Day 1: January 14
The day for travel. As soon as class was over, I rushed home to do my last minute packing. We flew out of Raleigh around 5pm and had a connection in Phoenix, Arizona. Then from Phoenix we flew to Salt Lake City, Utah. We landed around 11pm Mountain Time which means it was around 1am our time, so it was a long day. Once we landed, we got a shuttle to our condo in Park City, which was about a 40 minute drive from the airport. But once we arrived, I wasn't tired because I was just so excited to be there. The condo was awesome! It was right on Main Street and was located next to a ski lift. It was two stories - the first was a kitchen, living room, and dining room. The second story was two bedrooms and bathrooms. I wanted to explore right away. But I unpacked a little and then went to bed. I knew the next day was gonna be a long one.
Day 2: January 15
The first full day in Utah! We slept in because of our long day of traveling the day before. When Elizabeth and I woke up, we put on our snow gear and headed out for my first lesson. It was scheduled for 1pm but we had to be fitted for skis so we left the condo around 11am. Ski boots are NOT very comfortable, I discovered. Once we were all fitted, we hit the slopes! It was a pretty successful day. I mastered the lift, figured out how to stop, and didn't even fall once! I was exhausted after only two hours though and my boot was cutting off my circulation because there was a wrinkle in my sock. I couldn't feel my toes after a while! After skiing, we all got ready and made our way to a restaurant. It was a little hole in the wall but it was really good. And it was a really pretty walk. It sure was cold though! Then it was to bed early because we were exhausted and our lesson for the next day was early in the morning.
*first time skiing!* *after dinner in town*
Day 3: January 16
Today was an epic fail on the skiing side. Our lesson was at 9am. I was already sore so I was not looking forward to putting the ski boots back on. But I did and I was ready for another day! It was a private lesson, so it was just Elizabeth and me. Our instructor wanted to first see how I was, so we went on the "first time lift" and went down the "first time slope" to show him how I was doing. It went ok...I was a little uneasy because it was the first run of the day but I didn't fall and I went a little faster than I was comfortable with, but all in all, I was proud of myself. But then the instructor wanted to go on the bigger slope which really intimidated me. I felt like I needed more practice on the first time slope because I still wasn't even really comfortable there. After I told him I wasn't ready, he was convinced I was. So I went with it. We made it to the top of the mountain, and I was ready to take on the slope. The first part went well because we would go down part, and then stop to discuss something to work on or a new skill. But then when we didn't stop as often, I found myself speeding up way more than I wanted and I couldn't figure out how to control myself and slow myself down, let alone stop. So i psyched myself out. Then there was at one point where we had to make a sharp turn down the slope onto a narrower run...well I started to speed up so fast and then couldn't slow down because I was afraid I would get to close to the trees or the ledge, so I finally just gave up and fell. After that, I was done. I couldn't breath because I got so scared. We got down half way and ended up at another chair lift and the instructor wanted to go up the mountain again but there was no way I was gonna make it down the mountain again, so I just finished going down the rest of the mountain and I was done with skiing for the trip. Kind of disappointing since the whole point was to go on a ski trip, but oh well.
*my second day of skiing*
The rest of the day we went to lunch, lounged around the condo, took a nap, and then went to dinner. We went to this place called Zoom which is Robert Redford's restaurant, the founder of the Sundance film festival. It was a really nice restaurant and it was cool because there was pictures from many previous Sundance events.
This was my favorite day! Ryan (Elizabeth's brother) has a friend who lives in Salt Lake City, so he and his wife came and picked us up and brought us to a place called Oakley, which was about 20 minutes outside Park City. A friend of theirs has a cabin there, so we spent the day with their friends at the cabin and went snowmobiling and tubing all day! It was so much fun! I had never been on a snowmobile before, so it was an exciting new first. And the tubing was fun too! It's a little different than lake tubing, which I had done before, but I think snow tubing is way more fun. It was cold, but it was definitely worth bearing it. I wish we got more snow in NC because I never knew how much fun snow could be!!
*riding on the snowmobile*
*the cabin we stayed at for the day*
Here is a video I took of the view from the field where we went snowmobiling and tubing. It was absolutely beautiful!
After the full day of snowmobiling and tubing, we all got dressed and decided to go to dinner on Main Street. It was at a little hole in the wall pizza place but it was really cool because all of the walls were covered with old beer cans. And when I mean covered, literally all covered. It was a lot of fun and it was nice to spend some time with their friends, who were all really nice.
*see I told you, covered!!*
*see I told you, covered!!*
Our last full day in Park City. It was snowing!! Elizabeth and I spent the day walking around town and shopping. There was a lot to do and a lot to see. We wanted to go exploring. I wore the big furry boots my mom got from my dad the first year they were married. Ryan wouldn't let me wear them because they are pretty embarrassing but I finally wore them out around the town. I got many stairs and even a few dogs to follow me. It was quite entertaining. But then they broke just as we were walking back to the condo...the sole completely fell off. They were very old so I can understand but Ryan was very happy because then I couldn't wear them to dinner that night. For our last dinner, we went to this little resturant on Main Street called Purple Sage and it was another really good one. The best part was dessert though...a mini bunt cake with vanilla ice cream. So simple yet soooo good! It was sad to walk down Main Street for the last time. It was back to Raleigh the next day. But at least it snowed, and it was beautiful to walk around.
*sitting next to a statue in town with my furry boots!*
*snowww!*
Day 6: January 19
Time to leave...our flight was at 7:15am but our ride was coming to pick us up at 4am, so it was an early morning for us. We had to wake up at 3:30am! Ekk! It was rough and sad to know that it was the day we were leaving. There was around 4 inches of snow on the ground and it was still snowing. We were leaving so early in the morning that the snow plows still hadn't come to clean off the roads. By the time we got to Salt Lake City, the snow had stopped. We boarded the plane and headed to Atlanta. From Atlanta, our layover was only half an hour so as soon as we got off the plane, we boarded our next plane to Raleigh. We landed around 3pm and then it was back to reality...oh this moment came too fast.
This trip was so awesome and so worth it. I had so much fun and it was unforgettable. I had so much fun and so many stories to tell. It was a great experience. And maybe I'll give skiing another try...but not for a while ;)
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