Parowan Getaway

As I continue to work on the Utah Independent Bookstore Crawl, some of them are far. It is unreasonable to go on a long trip just for a bookstore, but I can use the opportunity to do other things as well.

One of the bookstores on the map is Bookdom Apothecary in Cedar City. But there are two other things I've wanted to do in the area, so I was able to do them as well.

On Friday evening, I headed out during a monsoonal storm to drive to Parowan. In 2018, I went to all twenty-nine county seats in Utah. But I erroneously thought Cedar City was the seat of Iron County, not Parowan. The freeway goes through Parowan, but I'm not sure that counts. So I wanted to stop in Parowan so I can truly say I've been to all the county seats. 

Traffic was horrendous, so I got to Parowan around 9 p.m., even though I had adjusted my schedule this week so I could leave a little early. I think I got the last hotel room in Parowan, and I had to go to the more expensive hotel to get it. Oh well, I don't have a lot of expenses. This hotel did have really nice potatoes and mini omelettes with the continental breakfast.

Then on Saturday morning, I stopped at Parowan's grocery store and drove through the town, where I saw the 1866 church. It's a Daughters of Utah Pioneers museum now, but it was closed, as DUP museums usually are. I always enjoy seeing little towns.

Next I headed over to Parowan Gap. I drove past the dry Little Salt Lake, which I have heard about for years but never seen. Before I got to the Gap, there was a BLM site with dinosaur tracks. They had a small trail with some signs identifying hadrosaur tracks. 

Here's a three-toed footprint, except the middle toe has been broken off.

Then I kept going down the road to Parowan Gap, a natural spot where there's a gap in the mountains. 

What makes this Gap especially important is there is a lot of Fremont rock art, which I think is around 1,500 years old. I expected just a few bits of art, but there was a lot! And I might have left without checking all of it out. This was the highlight of my road trip. By coincidence, my dad's YouTube algorithm gave him a video about Parowan Gap while I was gone, so now he wants to go too. It's not far from the town, so I definitely recommend checking it out. There's no hiking involved.

Then I drove down to Cedar City. I eventually hope to go to all the state parks in Utah, so I was able to check off one from my list: Frontier Homestead State Park. This museum starts with an indoor exhibit with old carriages, sleighs, and wagons. I was a little disappointed at first.

But then behind the indoor museum is a large back area with lots of old farming equipment and buildings that have been moved there, and I was no longer disappointed with the museum, though I'm still not sure why this is considered a state park. I had thought about visiting this place in July for the Pioneer Day season, but then we had the record-breaking temps. That was a good decision; the outdoor area surely would have been too hot in July (even with regular July temperatures).

This is a replica of an iron furnace. Parowan and Cedar City were settled to mine iron, and this state park was originally called Iron Mission State Park.

They had Southern Paiute replica structures

On the left is a sheep barn. In the back is an 1860s home that was moved a few miles to the museum. I got to go inside, where a woman in period clothing gave information, but she spoke fast and not very clearly.

In the sheep barn was this wooden sheep with the names of different state parks

Next I went to Bookdom Apothecary, which is why I timed this trip for now—but I can't say it was even the main reason for the trip, since I also wanted to see Parowan and the state park. This was typical of a lot of stores on the crawl—left-leaning, witchy-adjacent, women's stores. None of the books interested me; there were some nonfiction books, but none I care to read. (My to-be-read list is still big. I'm currently reading America's Public Holidays and volume 2 of The Diaries of Carol Lynn Pearson. The new book Cats: A History is on my radar. And this week I learned about an upcoming book called When All the World Was Irish: A Global History of Saint Patrick's Day, which I simply need to buy.)

Anyway, when the cashier stamped my map, she correctly identified that I just have Midway and Moab left, so she was evidently aware of where all the stores are. I'm going to Midway in two weeks, and then I'll probably go to Moab in November or December.

Then I was done with my time in Cedar City. As I headed north, I drove through the town of Paragonah (also spelled Paragoonah, the way it's pronounced) just for fun. I stopped in Beaver to get gas, where the attendant washed my windshield. I always hear people talk about the Creamery there, so I made a stop, but there were no seasonal ice cream flavors, so I wasn't impressed. I got dinner and groceries in Nephi. And then I got home!

***

Another noteworthy thing this week is that September 15 is the arbitrary day I begin the Halloween season, ever since I was in first grade. It's just such a looong dearth of holidays after the July holidays are over!

I try to buy less, and I ask people not to buy me gifts, because I get overwhelmed with too much stuff. I try to only buy things I love. And there are several things I have bought for the Halloween season that I love.

I love this It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown shirt because it's directly from the TV special. I don't love most Peanuts merch because it's just stock images in different settings, but this one is special. (I am annoyed, however, that the animators gave the bats fingers. The wings are bats' fingers!)

I have figures for It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and Nightmare Before Christmas, so last fall I preordered figures from Over the Garden Wall, which did not come out until this month. I somewhat regret it, since I feel guilty about everything and these figures take up a lot of space. But they are super cool. This was a limited-edition set with extra figures; the large Enoch figure and the skeleton are not available in the regular version, which is part of why I felt compelled to order the set last year. These are from the second episode, and I find them charming but also a tad off-putting, which really aligns with the feel of the episode.

I have some Easter/spring decorations from Target that are little anthropomorphic things holding hands, and I love them so much that sometimes I imagine other versions when I go running. So I felt like I needed the Halloween versions—I especially like the book and flashlight, since they're pretty unique.

And I bought this skeleton hat for running, since I love these washable Sprints hats. Halloween is a Saturday this year, so if it hasn't snowed yet, a long Halloween trail run sounds like a lot of fun.

When I started observing Halloween in mid-September back in the 1990s, I was one of the first, if not the first, to do so. But these days, there's a good number of people who put out their decor even before me. And haunted attractions open in mid-September, and Halloween Baking Championship premieres in mid-September.

***

And with the start of Halloween season is the return of pumpkinundation roundup! I started this back in 2015 where I document the various fall-flavored treats I have. 

Flipz Dunkin' Pumpkin Spice Donut Covered Pretzels only somewhat taste like donuts if you concentrate. There's a bit of spice flavor. Covered pretzels are always great, but I've had better. 7/10.

I get Special K Pumpkin Spice every year because I love it as cereal, but it's not that interesting as a pumpkin spice product. 8/10.

Startup Candy Co. Pumpkin Spice Hard Candy Drops are OK; they're close to the line between candle and candy. (Startup Candy is a Utah-based company that has been around longer than Utah! Startup is the name of the family that started it, but it's very much not a startup.) 6/10.

Favorite Day Roasted Peanuts & Candy Corn uses mediocre candy corn, but peanuts and candy corn is a winning combo that is greater than the sum of its parts. 8/10.

I put Chobani Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer in Pero, since I don't drink coffee. My cup was bitter, either because I put in too much Pero powder or not enough creamer or both. I'm sure I'll have a firmer opinion as the season goes on, but for now I give it 7/10.

Favorite Day Pumpkin Spice Mini Rice Cakes have a candy coating that I find a tad off-putting. They seem more decadent than other rice cake snacks. 6/10.

Since it's Old Spice, I expected the Old Spice Pumpking Body Wash to be a bit more masculine. It definitely smells like a baked good, but I wouldn't put it as pumpkin spice. 7/10.

I have had the Squatch Drunk'n Pumpkin Deodorant since last fall. When I smell the stick itself, it smells like cream cheese frosting, but when I'm wearing it, it has a weird scent I can't describe. (I didn't photograph the stick with the lid off because it had lots of armpit hairs stuck to it.) 6/10.

Pumpkin Spice Softsoap has a vague scent, but it's pleasant enough. 7/10.

I like Pumpkin Pie Spice Frosted Mini Wheats mostly because I like Frosted Mini Wheats. They do have an autumnal flavor. 7/10.

I actually first tried the Wendy's Apple Crumble Frosty Fusion in August to see if I wanted to review it for The Impulsive Buy, but I didn't want to. On that occasion they gave it to me in chocolate, even though I said vanilla; this time they just gave me vanilla without asking me. The cookie bits remind me of ginger snaps without the strong ginger flavor. The syrup is weird and artificial. It's not bad, but it's not great. 6/10.

I don't quite understand what Made Good Pumpkin Spice Organic Granola Bites are even after eating them. They're like granola bars shaped like balls with little candy chips. They're decent. 7/10.

Peelerz Apple Cider Donuts are funny in two ways. First, I got a brick of gummy candy instead of individual pieces. Second, the back calls them apple cinder donuts. They taste like apple cider, not like donuts. Real apple cider donuts don't taste like apple cider. Still an enjoyable candy. 7/10.

Drizzilicious Pumpkin Spice Bites are smaller than the other Drizzilicious rice cakes I've had. They have a strong spice scent. I like them, but I liked the summer flavors more. 6/10.

I bought Mr. Clean Spiced Harvest last fall, and because of that, the scent does remind me of fall now. Since I dilute it and try to restrict it to the fall, this bottle will last me a long time. 7/10.

I don't think I'd ever had Pocky until last Christmastime. Honestly, I eat so many pumpkin spice products that these Pumpkin Spice Pocky don't really stick out as special to me. They're fine. 7/10.

I got the BeeMax Pumpkin Pie [White] Chocolate at Five Below, and it's much more sophisticated than I expected for something from that store. It's actual white chocolate rather than white confection. 8/10.

The Prime Bites Glazed Pumpkin Spice Protein Brownie has the distinct, off-putting flavor of whey protein. It is better than other protein products, but it's not great. 4/10.

Old Spice Apple Crumbro Body Wash is more masculine than the Pumpking scent, and yet it still smells like apple cider. 8/10.

The Old Spice Pumpking Deodorant is similar to the body wash. 7/10.

I like Built Bars, especially since they're a Utah company, so I was happy to try Built Puff Pumpkin Cookie Chunk. Despite the orange color of the filling, I didn't find it reminiscent of pumpkin, but it's a decent protein bar. 7/10.

The Nebo Queen Apple Cobbler Shake is Nebo Queen's shake of the month (along with a Dolly shake). It has apples, wafers, cinnamon sugar, and whipped cream. Tasty! 8/10. 

The Nebo Market Cinna-Apple Bomb Donut isn't really much of a "bomb" in the explosive sense, but it was a pleasant enough donut that it is also not a bomb in the derogatory sense. (AI strikes again for that illustration.) 8/10.

I'm glad that Franz Pumpkin Spice Donuts actually have pumpkin powder instead of just pumpkin spice. 7/10.

Barebells protein bars are the best-tasting protein bars on the market. (I'm not a gym bro who cares about gains, I just like having snacks on hand that aren't full of sugar.) I can't say the Barebells Pumpkin Spice Protein Bars are groundbreaking as a pumpkin spice flavor; in a blind taste test, I might not know that's the intended flavor. But these bars taste like a candy bar, even though they're not. 9/10.

Get Lost in Montana

Since I just did a short blog last week, I need to catch up this week! 

On Tuesday, September 1, I flew into Kalispell, Montana, with my sister, Susanne, and my niece, Allie. My parents were already on a road trip in the area, so they picked us up. We walked through the shops of Whitefish, MT, before we went to the condo in Columbia Falls, MT, that's part of my parents' time-share.

I decided I wanted to go running, and I saw on Google Maps that there were trails nearby. I soon found a trail and was delighted to see some of the first signs of fall.

Soon, I came across a trail that was blocked off for bear activity!

So I went a different direction. Soon I went past a road gate, and on the other side was a sign saying the area was closed for the same bear activity. But there had been so sign in the other direction! I had to go back the direction I came, even though I now knew it was supposedly closed. I learned later that just a day earlier, a woman walking her dog had been attacked by a bear with a cub, which was probably guarding a nearby bear carcass.

The next morning, we drove into Glacier National Park on the Going-to-the-Sun Road. This was a narrow, winding road. I correctly guessed it was made in the 1920s, and it was a little nerve-wracking—parts of the road were next to rock outcroppings, and parts of the road had a steep drop-off, with a small rock wall. And then we kept going past St. Mary's. There were some lovely views. 

Then we crossed the Canadian border into Waterton Lakes National Park, which is part of an international peace park between the US and Canada (Glacier being the American side). We saw a bear on the side of the road, just foraging, I guess. I didn't get a picture, though, and it's OK not to get pictures of everything you see. 

My dad and I did a short hike called Bear's Hump. It was a little steep, but it wasn't too bad. My dad regretted wearing flannel. 

Always love seeing glacial U-shaped valleys

There is a little town of Waterton that we went to. We got to get close to the water, and we went into all the little gift shops. 

We tried Canadian Beaver Tails, which are like a Utah scone (frybread), and I had to go for the Canadian M"eh"ple flavor

Then we went to a nearby waterfall, which you could see right from the street. There were some trails that took you above the falls, and my dad and I went on them, but they weren't that special. 

Then we went back across the border to return to Columbia Falls. On the way we stopped at an overlook where mountain goats lick mineral deposits, but we didn't see any mountain goats.

We returned to the condo to relax. On July 31, I bought the game Priorities, because the Star-Spangled Edition was on clearance at Walmart, so we played it and enjoyed it. (It's best played with people you know.)

The next day (Thursday, September 3), we went back into Glacier National Park, this time to Two Medicine Lake.

We took a ride on a boat called the Sinopah, which is one hundred years old. They even put up a "Happy Birthday" banner to commemorate the centennial. (I don't think it was actually the birth date.) 

We had an employee, I think named Abi, get on board and give all of the safety information before the boat took off. And then as we left the dock, she made a comment that the other employee at the dock had left something on the front of the boat, so she had to go up and get it. And then she fell off the boat into the water! There were some gasps—and immediately another boat employee got up and went to the front of the boat and said, "I'm your real captain today." She said Abi was the comedian of the team; her falling in had been a joke. I had wondered why she was wearing shorts on a chilly day!

We rode the boat across the lake while the "captain" gave information. 

When we got to the other side of the lake, my dad and I decided to get off and do the short hike to Twin Falls. It was raining, but we had raincoats, so it was actually kind of a pleasant morning. We were warm enough.

The aptly named Twin Falls

This bridge only allowed one person at a time. It did get very wobbly.

We rode the boat back to the main side, and Abi was our captain for real this time, wearing dry, warm clothes. Then we spent some more time at Two Medicine Lake and went on a little nature walk. 

Twisted tree trunk

We drove to another nature trail, Running Eagle Falls. I liked this waterfall, because it came through the rock rather than from the top. 

In the evening, we went to the town of Hungry Horse, where we saw Hungry Horse Dam, which was built in the mid-twentieth century. My Grandma Judy was from Montana, so my dad remembers visiting this dam when he was a kid. 

I love the very mid-twentieth-century font

Then on Friday, September 4, we had to take Allie back to the airport, since she was flying back while the rest of us stayed behind. Before the airport, we stopped at an antique store in the basement of another store in Kalispell. This store was massive; we didn't have time to see all of it. We had lunch in a restaurant that had been converted from an old blacksmith shop. 

After we dropped her off, we went to Holland Lake, where my dad remembers camping when he was a kid. As we approached the lake, there were a bunch of loose horses walking on the road. It was really random. 

We saw the lake, and my dad and I took the hike up to Holland Lake Falls, which were impressive. The hike was fairly easy, but there was a little scrambling at the end. 

Then on Saturday (September 5), we went into Glacier early, because my dad wanted to beat the traffic of Labor Day weekend. (That was the right call, because as we were leaving the park a few hours later, the traffic was backed up onto the highway.) We went to the Trail of the Cedars, an easy nature walk that reminded me of Mount Rainier, a little more rainforesty than the rest of the park (that we had seen). 

We went to Lake McDonald, and we explored the tourist trap village of Apgar. 

And then we headed out of the national park for good.

I did enjoy Glacier. But many people had hyped it so much that it wasn't as spectacular as I hoped. I found it to be like a grander version of the Uintas. But don't get me wrong; it was an amazing place.

We returned to the antique store in Kalispell, since we didn't get to see all of it earlier and we liked it so much. I found a button-up shirt that was perfect for me. (My mom bought some 1990s decorative Easter dishes, but I didn't take a picture before putting them away.)

Trying on this shirt just now, I find it a touch snug

Then Sunday was an exceedingly boring, lazy day. Since Allie works with the public at the Salt Lake Airport, she caught a cold. And then the rest of us, except for my mom, also caught it. We didn't leave the condo at all. We just listened to church on Zoom, read, napped, watched TV, and played Priorities. Oh, and we packed up most of our stuff.

Monday was Labor Day, but since we were already on vacation, it didn't feel like a holiday. We left the Glacier region to drive down to Deer Lodge, MT, Grandma Judy's hometown. I visited Deer Lodge when I was a teenager back in 2004—on that occasion, my dad's parents had also come to Deer Lodge, and we attended an urn burial for my grandma's Aunt Lucy. (I felt a little weird being at a graveside service of someone I had never met.)

Now in 2026, as we arrived in Deer Lodge, we went to Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site, which I didn't know was there. Family lore says that my dad's grandpa, Raymond Kesler, worked at the ranch. (By all accounts, Ray was not a great person. Whenever I teach a family history lesson, I use him as an example: Are you going to be like Frederick Kesler, the pioneer hero, or Raymond Kesler, the alcoholic jerk?)

There were various historic buildings and displays at the ranch.

The highlight, however, was having a park ranger give us a tour of the original house. This was the rich owner's house, and they have original nineteenth-century furnishings. (There was even a flushing toilet.) It was really interesting, but we weren't allowed to take pictures inside. 

In Deer Lodge itself, we drove by the home of my dad's Grandma Mary. 

I never met Grandma Mary, even though I was nearly fourteen when she died, because she was apparently an exceedingly negative and mean person. I have rarely, if ever, heard anything good about her. But across from the house was her mother's house. My dad remembers getting cards from her (Thaisa), and he said she was nice. (Not sure what Mary's deal was.)

We went to the Deer Lodge Cemetery, which I remember going to in 2004. We saw many of my dad's relatives' graves. As we left, he said he didn't swear at his grandmother's grave.

In Deer Lodge, we went to another antique store. I bought some vintage New Year's and Valentine's postcards. I don't like them as much as the ones I bought at Ken Sanders and received from our neighbor Laura, but they're fun to find in the wild. These postcards and the shirt are the only souvenirs I bought on the trip.

We stayed at a Vrbo in an old house. I stayed upstairs, which had a very steep staircase. The whole house was dimly lit.

It was fun to stay in this small room. The highest part of the ceiling was only a few inches above my head. I would hate to live here.

In the evening, I decided to walk along Deer Lodge's Main Street. There is an Old Prison Museum, which we visited in 2004 but not this time. 

Next to the prison was an ice cream shop called the Prison Cow. I would have been interested in pumpkin or huckleberry flavors, which they didn't have. So I got mountain blackberry; I felt obligated to buy something (even though it wasn't seasonal) because they had just read all the flavors to me after they had taken them down.

Then Tuesday morning, we got up and drove down through Idaho to come home. And our vacation was over.

***

But wait, there's more!

A few months ago, I saw a Facebook post saying that you could email an archaeologist named Ron Rood to tour Danger Cave just outside of Wendover. So yesterday (Saturday), my dad and I made the drive for our tour. The area is a state monument.

First we went to Danger Cave, which was looted throughout the twentieth century, so there have been bars blocking the entrance since the 1990s. But Ron has the key to let us in.

Ron told us the history of the cave, which was once on the shore of Lake Bonneville when it was at one of its lower levels. (At the lake's highest level, the cave was underwater.) This cave preserves organic matter better than many other sites. Buried are many samples of pickleweed, which Indigenous peoples used anciently.

The base of this excavation dates back twelve thousand years. There are some fire pits (dark spots), and above them are deposits from seven thousand years ago. There are lots of pickleweed samples here.

Ron passed around a projectile point and various animal bones from the dig for us to look at. There was even some antelope fur. And we got to look in a second pit, where there was a feather sticking out and a bit of cordage. At least part of this second pit goes back 8,500 years.

projectile point

mule deer jawbone

This is from a sage grouse, which no longer lives in the region

antelope fur

After Danger Cave, we went to nearby Jukebox Cave. I actually found this one a bit more interesting, though I think it's less important archaeologically. It is so named because during the WWII era, people from Wendover would hold dances in the cave. They even installed a concrete dance floor!

They used to hang lights. There are artifacts to be found in this cave too,

He didn't really tell us about these animal bones

and there is Native rock art, which Ron estimates to date around the 1830s because of the horses (and rifles?). 

It was fun to see a part of the state I had never been to, and it was fascinating to learn about people in Utah thousands and thousands of years ago! Our written history of the state is so recent that it's easy to forget how long Utah has been inhabited.