Utah!!

Well . . . a little overdue . . . but here are some pics from our Utah trip (that was last month). . .

Here we are on our way to Cleveland!! There were no direct flights! We had to go from Cleveland to Minneapolis, from Minneapolis to Salt Lake City. We left like 2 or 3 hours before Dan & Marissa, and got there like 4 or 5 hours later. (They had a direct flight from Baltimore and only had to drive 20 mins to the airport).

Here is the one building I always remember seeing when we drive to Cleveland.

We, of course, had several lay overs, delays, and "mechanical issues" with the planes (who doesn't these days!?), but we finally made it to Utah at like 2 am Eastern Time!

Here is Shaney in front of the "Canyons" wall! It is the biggest resort in Utah, and Shane and his brother, Dan got to ski it!

Marissa & Chelsea on our first ski day!

Dan & Marissa ready to ski!

This was our view from Chelsea's apartment complex! How beautiful is this (can you see the mountains in the background)?! And I looooved all the wildlife!

We had a little issue with our rental car . . . . it wouldn't start. I called my dad and he said to try to start it when it was in neutral . . so we did, and it started! So we get to the resort and Chelsea and Ryan and Marissa were parked on our left. I looked to the right of us and it looked like we were going backwards b/c I thought the car next to us was going forward . . so then I look over at Chelsea's car and it still looks like we are moving backwards . . b/c we were moving backwards!! That's why our car never started!! It wouldn't go in park!! So we had to use the E-Brake! We later went back to the airport and got a different car (with no discount, refund, or anything . . and our new car was smaller! Whatever . . . ).

Our first day skiing! We went to Brighton! The weather wasn't exactly what I was hoping for, but it wasn't too bad! It was a great resort to start out at. Not too steep (at least at the parts we were).

The only sun of the day!

Marissa & Chelsea getting ready to hit the slopes!

Shane and I with our passes ready to go!

Look how much cooler I am than Dan since I have so many ski passes on my coat. (aka - I'm really a loser that can't ski that is trying to be cool by keeping them all on there).

Getting ready to head out on our first day of skiing! (Ryan, Chelsea, Marissa, Dan, & Shane)

At the top of one of the mountains! So many trees!

Dan & Marissa!

Me, Shane, & Dan in the winter wonderland!

Marissa has never skied before! She did soo amazing! Really, skiing in Utah the first time you ski!! She fell less than me!

Lunch time!! They said you couldn't "brown bag" it. . . but we didn't!! We "blue bagged" it!

Shane & Dan! Just beautiful views! It was just so pretty! Even on a crappy (non-sunny) day!

The wildlife was so friendly! They would come right up to you!! :-) And then ignore you once they figured out you had no food. :-(

Chelsea's kitty, Milo! He was soo cute and we loved the way he would just sit on her lap! So content!

First night, Dan & Marissa & Chelsea made us some yummy stir fry!! It was very spicy, but very yummy!

All the houses in Salt Lake City were so different from one another, but they were all still HUGE!

Fun bridge! I mean really, why can't Erie do that?! Even if they just painted it all white to blend in with the snow!

The sun came out to play with us on our second day of skiing!

We went to Snowbasin on the second day! It was a lot steeper and an awesome leg workout!

They had a ski trail named after Dan!! So he posed with the sign for it!

They were making a movie while we were there!! That's why they had some weird billboards!

Shaney & I in front of the giant Moose at Snowbasin! They even had pretend terds in the statue . . . it was quite odd.

Me in the lodge! Very cozy and warm! And they had free water (or so we thought)!

Me @ snowbasin! So if you look at the way top of the picture . . where it is all snowy and grey . . . yeah we were in stuff like that at the top of the one mountain we went on. I literally cried. You could not see ANYTHING at all. And the worst part was . . as we were riding up the gondola this guy goes "you ski this mountain before?" . ..us: "no." . . . "oh! it's notorious for having no light" . . . "what?! what do you mean?!" . . . "oh. You can't see anything. It's really cloudy and snowy and blowy . . . and there are steep cliffs on both sides, so you need to stay close to the reflectors that they have." . . mean while I am thinking . . is this guy serious?!? Because seriously . . if he is . . there is NO WAY I can ski down this thing. My heart was pounding through my chest and I was gettting soooo nervous! We just kept getting higher and higher and it kept getting greyer and greyer. So we finally make it up to the top and step out of the gondola . . yep! Everything the guy said and 10 times worse . . . because it was real!!! You couldn't see anything!! It was so grey and cloudy and blowy and snowy and cold and scary. I started to cry and told Shane I couldn't do it! He said "babe! yes you can. just do what I do." . . .so after some self-motivation talk and because I trust Shane, I followed him. I snowplowed (where you put the front tips of your skis together and push the back ends out to form a pizza slice) the entire top of the mountain, but I did it! And it felt so good! Do I ever want to do it again?!? No way! But it was definitely an experience to forget . . I mean remember!

It was sooo beautiful as we got down lower though!! It is definitely a lot different skiing in Utah than it is skiing in the Erie area!


People brought their dogs to all the resorts for some reason, but I loved it! How adorable are these!?!? This is a Newfoundland . . I feel like it's the "designated Salt Lake City, Utah dog". They were everywhere! Even in the stores we went to! I don't know if you can see the very tiny dog that the one guy is holding, but it cracked me up b/c he was holding that little pup, and this tiny lady was trying to control this HUGE Newfoundland! There is a Burnese Mountain dog in the background toO! Sommer & Bry have one of those!!

The ducks thought I had food . . . .

Marissa, Dan, Chelsea, & Ryan made yummy pizza for us!

So let me reinact this . . . Marissa - "Who wants some pepperoni?" , Dan & Me - "OooH! I Do!", Me - "Do you know what is really good?! When you put some pizza sauce on the pepperoni!", Dan - ...:::Squirt::.... (he squirted some sauce on his pepperoni) ....:::plllffff . . . . sqpllffffuirtlllff::: . .. (attempting to squirt some on my pepperoni, but it wasn't working so he squirted harder . . and this pic shows the result!)

Marissa, Chelsea, Shane, & Dan in Chelsea's apartment! It was so cute and cozy there!

The boys ready to ski on Day 3 @ the Canyons!

We, the girls, got massages and headed off to Jamba Juice!

I am getting very good at taking pics out the window while in the car (not driving this time!)!

We met the boys for some lunch @ the Canyons and then went to down town Park City.

My favorite bar name!

Can you find the moon!??! Hint: It's on the left side right above the mountain.

Shaney and I went to the Olive Garden for dinner on the last night since everyone else went to go eat Thai food. OG is always yummy! Salad, soup, & breadsticks!! And Shane and I split the Chicken Parm!

On our way back home . . . more delays, weather problems, mechanical issues, our plane being too heavy (so people had to get off), and such! Always expect the worse and hope for the best when travelling these days!

Overall it was an awesome trip!! So great to see Dan, Marissa, Chelsea & Ryan! Salt Lake City was one of the most beautiful cities ever (very commercial, but very pretty!)! It was like 40 degrees out but everyone and their mother were outside enjoying life . . . golfing, walking in the park, running the dogs, playing on the play grounds . . . it was crazy! The skiing was very fun! Very scary at times, but so beautiful and such a good workout! So glad we were able to go and so glad we came back safe and sound!