Park City (Part 1)

What is it with me having such a hard time blogging about big, awesome vacations? I had the same problem after Cape Cod in 2011. I think it's the perfectionist bug - I'm worried I won't do it justice or something like that. With that said, here we go...

We spent an incredible week in Park City at the end of August. "Why Utah?" you might ask. Our initial idea was to drive to New Mexico to see some mountains, be in nature and escape the heat. But when our friends, the Bakers, reminded us they had a condo in Park City and offered for us to stay there, we didn't hesitate for a minute! Have you been to Utah? It is gorgeous. I think besides the Grand Tetons area, it's the prettiest part of the country I've seen.

We arrived on a Saturday night after dark. It was fun to wake up the next morning, walk out to the deck which overlooks the 15th hole of the Park City golf course, and see where we would be for the next week. Mountains, Aspens, blue skies and cooler temps - perfect!

This isn't our exact condo but you get the idea.

On Sunday, we went out for breakfast then bought a few groceries before heading to Main Street for "Park Silly," a weekly street festival that had a couple of kids' activities. Then we went to Olympic Park (where the 2002 Winter Olympics were held) and ended up staying there all afternoon. We watched an amazing aerial ski jumping show, checked out the museum, saw a bobsled fly down the track, and rode our first ski lift and Alpine slide of the trip.

Monday was a bit drizzly, but we didn't mind. We took a nice drive to the Uinta National Forest. We didn't really have a plan (or a trail map), but were looking for Beaver Creek Trail. We ended up driving up a mountain thinking there was a ranger station there. When the road became impassable, we figured the city slickers were in the wrong place so down we went. We stopped at a little store and a wonderful woman told us how to get to the trail. It was a leisurely hike and we saw lots of beaver dams, but sadly no beavers. A major highlight for me was the heavenly sound made by the light rain and breeze rustling the Aspen leaves. If only my sound machine had that option!

Tuesday was a big adventure day. We drove the Alpine Scenic Loop to Timpanogos Cave National Monument. On the way we saw Sundance and lots of gorgeous scenery. You have to get an appointment for the cave tour and there was a bit of a wait. So we had a picnic before starting the 1.5 mile hike up the mountain to the cave entrance. Now, 1.5 miles might not sound like much, but did I mention the vertical rise was 1,065 feet? The first 1/2 mile or so was fun. The next 1/2 mile was hard. Spencer was getting grumpy and I was practically pulling him up the path while trying to stay positive. The last 1/2 mile was downright brutal. I was ready to give up, but that sweet boy actually started encouraging me. "C'mon Mommy! You can do it!" The climb was worth it because it was an interesting tour and the cave looked different than what we've seen in Texas caves. And boy, 45 degrees never felt so good! Needless to say, the walk back down was WAY easier and faster.

Next up: Park City Mountain Resort. You can also check out the full photo album here.