SLC

friday night we're busy packing for our trip. hue's doing laundry.

saturday max swings by to take us to the airport. he's so helpful in getting us to lax on time. our flight is good with the exception of a chatty passenger who makes the trip feel longer than it actually was. milagra sleeps for half the trip, then plays quietly.

we're the last one to arrive, with long, myk, megan, bill, carl and derek already at the airport. they have picked up our two ford expeditions. on our way to the condo, we stop by a place called zupa's for some soup and salad. ironically it's across the street from where susan, megan and yasuko stayed back in 2006. turns out to be one of our favorite meals all trip.

we catch up on our way to the condo and quickly learn that a) megan is expecting and b) they are returning to pennsylvania. exciting changes to come! we arrive on the icy steps of the condo, and discover that our place is big enough for each room to have its own bathroom. we are graciously given the largest bedroom because the walk-in closet serves as a nursery for milagra. she goes in her peapod and we shut the closet door - good night sugar plum. having her own sleeping quarters is a perk, because we never sleep well when we have to share a room with our daughter.

one of the nicest places we've had on these trips, and with the requisite outdoor hot tub. we only lament that the living room is separated from the kitchen/dining room. but it keeps most of our week's focal point away from the television.

that first night we hit the super target and acquire $460 worth of groceries. bill picks up our liquor and we booze it up a bit after reorganizing some of the furniture. the tequila goes quickly and milagra sleeps hard.

sunday we stop by the lift house to buy some cheap tickets and then we're off to solitude. that night we have bill's marinated steak and a myk's salad.

monday morning, keith, myk's former college roommate, arrives from jackson, wy. bill and carl have an early start at the canyons. there's a bit of a snafu with our lift tickets and we have to wait for mary to arrive with the passes. while we're waiting, we have breakfast at the original pancake house. once we're all together, the ladies hit downtown park city for shopping and the boys ride the canyons. we dine at chimayo, contemporary southwestern cuisine. nice ambience and our large group in the window appears to help business. crusted trout fajitas, pumpkin soup, pomagranite margarita, best avocado salad.


tuesday at around 3am, randy and vance arrive from vegas and unfortunately our plan to leave keys for the house goes awry and the traveling murses (male nurses) are locked out and forced to find other accomodations. they end up at a motel 6 with a single bed for a short 4 hour nap.

we've got a full house and the gang is all together for breakfast. today we're at brighton which we all love. that night we have some of bill's marinated chicken and of course more of the lunazul tequila. carl's last day. already? balderdash before bed.

wednesday we're at pcmr. their trail system is perhaps the most complicated. susan's taking the day easy with randy. they ride the roller coaster and enjoy a beer. milagra's filming a commercial at her daycare. we're all hungry and the debate over where to eat arises. our choices are brazilian bbq or sushi. we settle on sushi, sold by the all-you-can-eat offer. the rolls are good and fried. we have such a large party and the service is so slow that our rolls come out in waves, with the first of our group finishing before the last of our group receives their initial order. we're so excited that we order more as soon the rolls arrive. our eyes are bigger than our stomachs and we're barely able to choke down our second round of three rolls. for a landlocked sushi venue the food is excellent and the staff are kind - they let us take boxes of our food home.

thursday morning the murses depart and chad joins us. most of the gang is skiing/boarding the back bowls of snowbird (about 3 years ago, they built a tunnel that shortcuts you to the wide open side of the mountain.) megan and susan have their day at the cliff spa. susan loves the massage experience, the scalp treatment feels great, but the facial didn't meet her expectations. the girls stay in robes all day, relaxing and enjoying the services. chad has a rough day. it's bill's last day and the house is eerily quiet upon his departure. we have bill's pork chops to remember him by.

friday we drive to park city to drop off milagra at day care and return to the canyons. susan takes it easy and keeps chad company in the afternoon. she is thrilled to finally experience having to wait for someone slower than her! that night long heads back for sushi ya. this time it's on his own terms. we later find out he has 54 pieces in one sitting, basketball game in full view. meanwhile, there is dinner drama with the rest of the group. hue tries to stay home while milagra sleeps, and the others head for mexican. to derek's dismaly, the group decides to come back and pick hue up. we all end up at cafe rio, a place not unlike chipotle. it's busy and milagra's already asleep, so we bring in the entire car seat. she sleeps all the way through the evening. good kid.

as usual, hue is doing laundry last minute to pack a clean suitcase back home.

saturday morning, long chauffeurs mary to the airport, returns and does the same for us. milagra falls asleep almost immediately as the plane is preparing to take off and stays asleep all the way through our 2 hour flight. she's not perfect, but did we say we have a good baby?

what a great trip. we love all you guys.