Daniela has been a member of Best Friends for a while and this trip was a perfect opportunity for her to visit their site in Kanab. I had been to Best Friends several times, one of which was to adopt our cat Owen, so it holds a special place in my heart. We both agreed we would have to keep each other from leaving Best Friends with a cat. Spoiler: despite the cats’ best attempts, we were successful and left empty handed!
We signed up for a general tour in the morning and were driven around the site to see the different areas of the sanctuary, learned about Best Friends and their history, and made a few stops to visit some cats and give pigs belly rubs. There is a vegan cafe on site and we had lunch there before our volunteer shift in the afternoon. This is definitely the best lunch deal in Kanab - it was $5 for lunch (the menu that day was a pasta main dish, bread, soup, salad bar, and dessert) and it was a nice view out on the patio. After lunch we reported for our afternoon volunteer shift at Cat World. It was a pretty chill afternoon and we were assigned a building where we mainly helped with feedings, did some dishwashing, and hung out with the cats (cute!).
Best Friends is near the Sand Caves on Highway 89 and we met my friend Shannon there when we were done at Best Friends. The Sand Caves are an artifact of a sand mining operation and are now a fun stop in Kanab. It’s only a quarter of a mile to get to the caves, including a little scramble up the sandstone. Unfortunately, the caves have been defaced with people carving into the sandstone, but it was still cool to check them out, especially in the golden light before sunset. We finished off our day with a delicious dinner and an excellent hot toddy at Wild Thyme in Kanab.