Monday, September 3, 2007

Day 6 and 7: God, Nature, Alpine Coasters, and Joy's Birthday!

(Just a reminder that you can click on any photo to see a larger version)

Sunday we went to church in the morning. In the evening, we all (Ryan, Teresa, Haylee, Jayson, Heidi, Mae, Joy, Debra and I) went up to Livingstones mountain home to relax and celebrate Joy's 25th Birthday (Sept. 3rd). Katy did not get to go because she had to work and we really missed her.

I marinated rib steaks and chicken and then grilled them up for dinner. Heidi and Jayson made some awesome salads and other trimmings for the dinner and we had a birthday feast to remember.

Before dinner, we lounged around on the ball court next to the cabin and watched grandma Deb and Haylee play on the trampoline. Deb and I thought about sleeping out on the trampoline until a thunder storm rolled through and dropped some much needed showers on the mountain. It smelled so good when the rain hit the Quaken Asp leaves. Deb loved the sound of the wind in the trees. It was a very peaceful place to be.

After dinner, we played "Crown 5", a new card game that Deb's brother taught us a couple of weeks ago when they were in Portland. Debra did not do so good then, but she kicked our trash last night... and Heidi set a new worlds record for high score, I think... low score wins!

After the game, we all went to bed and had a great night sleep... it was so cool, which was a great relief from the hot weather we have been experiencing.

Today, we woke to a beautiful morning and the smell of omelets that Heidi made for everyone. We cleaned the mountain home and headed for Park City, Utah home of the 2002 Olympic ski events.

The highlight of the day was when we rode the Alpine Coaster. Joy was going to ride the Zip Line but everyone said the coaster was better.

The coaster goes clear to the top of the mountain and then you travel at break neck speed over one mile of track until you reach the bottom. You have a brake if you need to use it, but I was the only one, in the end, that had to do so (just a little bit in one corner) because my camera was slamming back and forth in the curves and I thought it was going to get broken. I had every intention of taking pictures on the way down, but there was no way! It was way to fast and way to winding to even think about it.

After the coaster, we ate lunch and hit the outlet mall. Joy and the girls went shopping for stuff and Jayson and I went to the Bose store and drooled.

After Park City, we came back to Springville and ate pizza and watched "Astronaut Farmer". It was a very fun day and a great birthday for Joy.

Tomorrow we are thinking of packing up and continuing on our adventure... next stop Rexburg, Idaho and points between.