic specialist in St. George – and we expected at this appointment to find out if Hadley needed surgery or not. But early Thursday afternoon I got a call from the orthopedic specialist and he said that after reviewing her x-rays (which had been sent to him by the hospital in Page), he recommended surgery. . .Friday morning. . . and could we come in for a consult in a couple hours!?! Gasp. This was a big surprise for us – but we wanted the best and most appropriate treatment for Hadley and we had two separate doctors recommend surgery that afternoon – the sooner the better, waiting through the weekend wasn’t advised because these breaks can start to heal if left untreated too long.

That Thursday afternoon, while I was busy calling our health insurance and coordinating the details of the surgery, Jeremy worked with the office at Sand Hollow State Park to move us to another spot that had availability through the weekend (we had originally planning to leave Saturday).

We didn’t want Hadley to have surgery Friday and then have to move the trailer the next day – so Thursday night we moved the trailer to the Sand Pit campground that had availability thru Monday and pushed out our reservations for Zion National Park.

The next morning we were at the hospital by 7 a.m. for Hadley’s surgery. Thank goodness the surgery was a success (read all about it here) and we were back home at Sand Hollow State Park by mid-day.

We took a nap as soon as we got home and were greeted with a gorgeous rainbow when we woke up. What a treat it was! Can you see the second rainbow faintly above the first?

This would be the first of MANY rainbows we’d see in Utah. . . this state definitely knows how to impress with it’s natural wonders.

By dinner Hadley was acting like her old self again and we had to be strict and make her rest and watch movies. Within 24 hours she was in zero pain, without pain meds and honestly ready to get outside and RUN. . . but we kept her inside and forced her to watch another 24 hours of movies (torture, I know!).

After going for a walk and noticing a bunch of garbage, Liam and Jeremy spent an afternoon walking around the beach cleaning up trash. It was Liam’s idea and I was so proud of him for suggesting it. They filled up an entire garbage bag! I think the Junior Ranger badge program has made a great impression on my kids – they have a much greater appreciation for nature and the environment after spending the better part of a year in our parks system.

On Sunday she was ready to burst and frankly, we were too, so we went over to my friend’s house in St. George for a barbecue. The kids played together (carefully) and it was great to catch up with my friend and her family. We hadn’t seen these awesome friends since our first trip out in the Airstream to Grayland Beach on the Washington coast in April of 2015 – nearly a year earlier (they used to live in Washington and moved to Utah this past year)!

Sunday night I took Hadley for a walk around Sand Hollow State Park. She was antsy to be outdoors after staying inside so long after her surgery. The sand here is a bright orange and the lake here is a brilliant blue – it’s an incredible contrast.  The sunset on Sunday night was gorgeous.

Here are some photos we took during our walk . . .

Monday morning we had a follow-up appointment with the orthopedic doctor. They put another layer of cast on Hadley’s arm (the post-surgery cast had a split through it to help with swelling after surgery) and we were given the blessing to continue on our travels with a follow-up in Washington in six weeks to remove the cast (more on that later).

I took Hadley to the Dollar Store right next to the clinic and she bought about $5 worth of sand toys – since I knew she wouldn’t be swimming anytime soon and we headed back to the trailer. The kids wasted no time getting the toys dirty in the sand.

After a whirlwind stay in St. George we pulled out Monday afternoon and headed to Zion National Park. Honestly, we couldn’t have planned this any better. We only had to extend our stay in St. George a couple days for recovery, it was the perfect place for healing and respite, and I’m so grateful we were in a community with such good medical care. I hope to make it back to St. George one day and explore more.

Next up . . . Zion National Park! 

Have you been to St. George, Utah? Do you have favorite places nearby that we should visit next time we are in the area?