Crazy game nights and going to town...or good times with good people

On Wednesday, the 11th, the conditions weren't great for skiing/snowboarding. The light was kind of flat, as I mentioned in my last post....making it very difficult to see well. Goggles helped a little, but pretty much everyone agreed, it just wasn't the best conditions. (John tells me when the light is "flat" like that...fishing is no good either). Because the temperatures dropped at night...the snow would harden up and when the sun was out it wasn't a big problem, because it warmed it up enough to soften the snow up. On that day,due to the cloudy conditions...the snow stayed hard and kind of icy ....which makes it very difficult to ski or snowboard because you can't get "an edge"...you basically just slide along the crunchy icy snow and hope you don't fall! Not fun!
As it turns out, Martha had scheduled a visit to a hospital in Salt Lake City that morning, to check out their new clinic. (she had met one of the Drs or administrators when they were in Hawaii. She mentioned she was going to be in SLC in March and they invited her to come check it out.) I decided right from the start that I was not going skiing that day...the others gave it a go; but everyone came back before lunch and called it a day. So we had our "cold" lunch and took a little break before heading into "historic downtown Park City" to check out some of the shops.
Martha summed it up like this "art gallery,souvenir/gift shop, restaurant/bar, theater, coffee shop and then repeat....all the way down the block." That said, there were some nice looking galleries along the road...but I wasn't shopping for any artwork. Some of the bars and restaurants looked tempting..but we weren't eating either. We did stop at one of the (many) coffee shops for a snack. We poked around in the stores, everything was nice not too junky, but I didn't see anything I couldn't live without. We did pick up a t-shirt or two along the way.
Park City is an interesting town. I liked it. It's a pretty area, the valley surrounded by the mountains in the background. To me it felt kind of "new". It was very easy to get around everywhere (everywhere we went anyway), it feels "open" and clean and well planned out. That's kind of a lame description...but I liked it.

There is definitely an emphasis on the arts...which is always nice. Lots of galleries, as I mentioned...and sculptures around town.

Did I mention...I looked like a total geeky tourist....wearing my sneakers...hahah. I had smashed my little toe on my right foot a week or so before we left Fl...and I knew I couldn't walk around town all afternoon in my boots. I would have been more "stylish"...hahah but it wasn't worth it. It hurt!
So...it was sneakers...or my looser "snow" boots...which would also have been goofy, since there wasn't much snow or slush around to slosh through.

notice how I cropped my feet out...hahaha...since I was already being goofy and making Megan pose with me on the bench next to the bear :)

We walked around downtown for a bit. Then we headed back to Park City and checked out some of the stores at the resort where we were staying. Martha, Megan and I walked down to the center area...on the opposite side from where we were staying in the condos. Down there, there were ski shops/rentals, bars, restaurants, coffee shops, a market place, etc...and lots of activity. That's where the hotel rooms are, and the main parking lot for day time skiers is located; so there were a lot of people coming and going. we ran into Tony and Ian while we were there. We finalized our dinner plans and then called Marcus to come pick us up for a quick run to the store for some food and wine. It's interesting...they sell beer at the grocery stores...but only one place sells wine and liquor. We stopped there to pick up a few bottles. I sat in the car while they all went in...got to do some people watching. That being the only store in town selling liquor and wine....meant it was pretty popular! hahahhahaha

just after sunset

We cooked dinner every night...Tony mostly...he likes to cook and he's a good one! John helped grill the chicken and steaks one night...and we all helped with side dishes, etc...but I'd say Tony was our main chef. One night we had  a pizza-like appetizer on naan bread,Butternut squash baked with pasta and sauce, nice salad, Gluten free brownies and ice cream. Champagne, beer and wine as needed.
After dinner we usually relaxed and played games......... if no good basketball games were on.(Duke for Marcus). I brought Sequence.

On the back it says...EASY ENOUGH FOR CHILDREN, CHALLENGING FOR ADULTS!- in other words...perfect for us

 We played that a couple of times. I also brought Joker Rummy

...that was a fail...no one wanted to concentrate on learning how to play....hahah. We play "Cards Against Humanity" for a bit...Tara warned us it was a little crude...hahah It was okay...but Tony was not at all interested, Martha, John and I kept looking at each other like "What the heck is this?" hahah We gave up on that after a bit...and found the BEST game of all for our group "Head's Up!"---Thanks Ian!
We had fun with that. We decided not to have teams... we decided we'd rather  just have one person try to guess as the rest of us acted things out. Factor in the wine that was being drunk by the players and we had a LOT of good laughs. I tried my best to capture the "action".

the word was quicksand...hahah- notice Tony's reaction to John... 

 

 

marching(?)

It was hard to catch people "in the act"...because they were moving too fast. Apparently if you hit the setting,  you can record the actions of the people guessing...but we didn't do it that night. Too bad...Ian acting out jumping hurdles and the night's best.... John demonstrating "Pole dancing" by swinging around the beam
between the dining area and the kitchen...hahah would have been worth re-watching.
We had a lot of fun. We didn't go out to any bars or clubs...we didn't go anywhere...which I guess sounds like it might have been boring, but it wasn't at all. We had great fun.
Tara had a couple of friends from Ohio that we skied with one day. One night one of them came to join us for dinner. He had fun, but might have wondered a little about the crazy family Tara had married into...hahaha. Marcus might have wondered too...hahah) He did say  he felt completely comfortable and at home....and it made him miss his family.
Good times with good people.

A week out west

This time last week I was out on the slopes in Park City, Utah; winding up our week long ski trip with family.

My sister Martha and her husband rented a condo several months back and then put the word out..."Who wants to join us in Salt Lake City in March?"
John was ready to jump on board...I wasn't so sure. We had our trip to Hawaii planned....and I wasn't sure we needed to spend more money just 6 or so weeks later for a ski trip. That and the fact that I hadn't been back to skiing since our trip to Lake Tahoe in March 2012; when I tore my ACL. But I decided to ask for the days off...and see how it went. As John said when he showed me photos of the condo...if nothing else...you can hang out in the condo and relax for a week....

We flew out of Orlando on the 8th and arrived around the same time as Megan and Marcus, who flew in from DC. Ian and Tara were already at the condo, and Martha and Tony were due to arrive the next morning. The weather had been warm and the snow was quickly melting away...but there was enough of a base to keep the slopes open...or as I like to say...enough to work with. The warmer temperatures were actually kind of nice for a change- we didn't have to wear so many layers...just a shirt and lightweight jacket.

Normally the condo was "ski in- ski out" but due to melting snow...unless you wanted to ski over ice and rocks...that option was out. However, just down the road were lockers and this gondola. You put on your gear...then rode the gondola up to the nearest ski run and skied down to the lift. Very convenient.

Megan and Marcus getting ready

The condo was very nice...big huge kitchen, nice living room/dining area with fireplace.

Three bedrooms and 3 1/2 bathrooms upstairs....and one floor down from Kitchen was another small living
room, bath room,  a mini kitchen set-up and a bunk room with two bunk beds and a king sized bed. Right out from that room was the hot tub. You could sleep at least 12 people (beds) plus more on sofa/etc. There were robes in each of the rooms which came in handy when going into/getting out of the hot tub! Not much feels better than a nice hot tub in the cold air....it's relaxing and refreshing.

note the bare ground with just little patches of snow 

The hot tub was also a great place to enjoy a nice cold drink.....just ask Tara and Martha...hahah

The days were nice and sunny with BLUE skies! Beautiful the first two days we skied. It did get cold at night so  we waited a bit to go out skiing; to let the snow soften up a little. It is not fun to ski on crunchy, icy snow. We rode the gondola up, skied down to the Silver Star Lift...then rode it up to the top; or next level for lack of a better word.

As you can see the ride up to the next lift enabled us to see just how much of the snow was melting away.....each day a little more was gone....but there was plenty at the top :)

Martha, Megan, Marcus, Tony, John and I all ended up buying new jackets while we were there. I had an old jacket that started as Brenna's, then got handed down to me...and it was a little heavy for the weather we were having. So consequently, John and I ended up looking almost like we matched...hahah something I swore we would NEVER, ever do! hahaha My jacket is more orangey...his is red/black. Tony bought a neon yellow jacket, with mustard yellow pants...and yet another shade of yellow gloves...we just laughed every time he got dressed. The colors clashed terribly...but he didn't care...and one thing for sure...you could always spot him on the slopes! :)

Martha was easy to spot because of the color of her helmet

                                  We just had to decide which way we were going to go?????
We did have one day with some snow...which was kind of fun.....except when my sunglasses got so fogged up I couldn't really see anything.

no blue skies on this day

We also had one cold lunch at the bottom of the hill on a day that was kind of windy. The light was "flat" that day...making it hard to see well...and everyone decided to come in earlier than usual that day. Inside it was full and we didn't feel like waiting...so we opted to sit outside.

note Tony's colorful combo...hahaha

Tony asked the waiter if they had any space  heaters...a couple of minutes later the guy came back and handed Tony a blanket and said "here's your heater...hahaha"

After lunch we headed back to the condo for a break...and then Martha, Marcus, Megan and I headed into town to check it out.....more on that tomorrow.