Quick Weekend Trip to the Grand Canyon

We took a quick trip to the North Rim over Labor Day weekend. We enjoyed spending the time in the outdoors away from civilization for the most part with beautiful views of the canyon and the river. We camped at Indian Hollow which is about 30 miles from the nearest paved road and secluded right near the canyon rim. It was a beautiful area, but unfortunately it was just low enough to barely be out of the Ponderosa Pines and into the Juniper, but it was still a very nice campground.

Here's a few pics: (Clickable thumbs)

Snowbird Tram

It was such a nice day today that we decided we needed to spend a little time in the great outdoors while the weather is still good. We didn't have much time, but that's OK because here in Salt Lake City we're only a few minutes from great hikes, views, mountains, and ski resorts. We headed up to Snowbird to take the Tram to the top of Hidden Peak and then hike around a little bit. The weather was just right, a little cool with a breeze blowing so a light jacket was just enough. Here's a view from the way up.


And here's a bunch from the top.

  

This one is a view of the Heber Valley.


And in this one you can see Mt. Timpanogos in the background.


And, at the bottom we found a great looking Mercedes Unimog that I had to take pictures of. Gina has gotten used to me taking pictures of every Unimog we see.

The Windy City

Brad and I just returned from our trip to The Windy City-Chicago, IL. We are in love with Chicago and are already planning our next trip back. We spent our first 2 days in the big city enjoying everything from deep dish stuffed pizza and Chicago "dogs," to shopping on The Magnificent Mile, to the Architectural boat tour on the Chicago River. On the second night Brook and Kyle met us in "the Loop" or downtown for dinner and we strolled around Milleniun Park late in the evening. We spent the next two days in Rockford, where Brook and Kyle have just bought a darling home, and helped them with a little much needed painting before they officially move in next weekend. It was fun to spend time with Marley and KJ-they are growing up so fast. Brook and the kids took us back into Chicago the next day and we spent the day hanging out in Chicago's hip neighborhoods such as Wicker Park and Lincoln Park. Then we went back to Michigan Avenue for more shopping and fun on the beach. Highlights were the Hancock Tower (from the 96th floor) and the "beach" of Lake Michigan.

Amazing view of the Chicago
River and Lake Michigan
from our hotel room
on Wacker Drive.


Nighttime in the "loop"


Brad met a new friend outside of the Lego store but he wasn't much of a conversationalist.

Views from the Chicago River:

Dinner at the Grand Lux Cafe on Michigan Avenue

Playing on the beach of Lake Michigan

Telemark Skiing!!

The other day, Gina agreed to give telemark skiing a whirl so we rented her some skis and hit up Alta for an afternoon. I tried teaching her, but luckily she was a better learner than I was a teacher and she got in some good-looking turns! A few more practice days for her and she'll be ripping it up free-heel style :-)

Unfortunately I forgot to take out the camera while we were actually on the runs, but I did manage to get a shot while we were on the lift.

Gina's 24th!!

This last weekend was a three day weekend because of President's Day on Monday and it was also Gina's 24th birthday on Sunday. On Sunday evening, the Fords were nice enough to offer thier cabin for a get-together with a bunch of our friends at Sundance and to let us stay the night. We had a blast playing games, eating good food, and just hanging out. Here's some pics, enjoy. And Happy Birthday GINA!!