Finally, we decided on a ski trip and found a place where we could stay using our Hilton points. We realized we needed to make the effort to get away because we haven't been on a true vacation, just the two of us, since our honeymoon. So we started planning.
This was only the second time that both of us have been away from Sallie Cate at the same time, and the first time was 18 months ago. So I was definitely really sad leading up to the trip and very anxious about something happening to us. I rocked SC for an extra long time the night before we left, and she was upset and didn't want me to put her in bed, and she was fussing a little and kept saying, "It's ok. Mama's here," while lying on my shoulder. That broke my heart and definitely made me tear up! And when I was getting ready for bed a little while later, I told John that I was so sad about leaving, and he admitted he had shed a few tears too and even wrote the girls a letter in case something happened to us. Ummm, what?? I'm allowed to be emotional and over-react/freak out/act ridiculous but you are supposed to convince me we will be fine!! I asked him if we needed to cancel the trip?! But alas, we made it to the airport the next morning, and {obviously} made it there and back in once piece. :)
The Quinns came in town to keep the girls for us, so Mr. Quinn took us to the airport bright and early on Thursday morning.
Waiting at the airport. The trek there was very long and tiring.
Neither of us had ever been to Utah, so we were really excited about visiting the Park City area. We knew we wanted to ski at Deer Valley at least one day and figured we would decide about trying either Park City and/or the Canyons once we got there. Problem was, we couldn't really afford to stay anywhere at Deer Valley, so we found a room at the Silverado Lodge at the Canyons Resort. My only requests were that it be clean and have a fireplace. It really ended up being pretty nice, except the walls seemed to be made of paper. As soon as we walked into our room, we heard a loud noise next door. We both immediately stopped in our tracks and looked at each other. That noise? It was the sound of very.loud.children. Hadn't we just "gotten away" from all that? We had planned on asking to move rooms, but the front desk basically said all the rooms were that loud. And I guess they know it's a problem, because all the rooms are equipped with a sound machine. However, and maybe it's just me, I can't fall asleep to frogs croaking loudly or church bells chiming incessantly. I have a white noise app on my phone, but the volume on my phone doesn't work. But thankfully John brought the iPad, so we were fine. And the noise really ended up not being too bad after all.
After we checked in and unpacked, we headed into Park City to rent our skis and eat dinner. We tried to go to a distillery across the street called High West, but it was too crowded, so we just ended up eating at a hole-in-the-wall pizza place called Davanza's, and it was actually really good. Could've also been the fact that we hadn't eaten an actual meal all day.
Eating at Davanza's
This is a picture of our hotel at the Canyons.
I started skiing when I was 12, but I haven't been in 10 years, so I was just a tad nervous about how things would go. The last time my family went skiing was 5 years ago, but I couldn't participate because I was pregnant with Curran. That was actually John's first time to ever ski, but he picked it up quickly and did well. But a lot of things have changed in ten years! {namely, I've had two babies and am majorly out of shape and also have a bad knee}
This pic was right before we took our first run. Thankfully it all came back to me, and I did just fine. Don't get me wrong, I was really sore, but no wipeouts or anything. But John and I had pretty differing ideas of fun. He likes to challenge himself with harder runs, where I am perfectly happy going to down greens and blues {which, side note, but I thought that some of the blues there were more like double blues or blacks at other mountains I've skied. Or then again, maybe it's just that I'm a lot older and value my life more.} At any rate, John and I did split up some.
Deer Valley, was GORGEOUS, and no cell phone pics do it justice! The weather was almost too warm in the afternoons- up the mid 40's.
This was our first stop for a mid-morning snack, and of course John had to get a beer. We had gone to the grocery store the night before so we had nabs {peanut butter crackers, for you peeps not from MS} and granola bars for snacks, and all of the lodges had free water, so that was nice. {Because Lord knows, nothing else was free or cheap!}
It snowed Thursday night, and a little on Friday morning. This was the only point in the whole trip where there was any cloud cover over the mountains. Otherwise it was so sunny, and there was hardly ever a cloud in the sky!
We ate lunch at the Silver Lake Lodge the first day. John wasn't thrilled about my need to document everything. :)
Selfie from a lift.
As soon as we got back in our car after Day 1, I popped several Aleve and we headed straight to the hot tub at our hotel. They called it a "spa", which does sound so much nicer that hot tuuuub. It was outside, so it was nice to have a view of the mountains while we soaked. Then we got ready and headed to dinner reservations at Ghidotti's. It was an Italian restaurant kind of near the interstate in a new outdoor shopping area. Not really what I had in mind, but it was really nice and the food was good.
Day 2 started bright and early, and as soon as I put on my boots, I didn't know if I would survive due to the fact that I felt like my shins had been beat with baseball bats. I have never been in so much pain while skiing. Any time I hit a bump or un-groomed parts of the slopes {which was often}, I almost couldn't help but cry out in pain. So not fun. I had blisters all over my ankles. Clearly my boots didn't fit me correctly, and why I didn't think to take them back is beyond me. But thankfully that is the only complaint I have about the entire trip. I rallied and tried not to complain {too much}.
The second day we ate lunch at the Empire Lodge and then had a mid-afternoon pit stop at the St. Regis bar. I only had water. I had to keep my wits about me!
This was when we were trying to take a picture and one of us kept sliding away from the other and we were cracking up. Just glad we didn't slide off the cliff that was behind us.
I think this was the first day, but my pictures got out of order.
It's funny how when we are away from the kids, they still are our primary focus. Every time we passed a young child or baby at the airport or on the mountain, John would elbow me and smile. Like every child we saw was the cutest thing we had ever seen and awww, didn't we just miss our girls so much! :) So funny! All the tiny tots on the slopes were just almost too cute for words. We even visited the Children's Center there to check it out for future trips with the kids. At one point, we were next to a ski instructor who had three little girls with her, so she asked if we could take one up with us on the lift. The instructor told us the girl's name was Claire {or we thought that's what she said}, so we were calling her Claire the whole time we were talking to her. At one point, she told us her name was actually Clara. I had a question on the tip of my tongue but she beat me to it: she asked us if we had ever seen The Nutcracker. :) She loved hearing all about Curran's obsession. :) Anyway, it was fun to watch all the kids ski.
At the end of the day, I popped some more Aleve, headed to the hot tuuuub again, and then went to downtown Park City for dinner at Chimayo.
Leaving the hotel before dinner.
Chimayo is a southwestern restaurant. Very pricey {like everything else out there}, but it was really good. The margaritas were the bomb dot com.
Not a very good picture, but Park City is really cute.
We ended up skiing at Deer Valley all three days. We had talked about trying Park City on Sunday, but I really didn't want to. We knew our way around Deer Valley, and it's just so nice. I felt no reason to leave there. If we were going to be in the area for longer, then we probably would have gone to Park City for one day. {We were the least drawn to the Canyons after reading reviews and talking to locals.}
On our last day there, we ate lunch at the St. Regis. Since it was Sunday, the only option they had was a buffet, and it was DELICIOUS!! We were both so happy we made that decision. We were so full, though, that we didn't know if we could make it through the afternoon. But we rallied and enjoyed our last few hours on the mountain.
I took this picture for Curran. That was the dessert bar. And don't think we both didn't pack little to-go bags of that candy!
Can't beat lunch with that view!
After we left Deer Valley, we headed back into Park City to return our skis. This time we walked across the street and were able to get into High West. We had a few drinks and an appetizer and really enjoyed it!
at the bar at High West
We didn't have any reservations Sunday night, but after all that rich food, I just really wanted something light. So that night we took the shuttle back to Park City and ate at a sushi place called Yuki Yama. We both really enjoyed it. We wanted to find a place to get dessert, but we had to catch the shuttle back to the hotel.
So we walked around the Canyons Resort area near our hotel to try to find a place to get dessert. Sadly, most places were closed, and the one nice place that was open only had shot glass desserts. Such a bummer.
Our flight on Monday didn't leave until almost 3:00, so we had time to lay around, drink coffee, and watch the Today show. So nice! Can't tell you the last time I have done that. Then we got packed up and headed downtown to eat brunch. We tried a Mexican restaurant {Blue Iguana} that a local had told us was really good. Neither of us were super pleased, but I'm guessing they aren't known for breakfast anyway.
We walked around for a little bit before headed to the airport in Salt Lake City. Even after returning the rental car, we had a long time to wait before our flight, so we sat down to have a snack {and a drink or two}
and we finally got a good dessert!! Who would have thought it would be at the airport. {It was Cat Cora's restaurant so it was actually really good.}
The flight home wasn't as long as the trek there, but the turbulence surrounding Salt Lake...OH MY WORD. I didn't know whether to hit the floor on my knees or grab the barf bag, but considering the fasten seat belt sign was on, I decided to stay in my seat, holding tight onto John's arm while praying and practicing my deep breathing from yoga. Even when we landed in Las Vegas, the flight attendant got on the intercom and said "Ahhhh, we made it." It was rough.
But the flight between Las Vegas and Bham was pleasant. I read an entire 350 page book and John drank beer and watched The Office. I'm pretty sure we only said like two sentences to each other the whole time, but we were both happy. :)
{that window is clean, isnt' it}
But not as happy as we were when we got home! I went to check on C and kissed her face a million times and brushed back her hair, really kinda hoping she would wake up. But she is a good sleeper, than one, and didn't budge. I didn't dare go in to check on SC, who is a light sleeper like her mama, but I looked at her for a few minutes on the monitor. We couldn't wait to see them Tuesday morning. C came running into our room sometime in the 5:00 hour {my guess is she went to Nana and Pop's room first and they told her we were home}, and she was SO excited! She was too cute for me to be annoyed by the fact that I had just fallen asleep shortly before that.
As nice as it was to get away, there is NO place I would rather be than at home with my babies. We can't wait to take the girls with us next time.
1 comment:
"I've gotten older and value my life more" Amen sister! Looks like a fun time, and glad yall are home sweet home!
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