Top of the Mountain lunch

As you can see we are roughing it in the mountains with tuna tartar and gazpacho. We met friends for lunch at a vey nice restaurant. We then took the chairlift again up to almost 10000 feet. Coming down is the most spectacular scenery only John tried to scare me by lifting the safety bar up---see video.

We have not moved to Utah

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ww6B7o3Hp4E

Apparently I left out a big part of the explanation of our trip to Utah. I have heard from some of my friends and relatives that they think we have perhaps moved to Utah permanently. This is only a month long vacation in an attempt to get out of the heat of Phoenix. As much as we have moved around lately, I can see why some people might think we had moved.

We were considering going for a bobsled ride. I guess you don't need snow since this is listed under summer activities. It goes up to 70 miles per hour and we can experience 4G's of force and equivalent to a 40 story drop in less than a minute on a wheeled bobsled public passenger ride. An experienced driver takes three passengers on a thrilling ride down the entire length of the Olympic bobsled track. It only cost $60 per person. Do you think we should do it? Maybe John and I could videotape it. Only kidding not in a million years would I have do it... John might-he's brave, but I don't know if he wants to shell out the 60 bucks.

Our condo

Today is Sunday, August 9, 2009. Most of the condos here are not air conditioned but this one is so we were lucky because you do have some days that are up in the 80's like last Sunday when we went to the art festival. However today is cold again...43 at present and a high of 66 is expected. It will be warmer in Salt Lake City tomorrow where John is playing golf with his friends. I will continue to find good restaurants and eateries with great value. Last Thursday we splurged for a $40 lunch at Cafe Terigo down on Main Street because we wanted a nice patio lunch downtown. On Friday when John played golf I discovered Soupman just like in Seinfeld. I got a good size portion of lobster bisque with big chunks of lobster and a whole grain roll for $4.50. I then followed that an hour later with 2 sushi hand rolls at my favorite Whole Foods Market for $6.25 another bargain considering the large amount of tuna and salmon that it contained. The best part of the day was seeing the new movie Julie and Julia. It inspires you to cook, write blogs and wear pearls all of which I am doing. We will go for a walk soon and search for a good breakfast place. I would make us waffles (they have a nice Belgium waffle maker) but they require me to beat the egg whites by hand with a whisk since there is no hand mixer. Maybe another day. I forgot to mention that yesterday we went to a huge outlet mall near here. It is the biggest I have ever seen. There are hundreds of stores and the people there shopping for back to school clothes looked like the street of New York City....that crowded.

Whole Foods discovery

August 5, 2009, Wednesday is our Costco day. This involved driving 32 miles to Murray- again a very easy drive. It was a huge Costco and we mainly got dog food. The liqueur laws here don't allow them to sell wine only beer. All spirits must be sold at what they call the state liqueur store. I did get a nice pink amplifier for my iphone. We had sushi at a very good Japanese restaurant near Deer Lake. I originally thought Park City was a one horse town i.e. just a quaint Main Street with shops and restaurants but it is much more than that. We discovered the Walmart nearby not to mention all the other big box stores. The greatest find, however was the Whole Foods Market so close. We enjoyed a wonderful trout for dinner purchased at the great seafood counter in Whole Foods. I think I will be a regular here.

We then visited a great Farmers Market that they have every Wednesday. I then proceeded with dinner and John went to the driving range to practise. Another all around great day. I'm so glad the dog behaves so well and we can leave her alone.

Family History Library Salt Lake City

On Monday Aug 3, 2009 we went to Salt Lake City. It is a mere 32 miles and not much traffic. We dropped Chloe off to get groomed and then we visited the very impressive Family History Library. Everyone was so nice. It is a huge compound. The women are called sisters and are everywhere to help us with any questions. They immediately escort new people to watch a video about genealogy and then they assign you your own assistant to help you get started on the computers. We then took tours of other buildings . I'm sure we'll be back to hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. The conference center holds 21,000 people and they recently had the Osmond family. The organ is really impressive. We had a great lunch and by that time it was time to pick up the dog from grooming. I forgot my good camera but my Iphone did pretty good.

Waterfall picnic

On Tuesday August 4, 2009 we drove higher up in the mountains to Mirror Lake and Bald Eagle mountain. It was downright cold at 10,000 feet about 65 degrees i.e. you need a jacket. I know the waterfall video is kind of lame but I was testing out posting videos on this blog.

The Kimball Square Art Festival

On Saturday, August 2, we went to Art Festival. Park City has a lot of festivals . I didn't buy any art but I bought a knife that looks like art and it cuts bread and vegetables very well also. It is called an Appalachian bow saw and is very unique. We are thoroughly enjoying this town. It even has free bus service. We had lunch at Zona Rosa and discovered that they have many 2 for 1 dinners during the summer since it is not high season in this ski town also known for the Sundance Festival. It is also the home of the 2002 Olympics and training is going on here now. John will be enjoying the many golf courses. You can find out more about Park City at parkcityinfo.com