Utah

Because Scott works incredibly hard, his company rewarded him with an all expenses paid trip to Park City, Utah for four days.  And he invited me!  What a lucky girl I am since the non-profit hospital that I work for doesn’t exactly operate in that manner.  Our bonuses are more like an ice cream cone, but that is beside the point.  So, we extended our week off of work (since we took the week with the Frederick and Newton families) and headed to Utah.  Bub (along with help from Pop, Aunt Kimmie, and Daniel) came to stay with Aiden and Court while we were gone.  Scott and I both were amazed at how hard it was to leave our boys.  I was in tears all the way to the airport but once we got to Utah, there was no sense in being sad, so we focused on the fun activities that were planned for us.

Captain’s Log: Park City, Utah. August 2012

Friday night – landed in Utah around midnight.  It was dark.  Feel asleep as soon as we hit our pillows.

Saturday – Trip to Olympic Park where we got to try our hand at an alpine slide, two zip lines, ropes course, and the bobsled (that’s right, the actual bobsled that they rode during the Olympics)

1, 2, 3, ready, zip!

The view from the zip line

Alpine slide

…Still waiting for the Alpine slide start

Scott pushing the bobsled ahead of us

About to load the bobsled (the summer version of what they do on ice in the winter). We had a professional driver and went approximately 73 miles per hour with 4G forces around the turns. We literally thought that we might lose our stomachs! It is like riding the bumpiest, roughest old roller coaster that you can and then adding in all those G forces. It is the fastest bobsled run in the world. And it is all over in about 60 seconds.

Heading to the ropes course

We also were lucky enough to see some local kids training for the Nordic jump.  These kids are truly amazing and unbelievably talented.  Make sure to watch for the black specs to come out onto the grass at the end of the video to give you an idea of how high up they were jumping.  Incredible!

Saturday afternoon:  Nap due to a slight case of altitude sickness.  Lazed by the pool. Then evacuated the Hotel St. Regis due to a nearby forest fire which was out of control due to the drought and windy conditions. Got shuttled to an even nicer hotel, The Montage.  Dinner at Chimayo, a Southwestern foodie’s version of heaven.  Again, asleep when our heads hit the pillow.

A terrible photo, I know but it at least gives you an idea about all the smoke from the Forest Fire. On the bus during the evacuation.

Sunday:  Fly fishing for 4 hours with a very knowledgable and intense guide, Jeff.  I hit a bit of beginner’s luck and caught 5 fish.  Scott caught three and hooked an enormous brown trout who broke his line and got away from him.

With our guide, Jeff

 

Scott and his coworker, Jim heading towards the river

With the three of us, those fish didn’t stand a chance

Jeff kept saying that my form was impeccable…or completely incorrect, I can’t recall which.

 

Sunday afternoon:  Infamous trail run. I say “infamous” because a few of Scott’s coworkers saw us running the last part of our run which was completely uphill.  It felt like it was a 90 degree incline and we had no idea they watched us run up the hill a few times. Thankfully they were watching us from behind because at the looks of pure pain on our faces would have been a bit embarrassing.  However, they were all extremely impressed and we became known as the athletes of the group.  It was all hilariously inflated because we then went to laze by the pool.

 

Monday:  Breakfast in my PJ’s in bed while Scott went to a work breakfast. Sucker!!  Mountain biked from the hotel up the Deer Crest trail to the midway point on the mountain.  It was the hardest that I have ever breathed in my life not to mention a few thousand feet in elevation.  About 5 minutes in, I may have spoken a few obscenities but then rallied and we made the climb the rest of the way.  Once to the half way point, we caught the ski lift to the top and rode down a trail called the Naildriver which was awesome.  Had an enormous lunch and rode the lift back to the hotel from some quality R & R by the poolside (Scott’s favorite part of the vacation)

This is the view from about 20 minutes in to our ride…not even close to the top and still amazing.

At the top…thought we’d never make it!

Monday night:  Company sponsored dinner Southwestern style with fajitas and appetizers on the top of a mountain!  We were able to ride the ski lift up and down the mountain to two restaurant destinations. So beautiful!

View from the top

Thanks so much to Kimmie, Daniel, Pop and especially Bubba for keeping our boys safe and happy all weekend long!!!  This trip made me remember how much I really enjoy spending time with Scott.  It’s easy to take someone for granted when there are so many things in your daily routine that you have to do (bottles, diapers, bathtime, temper tantrums, etc). But when all of those things are not around, it was even easier for me to see why I married my crazy husband.  Happy 7 year Anniversary!