UTAH!!!

A few weeks ago Grant and I went on our first ski vacation. Before we left I was looking forward to going, but wasn't as excited as I would have been for a warm weather vacation. I have hardly any cold weather clothes and I wasn't sure how I'd like skiing.

On our way to Utah we had a 3+ hour lay over in Las Vegas. For those of you who know me and Grant we couldn't just spend 3 hours in the Vegas airport. So we grabbed the first taxi we saw and headed to the MGM Grand hotel for a little fun during our pit stop in Vegas! We played some blackjack (I won, Grant lost), grabbed a bite to eat in the sports book (it was packed with March Madness fans) and right before we headed to the cashier I played a hand of three card poker and scored a straight! It was very exciting. I think we both enjoyed our taste of Vegas on our way to Utah and we're looking forward to heading back this Fall.

We arrived in Salt Lake City Friday afternoon. It was cold, but not freezing, which I was very happy about. We went to the luggage carousel and I noticed a special luggage area meant just for skis-I know then I was in ski country! We got our luggage and rental car and plugged the condo into our GPS and off we went!

The drive from Salt Lake City to Park City is only about 30 minutes, but you have to drive through a pretty big canyon to get there. As we were driving through it we saw a horrible accident...luckily it was in the opposite direction and didn't cause any major delays for us.

The closer we got to Park City the cloudier and colder it got. Here is a photo Grant took when we stopped to get coffee. Holy snow Batman!

We were at the condo just long enough to pack before our good friends Ryan, Natalie and their baby Ella arrived! They live just outside Salt Lake City and we stayed with them at Natalie's parent's condo. Thanks Nat!

View from the condo.

That night we all went to dinner at Chimayo in downtown Park City. It was very yummy!! I enjoyed catching up with Ryan and Natalie. We headed to bed fairly early since we were still on east coast time and we were planning on hitting the slopes early the next morning.

Us in downtown Park City before dinner (left) Chimayo (right)

The Thornocks at dinner.

My dinner...it was SO good!

Me and Grant at dinner.

On Saturday we woke up super early, picked up breakfast at Einstein's Bagels and headed to Deer Valley Resort for our 9am ski lessons. We got to the resort and headed to the ski rental area where we picked up our boots, skis and helmets. We then headed out to the ski lesson area and met our instructor, Julio.

Getting our boots fitted.

Us with Julio during our ski lesson

We were in a ski class with 2 other first time skiers, both adults. Grant and I definitely picked it up faster than either of our two classmates. Once Julio showed us the basics we were good. We learned in a little area that had a "magic carpet" instead of a ski lift. The "magic carpet" was like those moving walkways at the airport - you just stood on it and it carried you up the little hill. We were on the little slope with a bunch of little kids. It was pretty funny.

Our lesson ended at 12:15. Grant and I headed into the lodge for lunch. We both got the salad bar and Grant got a soda. It cost $35+! Crazy!! But we were hungry and didn't bring anything with us. So we ate and skiied for 4 more hours. It was a blast!

That night we showered and then hung out with Natalie, Ryan and Ella.

What a hottie!!!

They took us to a local restaurant called Squatters. It was yummy!

Grant's beer sampler at Squatters

When we arrived there was a sizable wait. We got our pager and sat by the bar. After 2 minutes the pager went off. I was shocked! Then the hostess told Ryan not to tell anyone that she moved us up because she saw we had a baby with us. Thank you Ella! ;) We enjoyed dinner and then went on a driving tour of Park City after dinner.

Check out all of the shoes in the tree! 

On Sunday Grant and I went out to breakfast at The Eating Establishment in downtown Park City. It was really good. The table next to us tried to order bloody marys with their breakfast, but were told that they couldn't serve liquor before noon in Utah...weird!

Breakfast at The Eating Establishment

After breakfast Natalie and Ryan took us to the Olympic Park.

Grant and I went throught the museum and got a tour of the whole park. It was neat to see bobsled track and ski jump and learn about the 2002 Games.

The four of us at Olympic Park

Ryan trying out the luge sled

Action shot of me and Grant in the bobsled

Me holding a curling stone (left) and Grant checking out an exhibit in the 2002 Olympic Games museum

Grant in front of the ski jump

The bobsled track

View from the top of the bobsled track

Natalie and Ryan picked us up when the tour was over and we headed back to the condo. We took a walk from the condo to downtown Park City before Natalie and Ryan headed back home.

Me and Nat on our walk

Me and Grant on our walk

The girls!

On Monday Grant and I decided to go to The Canyons Resort to ski. We arrived super early, rented our ski gear and headed to the slopes.

Sunrise at The Canyons Resort

I definitely was getting better at skiing and Grant had somehow forgotten all that he had learned at Deer Valley! We skiied the green circle slopes a while then tried a blue square a couple of times. On the last run we made before lunch I was waiting for Grant to catch up to me when all of a sudden he skiied right into me! We both fell. I was ok, but Grant said his shoulder hurt. We made it down the hill and grabbed a much more reasonably priced lunch. At lunch I asked if Grant's shoulder felt ok. He said it was a little sore, but he was sure it was fine. So we decided to head back up the lift and try a different double green circle run.

 Me at The Canyons before renting our gear

Grant skiing

The lift took us up way high. We got off and the selections were 3 black diamonds and one green slope. We headed to the easiest way down and it was easy...at first... After we went down a little we turned a corner and the hill was SO steep! There was a lady in the middle of the slope just sitting down with her friends below her trying to help her get down the hill. I was pretty scared. We started to slowly ski down. Grant was having a hard time, but we worked our way down together and came to a landing area. I thought that the rest of the slope had to be easier...but it wasn't. There were 2 more steep parts before it got easy. We were exhausted by the time we got down. We headed straight for the lodge and relaxed there for a bit before returning our rentals and heading back to the condo.

Us after our last run at The Canyons...exhausted!

We showered at the condo and then headed out to shop and grab dinner. We got a Utah christmas ornament souvenir and had dinner at a BBQ place and then headed back to pack and relax.

Downtown Park City - ADORABLE!

A lazy Sunday morning in downtown Park City - see the dog! So cute!

On Tuesday morning we got up early and headed back to the airport. On the way home we had a 60 minute lay over in Vegas, not enough time to get to the casinos. :(

I LOVED our ski vacation! I cannot wait to go again. I'd love to go on one ski vacation a year and try different ski towns. We'll see if we can make that happen!

Our skis at The Canyons

Park City Resort - can you see the half pipe?