So we’re home again. It’s been a hella fine weekend, but it’s nice to be back in our own house, and a few hours from now, we’ll sleep in our own bed. The thought fills me with contentment. Of course, the fact that I don’t have to go to work until Monday is probably part of this feeling.
After learning the harsh lesson of our outbound trip, we made tracks to the airport early and had no problems at all. It truly was “Easy Check-In.” Won’t check in less than 90 minutes prior to departure again, ever. Nope.
Joy of joys, a lady with a noisy fussy baby sat next to me, but fortunately (eep) she breast-fed it under a blanket most of the first hour (eeeeesh!) and it was quiet except for when it kicked me (eeeee-yaaaaargh). However, David had bought earplugs, so those helped me just tune everything out (aaaaaah).
The rest of the time post-party was a dizzying whirl of going to dinner with family (Raeanne and her funny progeny, Collin and Paige) or driving around in the mountains taking pictures before going to dinner with more family (Tudy hosted a leftovers party at her place last night). Also, we bought Mom a cordless phone and showed her how to use it – now she can trot around in the yard gardening and not have to drop trowel (heh) and rush into the house to answer the phone.
Breakfast this morning at the Wildflowers was a baked apple and a German pancake – it was good, but very plain. However, I had lots of petting time with Lovey the spaniel. Still, our stay there was a bit disappointing, since the one morning the neighbor lady cooked for us, but the price and location were good. However, for a more romantic (or posher) getaway on a future visit, we’ll look at some of the other B&Bs Salt Lake has to offer.
The day we drove up in the mountains was just driving more or less at random, and very relaxing. We started out by going up Parley’s Canyon (I-80, 6 lanes) to Lamb’s Canyon (Forest Service road, 1 lane). My cousin Bill owns the family cabin up there, but we got only about 2 miles up from the mouth of the canyon – the road is only plowed as far as this one “cabin” that’s used year round in the private land section of the lower canyon. We walked up about half a mile from there, or until the big pile of snow and snowmobile tracks signaled the beginning of the “real” snow. Took lots of pictures of trees (especially aspen), not sure what I’ll do with them. I also took a couple of photos of a snowbound “Lamb’s Canyon Trail” sign that may become next year’s Christmas card. I spent a lot of my childhood (the best parts, that is) up at the cabin, so it’s in the nature of a pilgrimage for me. Bill insists there aren’t as many bugs and critters as there were on our one previous visit. David thought then that the clouds of flies inside the cabin meant it was dirty, I knew it meant that Bill hadn’t been vigilant about keeping the screens and doors shut near the (outdoor) gargage can.
Anyway, we may get up there on our second Utah trip in June. Maybe. If I can convince David that the cabin is really neato (although I tend to think it saw its best days when Mom and I did a lot of heavy cleaning one summer).
After going up Lamb’s, we drove over to Heber and Midway, just noodling along. We ended up looking at the Olympic venue for Nordic skiing, which had just closed for the season… but made a note for a return visit some winter. There’re plenty of places to stay nearby – one that really caught my eye was the Blue Boar Inn. We stopped and looked at rooms (I played the “travel agent card”), and if we get a chance, I’d love to stay there one day.
Lunch was in Park City at Cafe Terigo, where the terrace was packed with diners enjoying the warm-ish spring sunshine. We opted for inside. The decor was fun – in one case, the artist had used an old tin ceiling tile as a frame for a painting of a blue armchair. I think when I was a kid the building housed an old, old drugstore, so I wondered if the original ceiling had found a new life as art. The food was really good; I had a little pizza with goat cheese and caramelized onions, and David had some sort of open-face sandwich that he liked very much. We were both clean-plate club members that day.
We drove back to town by way of Emigration Canyon, and just as we crested the summit David’s cell phone started ringing. That’s when we got the word that we were expected at Tudy’s house for leftovers. It seemed like a good way to end the weekend, but first we had to drive back to the west side to Best Buy for the phone for Mom. It had been bothering both of us that she’d hauled a phone on an extra long extension line from upstairs just so she’d have a closer phone to answer from the dining room/TV watching area, so we found a simple cordless for her. She seemed flabbergasted, but liked it well enough to call us this morning as we waited to depart Salt Lake. Heh, that was a good thing to do.
Steve will be over shortly and we’ll get some Thai food – I’m hungry for it and not yet ready to get out of socializing mode. Poor David… he is but decided to go along with the idea eventually.
That’s interesting, we seem to be obsessed with food. However, we had so much great food this weekend, it’s no surprise that it makes up a big part of the entry.
Pictures later, need to go over them and cull the bad ones.