Salt Lake City, Utah
Last week Monday, Adam left for Utah to work at the Outdoor Retailer expo in Salt Lake City with his company, and instead of him coming home right after, we of course decided to make a little trip out of it. So on Thursday evening, I flew out to spend a couple of days with him and our friends, Hans, Sarah, and their little guy, Ransler. I've been to Utah a few times before, but never got a chance to visit Salt Lake City, so I was really looking forward to exploring the area.
We rented a house from AirBnB that had an amazing view of the Wasatch mountain range. I still can't get over how gorgeous the views were there. It isn't like in Seattle where you have to squint through the fog some days to spot the mountains. In Salt Lake, they're huge and impossible to miss! (Not that I don't appreciate the mountains in Seattle, because I definitely do... But you know what I mean. Sorry, Seattle! You know I love you.)
On Friday, we went snowshoeing to Donut Falls. The hike was short and perfect for Ransler who napped nearly the entire time, haha. Toward the end, the hill was pretty steep, so Sarah stayed behind with the sleepy baby while the rest of us scoped it out. We had to crawl inside of a cave at the top of the hill to get a good view. Unfortunately, I don't think my pictures really do it justice, but the frozen icicles around the falling water looked pretty cool.
Once we were ready to leave, I had a number of issues walking back down the hill (i.e. losing my balance, sliding on my butt, running into rocks, etc.) so Adam had to climb back up to lend a hand... The view on our way out was awesome and we timed it just right since the sun was starting to set by the time we got back to the car. I'm starting to get the hang of snowshoeing and can finally say I think I found a winter "sport" I actually enjoy!
Of course we stopped for ice cream on the way home... Sarah spotted a Leatherby's which reminded her of home (California) so we couldn't pass it up!
Adam and Hans went skiing on Saturday, so Sarah and I had a girls' day which consisted of going out to breakfast, chatting, napping, letting Ransler hang out in the bathtub, letting Ransler load the dishwasher, napping some more, chatting some more, and soaking in the view of the mountains from our living room. Relaxing vacations are the best vacations. :)
Sunday, we checked out of our rental, explored downtown Salt Lake by walking around the temple, hanging out in a cute teahouse called The Tea Grotto, and strolling through a park nearby. We then parted ways with Hans and Sarah as they had to catch an earlier flight home to Arizona.
Our flight back to Seattle wasn't until later that night, so Adam and I stuffed our faces at Noodles & Co. and then spent an hour or so at a coffee shop before heading to the airport ourselves. It was a wonderful little getaway with some of our favorite people. Thanks for being so awesome, Utah!