Well... I haven't posted in a week. I know, I know, it's supposed to be a daily blog, but I was on vacation! So instead of trying to catch up, I thought I'd just wait until I got back from Utah and write about the whole trip. So here we go:


Day 61: Utah Day 1



This was airport day, and oh what a fun day it was. I rolled out of bed at 3 AM, having fallen asleep (even though I went to bed at about 11) at 2. Mom and I loaded up our stuff into my car, and were out the door by 3:45. The airport is about an hour and a half away, so we have to leave 3 hours before the flight leaves to make it there on time. After a quick stop at the McDonald's to get a biscuit, I was on the way through Atlanta, my first time driving through.

Eleven hours, three airports (connecting flight in Chicago, whose airport is pictured), and two airplanes later, we were in Salt Lake. My uncle picked us up and we went to Mimi's Cafe for dinner. I watched a movie on his 46" flat screen TV, rented skis for the next day, and went to bed.


Day 62: Utah Day 2





Today was Stephanie gets to ski day! After eating breakfast, we bundled up and headed up to the slopes. This is my cousin Heather, me, and my Aunt Lori, who were my ski buddies for the day. My mom doesn't ski - she falls too much - so she walked around and took pictures while we went down the slopes. We used the bunny slopes, to get the hang of it all again, and took advantage of the "free ski" from 3 to 4:30, so it didn't cost us much. I didn't fall once! If you're ever in Salt Lake and want a good place to go skiing, Alta is great. They don't allow snowboarders, who tend to be rude and run into you, so it's a lot nicer. And so pretty! There was so much snow... a base of 112" with 10" of fresh powder. You could barely see the tops of some of the trees going up the lift!


Day 63: Utah Day 3



We had a lazy day today. We went to breakfast at a place called Britton's. It was good, but couldn't live up to our breakfast place back home. Then we went to this store called Cabela's, which is like Bass Pro on some kind of crack/steroids cocktail. They didn't just have a measly fish tank - they had an aquarium! As well as a mountain in the middle and two rooms devoted to stuffed wildlife (pictured above). It had a general store (with some really tasty sour gummy warms), a restaurant... it was awesome! I didn't think I would like it, but I was proven wrong.

Then Mom and I went to the grocery store because she wanted to make her brother some Southern food (my aunt is from California and doesn't know how to cook it). We had fried chicken, cream cheese mashed potatoes, green beans, and apple pie. It was soooooo good. My mother can cook like nobody's business! Unfortunately, I didn't get that particular gene - my idea of cooking is cereal.


Day 64: Utah Day 4



This was Mom-Daughter day. We woke up to a fresh 8" of snow (we freaked, which my family thought was funny as they went about their daily business), and decided to go play in it. There's a park down the street, so we went sledding and made snow angels (mine is up there ^). Then we showered and went out. We got manicures (which is already chipping =[), shopped some (new shorts and a shirt from American Eagle), and saw Confessions of a Shopaholic (highly recommend it!).



For dinner, we went to this Mexican restuarant called The Mayan. I don't usually like Mexican, but my aunt said it was something we just had to experience, so I gave in and went. It looks just like a Mayan temple, which as pretty cool. When you walk in, there's this giant cliff (pictured left), which loin-clothed men do complicated dives and jumps off of into a pool of water while another one plays a drum, all while you eat - since they were quite nice looking, I rather enjoyed it =]. And I got fried ice cream!



Day 65: Utah Day 5



Because my cousins had to go to school and my aunt and uncle to work, we had another Mom-Daughter day. We drove up to Park City, a tradition, which is where they had the 2002 Winter Olympics. It's mostly a tourist town, but it's very scenic and up in the mountains. We bought t-shirts from the Park City Harley Davidson store as well as a new Pendleton blanket (very warm and comfy, but a bit pricey for a blanket). We also finally got to eat some ribs! At a place called Bandits - we had steak, ribs, and a baked potato. Yum! I saw the moose thing in the picture in one of the shops they had there, and thought it was funny. I almost bought one for my apartment, which is the Moose Club Condo Complex.

The only problem that day was the car we had to drive - my uncle's spare car, a beat up (and I mean beat up) old Honda Civic. It would only do 36 mph going up the mountain - the tractor trailers, who have to put the emergency lights on to show that they're going slow - were passing me!


Day 66: Utah Day 6



This was airport, round 2, with a connecting flight in Dallas (they had the coolest hand dryers! My mom thought they were too =]). We had an 8:20 flight, so we left at 6:30, much later than the first time around, which I liked. This time we had a connecting flight in Dallas, so it was another very long day in an airplane, filled with unruly, screaming kids and loud passengers who think they're God's gift to the world. We flew on planes, both coming and going, with THE smallest seats I've ever had to sit in.

The cherry on top of this fun-filled day was after we had already landed. After standing around and searching baggage claim for our giant blue suitcase, the airline paged us to tell us they had forgotten to put our luggage on the plane in Dallas. How does one forget to load a suitcase? It's not like they didn't know it was headed to Atlanta, not Dallas, it had a huge sticker saying so! And so we waited for it to come in on the next flight, almost an hour later. So after charging us $15 both ways, for a total of $30, to check a bag, they forgot to put it on the plane. They also wanted to charge $4 for a bag of peanuts. Ridiculous! My advice: stay away from American Airlines, unless you don't mind buying first class tickets and only take carry-on bags.


My god that took forever to write!