The next morning, I was left to myself to do pretty much whatever I wanted. Nice! So, I went to The Gateway Mall and got some Hawaiian Shaved Ice. I ordered the medium size and, when they handed it to me, I discovered that was a huge mistake. Like, literally, huge.
Who can eat this??? So, I chipped off about half of it into the trashcan until it was a manageable size:
Much better!
Ok, so now that I've spent way too much time and space talking about my stupid snow cone, I can move on. I spent my day just walking around Salt Lake City and then went back to Provo for dinner at Daniel's. I got there a little early and Daniel didn't get off until 5, so I got to play with Baby Danny and Tyisa. I was pleased to find out that the stuffed dolphin toy I got for Danny in Hawaii promptly received the name of "Baby Dolphin" and Danny would cry for Baby Dolphin when he couldn't find him.
Side Note: If you've been to Hawaii, you know that it's not a kid-friendly place, souvenir-wise. Well, that is, unless you want to get them one of those "My auntie flew all the way to Hawaii and all I got was this crappy onesie" deals. So, I was stoked to find a single stuffed animal that I could get for him. It was seriously the ONLY one I found anywhere and I think it was placed there by the tiki gods who somehow knew that I was one more toy-less souvenir shop away from a nervous breakdown.
Anyhow, back to Provo. Danny and I had light sword-fighting showdown in the area of the apartment that he has designated for sword fights. Really though, he took my hand and led me there and wouldn't fight with me until I was in the fighting zone. So funny!
He also attacked me with his stuffed animals and demonstrated his war cry, which was a lusty and clear call of "Waka-Waka!!!" a la Fozzie Bear.
Soon, Daniel got home and we had delicious barbecue beef sandwiches and walked to Smith's to pick out dessert. Verdict: Ice cream. It was fun just to spend some time with them and be reminded of why I love my crazy family so much.
The next morning, I did a little shopping and packed up my stuff so that Diane and I could head out for Sun Valley, Idaho when she got off work. I am planning on moving out within the next year and I am trying to get all of my stuff together to make sure I'm all set. This includes decor and I have been on the lookout for the perfect painting for my new place. When I walked into Diane's condo, I was immediately drawn to a painting that she had. I kinda fell in love with it and decided that it was "the one". So, I went and bought one and had it shipped to my house! It's this one:
It's called "From Faith to Fear" by Howard Lyon and I think it's beautiful!
Anyhow, Diane got home from work and we got on the road. It was a 5 hour drive from Salt Lake City to Sun Valley and it was a LONG 5 hours. The parts on the freeway weren't so bad; it was the 25 miles per hour stretches when were were passing through tiny towns that were absolutely killer. BUT we made it! As soon as we got there, we took settled into our room and walked around the grounds a little bit. Then, it started to rain. Here's our super cute room, by the way:
Fortunately, there was a bowling alley in the hotel, so we went and played a couple of games until our dinner reservation came up. It was a lot of fun, actually!
The restaurant we went to was really nice and it was pretty cool that they left the window open so that we could feel the gentle breeze and listen to the rain. Most places would close the place up tight, but they didn't and it really added to the charm of the place.
The next morning was the 4th of July and we went golfing. Now, I don't know how to golf. I don't think I've even ever made it through a solid round of miniature golf without just deciding to carry my stick...er...club and walk on through the course, so a real-life golf course pretty much meant certain death. Scott is amazing and, before I went to Sun Valley, gave me crash course on the basic how-to's and helped me feel more confident in the matter, but we both knew that I was in trouble! haha Anyhow, the first thing we did was take a bucket of balls to the driving range. Oh. my. gosh. What a disaster that was!!! haha I could barely even make contact with the ball, at first. I gotta say, though, I had improved dramatically by the time we left the course that day. Not good, but better!
Ummm...what am I supposed to do, again???
Diane at the driving range
On hole #1, I went ahead and hit my ball right into the river, which is what you're supposed to do, right? So, determined NOT to lose a ball on the very first hole, I took off my shoes and socks and went in after it.
GOT IT!!!
My first game of golf was...eventful. I loved driving the golf cart, though!
We had lunch at the Golf Clubhouse and then went back to the hotel where we took some time to relax. Diane did the paddle boats, while I went back to the room for some R&R.
That night, we had tickets for Sun Valley's annual 4th of July buffet and ice show. The ice rink was right outside the Lodge, where we were staying, so it was super convenient. We ate dinner and then still had about an hour before the show, so we went up to our room to watch some TV and eat these:
I bet they got that idea from Pinterest! ;) haha
When we went back to the ice rink, we got these cool necklaces that flashed red, white, and blue lights and we were way excited! Nerdy, but excited! The show was pretty good and then they did an awesome fireworks show afterward. I was so happy that they did fireworks because I thought I wasn't going to get to see any this year. We had actual seats for the ice show, but moved to the lawn with a blanket for the fireworks.
The next morning, Diane went horseback riding with her friend, Jonathan, from work (he was also there for the weekend) and I slept in a bit. It's vacation time and I was not getting out of bed before the sun. Nope.
When she got back, we went to the Roundhouse for lunch. To get to the Roundhouse, you have to get on a gondola and ride up the mountain. We had lunch at 7,000 feet and the view was breathtaking!
You can see what the gondolas looked like in this picture...nice and enclosed. Safe.
In the gondola
The view from the restaurant
After lunch, we decided to go the rest of the way up the mountain in a ski lift. This was a first for me and, since I'm slightly frightened at the aspect of plunging to my death, it was a little scary at first, but once you're up in the air for awhile and you realize that lots of people do this and, barring any crazy disaster, you will likely survive the ride. After that realization, it was enjoyable and we really got a beautiful view!
After the ski lift, we got to check out this look-out. Gorgeous! We hiked a little farther up to the top of the mountain we were on and then took the lift back down. I'm including way too many pictures, but since this is my blog, I guess that's just how it goes.
Beautiful!
That night, we took a wagon ride out to a restaurant called Trail Creek Cabin. During the summer, you can take a horse-drawn wagon to the restaurant and during the winter, it's a sleigh. Pretty cool!
On the way to the restaurant in the wagon
The wagon!
It was a nice place with lots of cool atmospheric stuff. You really did feel like you were in a
little mountain cabin! It was a nice way to spend our last night there.
The next morning, we went to the Sun Valley Gun Club, where we met up with a shooting instructor who was funny and very patient! We had lots of fun shooting at flying orange discs.
Afterwards, we went back to our hotel to pack up and check out. It was a lot of fun and it was WAY different from any other vacation I'd ever been on. Here's a shot of me in front of our hotel before we left. It really was such a beautiful place!
After we came home, I watched a movie called Sun Valley Serenade, which was partially filmed in our hotel! It was awesome to see the place we had just been in a movie that was filmed in 1941. Just a little bit nostalgic, but very cool! Anyways, I'm grateful to have been able to take such a great trip!
1 comment:
I love all the fun trips you go on!!!
Post a Comment