Voyage to the "Other Side"

Wednesday we went to the other side of the Wasatch Mountains down through Provo Canyon to visit the newest little addition to our family. Madison Noelle Chou is so adorable and loves to cuddle. She is daughter to my niece Ashley and our Grand-niece.

Eric likes to pretend he isn't fond of babies but when she started calling out to her Great Uncle Eric, he couldn't resist. He is a natural :) Here are also some pictures showing off his "manly" nurturing side.

Ally loved to hold her cousin (once removed)

After hanging out with Ashley and Maddie we headed a few miles away to visit with my Uncle Larry, Aunt Lisa, and cousins José, Rose, and Sophie. Ally and Rose spent the time curling Ally's hair and playing computer games. Rose is quite the hair stylist :)

We had such a nice visit with Larry and Lisa. Larry is courageously battling ALS, despite all his needs for assisted devices you wouldn't really know. He still has his same big smile and was happy to show off all his new "toys".

 Our family has always fondly called him Uncle Wee Wee (or Oui Oui to be fancy)

Although I have many more cousins in Utah, we just didn't have to time to see them all :) We had to get back on the road before traffic picked up. It is about 90 min drive back to Park City.

For dinner we met up with Clarence again to go to one of his favorite places the locals go called The Grub Steak. It was a good thing we were hungry because they have a fixed price menu that includes it all. We all had a trip ti the salad bar followed by our choice of entree and dessert. I had the prime rib and flourless chocolate cake which was pretty much pure fudge. I nibbled on it for 3 days and didn't even finish it. Ally had pork ribs and then a huge chocolate chip cookie bowl filled with ice cream. Eric had a steak and bread pudding and Clarence had Elk Steak and Creme Brulee. We were all stuffed!

After getting back to the hotel we all felt the urge to go to the gym otherwise we would have to roll each other into bed. Ally had never been on a treadmill before and thought it was the coolest thing to watch TV while going for a walk. She walked until her show was over and did 2 miles! I ran 1.5 of my 2.5 miles and actually felt pretty good! I think I am finally getting acclimated to the elevation, of course just before going home :)

Rainy Day

It was raining most the day and most people would think that puts a damper in one's vacation but after several weeks of temperatures over 90 degrees it was lovely.
We decided to go to an indoor aquatic center in the city of Kamas. They have a fun waterslide and a running track so I can keep on track with my training. If am training for my first 5k run in 2 weeks and running at altitude has been difficult but hopefully by the time I get home I will be a rock star :)
After the Aquatic Center we went back to the factory outlets for some browsing and then went to stock up on some items they don't carry at our store at home. Then we met up with Clarence for a delicious dinner at The Grub Steak.
After dinner we went to the gym and worked off our dinner. Ally had a blast watching tv while walking on the treadmill. Sorry no pictures today, we were busy just having fun. We did take some fun videos, I will see if I can figure out how to add them here.

Homestead Crater and Sundance

Today we picked up Clarence and headed out to run some errands and then go to a pizza place for lunch offering gluten free pizzas and pastas. We got 2 pizzas and a lasagna that were quite good.
Next we stopped by the factory outlets to find some good deals since we had a little time to kill.

Then we headed to Midway to the Homestead resort where we went swimming in a natural limestone crater with wonderful 95 degree water. Since the crater is 65 feet deep it is often used by scuba divers for training. When we went 7 years ago we were allowed to float on some noodles and free dive, but since some bozo overestimated his swimming abilities, everyone is now required to wear life jackets. It took a bit of the enjoyment out of the swim but it was still fun. Eric brought his waterproof GoPro so we had fun taking videos.

 This is the limestone crater from the outside and Ally at the entrance below.

 

For Clarence's official birthday dinner we took him to the restaurant in Sundance. This is one of my favorite places to visit especially this time of year. We had another wonderfully tasty meal! My baby back ribs fell right off the bone and into my mouth and the cornbread was scrumptious. Ally had "the best salmon of her life" and Eric had a sensible chicken salad. Then came the dessert menu again. Ally decided to stick with cheesecake, this time was a butterscotch flavor. I ordered a lemon cream parfait and Eric got the banana split brownie sundae. We swapped them half way through being sure not to miss out on all the deliciousness. It is a good thing we have been keeping up on our morning exercise routines :)

After dinner we explored the beauty of the area and took lots of pictures. Another fun day and was a memorable way to celebrate his 76th birthday. Happy Birthday Clarence/Dad/Grandpa Wells!

 

Beautiful Fall Colors

Today we started out walking down Main Street Park City for the Silly Street Fair. Which was basically a craft boutique and food booth fair. Lots of fun things to look at. I am horrible at craft fairs though because I look at all the items and f figure out how I can make them myself :)

The highlight of the fair was the booth of gluten free baked goods. We thoroughly enjoyed cookies, crumb cake, and an apple pie. Yum!

Next we took a drive up Guardsman Pass to check out the fall color. Today is the perfect day since there is an expected storm coming tonight to knock all the leaves down. We had fun stopping along the way to check out the viewpoints and waterfalls. So gorgeous that the camera could hardly capture its beauty.

Next we took a funicular ride up a hill to the St.Regis Hotel in Deer Valley. We were promised the very best food in town. We decided to go for lunch since the prices would be a little more reasonable. It is amazing when you are handed a plate of food with half the portion of a traditional meal and you feel a little jipped, but after you take your first bite you know that you aren't paying for quantity but Quality (with a capital Q). My mouth was having a party with all the wonderful flavors. I had a sockeye salmon with 4 potato slices and 3 snap peas, but they were out of this world. For dessert I got a salted caramel ice cream sundae topped with fudge, peanuts, and caramel popcorn. Yum yum! Ally got the blueberry topped cheesecake so she could properly develop her cheesecake palate after having a peanut butter cheesecake last night. So far this one was the winner :)
Next we headed back to our hotel where we checked out the game room and played some pool, then Ally went for swim in the liquid pool while I read my book poolside. :)
Needing a calorie break, Clarence came to our hotel where I made some chicken and asparagus. The boys watched the football game and Ally and I kept busy relaxing. A good end to a lovely day. These last pictures from St. Regis are from my cell phone, don't know why they turned out so grainy.

Birthday Surprise!

We thought we would surprise Eric's dad, Clarence, for his birthday by showing up on his doorstep. This ended up being a 10 hour drive from Sacramento, California to Park City, Utah. Eric and I took turns driving so it wasn't too bad. Ally stayed busy drawing or watching movies. I usually try and have her just stare out the window like we used to have to do, but once we got past Reno, I couldn't blame her! What a drab landscape! The air quality was so horrible there would be huge mountains just a few miles away and you could barely pick out their outlines.

Anyway, we finally made it, safe and sound, and checked into our hotel. Luckily the resort is just a mile away from Clarence's house, but we decided we would surprise him in the morning. He had called us as we were arriving in Salt Lake City with his normal chat and we had to pretend like nothing was amiss. We were sure to slyly ask about his plans for the next day. His plans were minimal so we knew we would be good.

The next morning we drove to his condo. Eric remembered that you had to have a code to enter the building so we devised a plan and our only lie :) We called his cell saying that Fedex called us saying they have our package we sent for his birthday and weren't sure where to leave it. He said he would go (from an HOA meeting at his complex) to the front door to collect the package. We giggled as we hung up and retreated to our car. As soon as he appeared and was looking for a package we came from behind and asked if he was looking for a package. He first saw me and it didn't quite register, but once he saw Eric and Ally it hit him. We weren't quite sure how he would react and mostly he was just, well, surprised :) It was a success. He decided we were more fun than his meeting so he ditched the rest and we sat down to figure out a plan. He was thinking of going to SLC for the day to find a shirt for a wedding so we decided to tag along. Well, he didn't quite find a shirt he liked but Ally was excited about a new pair of jeans and t-shirt ;)

After lunch at Red Rock we headed to the new Natural History Museum in SLC. It was a very cool museum which takes you throughout time with authentic dinosaur bones found in Utah along with indian artifacts and displays of the local landscape. Lots of hands on exhibits, I recommend it is definitely worth a visit.

After a fun day with Grandpa, I still think he is still in a state of shock we are here :)

Top of Europe

This is from our last full day in Switzerland. We woke up to clear skies so got up early to get to the top of the Jungfraujoch mountain by train. It was a 2 hour trip so we were taking a gamble on whether or not the clouds would stay away from the top of the lookout. From Wilderswil we took a train to Lauterbrunnen, then a smaller train through Wengen to Kleine Scheidegg, where we got on a cogwheel train that goes through the Eigerwand to the Jungfraujoch. (J's are pronounced like a "y", and we also learned W's are pronounced like a "v"). Here are some of our views on the way to the top.

 The Eiger

We finally reached the top and unfortunately the clouds came in and it was cold! The sign said it was -4 degrees Celcius.

 Inside the mountain they have ice tunnels with ice sculptures that were really cool.

We could have waited out the clouds but we didn't know if we would have to wait minutes or hours since the clouds here move so fast but also seem to come from nowhere. So we decided we would just head down since there were so many other areas we wanted to explore today. Sure enough as soon as we got down the mountain it had cleared up. It was a bit of a bummer but c'est la vie! Here is Ally entertaining herself on the train on the way.

 Nothing more entertaining than playing with your reflections.

Next we went back down to Lauterbrunnen to head up the other side of the valley towards Murren.

The Lauterbrunnen valley is absolutely breathtaking and puts Yosemite to shame. I love the 3 waterfalls shooting out from the right side of the mountain. From Lauterbrunnen we took a bus to visit the Trummelbach Falls. These falls flow inside the mountain and we were able to climb up through the caves alongside the falls to watch them twist and turn through the caves that were carved by the water and worn smooth. It was really cool. Unfortunately my camera battery died right after my first picture.

Important note to self: The Falls only accepts cash, so make sure to not discourage your dear husband from pulling cash out the morning of your journey. It really will prevent frustration and anger when you have to wait 25 minutes to take the next bus 10 min back into Lauterbrunnen to the nearest bank, and then another 10 min wait before taking the 10 minute bus ride back to the falls!!

We finished up our journey for the day by taking a tram and train up to Murren with more spectacular views. Then we headed back to our apartment to rest and pack up for our long journey back home. We had such a fabulous vacation and are already thinking of where to go next. We are hoping it will be someplace warm =)