The Bear Went Over the Mountain

I seem to be constantly writing a day behind the actual events of my life, but at least my official scribe is writing so I suppose I shouldn't complain too hard.  Anyways, yesterday morning I spent hanging with Nate, just the guys, while the girls did whatever it is girls do when they are together (which seems to take forever, whatever that is).  So it was that I was introduced to Rock Band and I had a blast learning to play the drums.  Eventually the girls showed their faces and announced that we were going to Park City.  It didn't seem to matter that the day was half over.  These three seem to have a warped time schedule, but at least we get to do stuff... at some point.

Once again we drove through the mountains, only a bit further south than we had the day before, as that seemed much more scenic than taking the interstate to Salt Lake City.  We saw more flooded rivers, winding roads, and interesting rock formations, and about half way there enjoyed the voice of Zelda, Nate's GPS program on his phone.  Is there anything these phones don't do?   We used Zelda to get us all the way into Park City, including following her directions to the point she said "You have reached your destination." even though we'd passed a number of parking spots in the process.  I'm not really sure why they did this as it was rather obvious that we were in the town, but whatever.

The first order of business was the Shoe Tree (or more appropriately, the Shoe Grove as there are now 3 trees growing this strange fruit).  Nobody really knows how it got started, but there has to be hundreds of pairs of shoes, tied together by the laces, and tossed high over the branches of the trees.  Being spring, there were no leaves yet, so we were able to enjoy the full effect of this weird attraction.  As we stood around inspecting everything from bright pink sandals to a cast boot, which I'm sure someone was quite eager to get rid of, Nate commented that they had a pile of shoes at home that could have been added to these trees.  OK people, this was not a surprise find; Clare told you about the shoe tree before you left! 

We wandered around the almost deserted town for a little over an hour.  While I'd seen photos that showed a cute little town right in the mountains, surrounded by ski hills, I hadn't exactly expected to find a ski lift right there, in the middle of the town.  Of course, with barely any snow left on the hills, the lift was not only deserted, but wasn't even behind a closed gate or anything.  I was able to line up for my turn, only I wasn't quite sure how long I was supposed to wait.  Eventually I got bored and climbed on the lift for yet another photo opp.  Yay me!

Finding most of the stores closed (I guess going between skiing season and summer isn't the most popular time for Park City), we headed back out of town to find the outlet stores Di and Nate knew about.  Once again, our computerized friend Zelda led us on our journey.  I know people say these things are wonderful, but after going around in a circle twice I began to wonder if Zelda was lost herself.  Eventually we found the road she intended for us, and wound our way down the road as directed, making fun of her the whole way (including muting her when she got a little too annoying).  Upon arriving at the outlet mall, we were greeted by what has to be the most gaudy moose I've ever seen.  Of course that meant I HAD to make Clare stop and let me sit on the giant shopping bag in its mouth to prove just how ugly it was.  Ah... fun times.

Ironically, we did not enter a single store here, just drove around the parking lot and back out to return to a restaurant they'd passed on the way in that might have a gluten-free menu for the girls.  I sat on the table and watched the three of them devour their steak dinner and chatter on about nothing in particular, although I'm pleased to report that Second Life was not the main topic of conversation this evening.

Once again we drove into the sunset as we headed back through yet another canyon to take the Salt Lake City route back to Ogden.  In fact, there was a point when we were rounding a bend and could see the orange of the sun on the rocks to our left, and all waited with great anticipation as we rounded said bend.  Okay, maybe not great anticipation, but they sure were making a big deal of it if you ask me.  Actually, it was rather breathtaking as we came around and the sun was directly ahead, across the Great Salt Lake, making everything a bright orange.  I think the only person who didn't enjoy it fully was Clare, who was driving, and suddenly found herself blinded by that very same light.  She did great though, while Di rolled down the window and took a never ending supply of sunset pictures, hoping that at least one of them was good enough to share.  Thankfully one was :)