September Staycation: Park City and Bryce

Time to start playing catch up!  I know it has been way too long so bear with me while I take you through the last 6 or so months of our lives.

In September we were blessed to have our lovely friends fly in to spend a week with us in Utah.  The Whaleys came from Philedelphia and the Andersons from Nashville.  We all knew each other from the 4 years the husbands spent together in medical school.  Taylor is now doing residency in radiation oncology and Morgan in radiology.  We had an adventure packed week as we traveled to Park City, Bryce Canyon National Park, and Zion National Park.

The Whaleys and Andersons arrived on Saturday.  We had a low key first night cooking dinner together and hanging out on our patio talking.  The next morning we went to breakfast at the lovely Silver Fork Lodge (great scenic breakfast place at Solitude).  We took the scenic route from breakfast over to Park City where we spent the day.

Park City has a weekly "Park Silly Festival"  on Sundays during the summer.  We walked around the picturesque town then headed to PC Mountain Resort.

Park Silly Market

No Name Saloon has the best buffalo burgers in town!

PC was breathtaking with its leaves in full color. The reds, oranges, and yellows with the mountain backdrop are some of my favorite scenes.

We had a great time with their summer activities.  The alpine slide, zip line, and roller coaster were super fun.

Barton even got to join us for some activities. He was just a couple years behind these guys in med school.

Whaleys on the Zip Line

Andersons on the Roller Coaster

Alpine Slide

The next morning we packed the cars and hit the road to Southern Utah with the girls in one car and the guys in the other which worked out great to get in a little girl talk.

Lunch on the way at Cowboy's Smokehouse. 

We even saw "Duke."

First Stop:
Bryce Canyon National Park

We hiked a few miles through Bryce's beautiful scenery

After taking in Bryce's beauty we drove on in to Zion NP to spend the remainder of our week hiking, canyoneering, eating great food, and soaking in the hot tub.

Snowy Firsts

November 23rd brought my first experience skiing as a local.  Unfortunately David was working, so Emily and I hit the slopes at Solitude - one of the first resorts to open.  We were excited to try out the "Greatest Snow On Earth" for which Utah is known.
Because I had to un-package my new skis and boots and set the bindings, it toke us a while to get started. Finally, we enjoyed a gorgeous, blue sky day getting our "ski legs" back.

Because it was a weekday and before tourist season, we pretty much had the place to ourselves.

As the sun started going behind the mountains, we decided to quit.  It was a successful first day on the slopes with many more to come.

Around this time I also experienced the first big snow of the year in the city.  In Tennessee, .25 inches of snow shut everything down.  I mean everything - schools, churches, colleges.  Because of this, I have never driven a car in snow.  Moving to Utah, I'm going to have to learn.  It takes at least 2 feet to make anyone blink twice here. Even though this was a small amount for most Utahans, it was enough excitement for me to get out of bed at 7:30 am, put on my snow boots, and walk around our neighborhood with the camera.
Here are a few pics around our home...

The park across the street

We are one block from the University of Utah -- this is on their campus...

View from our breakfast nook...