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.