Alvin & Laura: Mountains Fix (Our Trip to Utah)

August 2, 2012

We just returned from a 12-day trip to Utah! Our goals?

1. Spend time with family

2. Reconnect with old friends

3. Hike in the mountains

We wore ourselves out, but Mission Accomplished! Parts of the trip were very nice, and parts of it were about as miserable as I had feared (see below). Miles and Clay were good sports for having their normal routine thrown to the wind. They caught cat naps between activities in the rental car, and Miles loved sharing an air mattress with Alvin!

Some things I enjoyed:

Hiking to Timpanogos caves. Miles hiked 1 ½ miles up the steep trail all by himself! He plead a few rides on Alvin’s shoulders on the way down. I carried Clay in the mei tai, and boy, were my legs tired after that. The same day we went to Seven Peaks water park, and it was hard to muster energy to climb the stairs to the water slides.

Cooler temperatures and no humidity. I had forgotten how stifling humidity can be until I experienced its absence. We spent several days at high elevation (at the cabin in Fairview and hikes in the Wasatch mountains), so we got to enjoy daytime temperatures in the 70s (opposed to 100s in Oklahoma). Nighttime at the cabin even got to the 40s! What a relief. Although Clay wasn’t used to that. We bundled him up at night, but I think feeling the cold air on his face woke him. He screamed both nights we slept in the tent. L

Celebrating Pioneer Day on the 24^th of July. We spent the day in Fairview, which was a first for me. It was lovely! All the festivities, and none of the crowds or traffic. They even threw candy and otter pops at their parade. There was a really good feeling in the town, and they hosted free games with prizes for the kids.

Shopping at The Corner Station in Fairview. My favorite toy store. Miles loved it, too, because he got to play with the demo toys, and I bought him a firefighter costume. I also bought birthday presents for my mom (a scarf and necklace), Amber (a word-building game), and Jeni (a tin top and toy zeppelin, to match her vintage theme), and a game for our family (Pass the Pigs).

Biking with my old actuary boss. He’s a road biker, and he recently purchased a tandem bike. So he took me for a ride near the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon. Two-horsepower is great for hills (we being the horses).

Some things I didn’t enjoy (are there things you hate about travelling?):

Extreme fatigue

No quiet, private, dark place for midday naps

Interrupted naps ("Mom, is it time to get up yet?")

Sleeping on inflatable mattresses

Clay screaming at night

Did I mention being tired?

Miles wore earplugs to the Demolition Derby.

Grandma and Grandpa hiking near the cabin, Fairview Canyon.

Anderson Family cabin, just in case you forgot what it looks like.

A visit to Kennecott Mines. (I stayed home to catch up on sleep.)

Favorite past-time of the next generation.

Taking Birtchers' scooter for a spin.

Hiking to Cecret Lake at Alta.

Ahh, altitude.

More altitude!

Clay getting ready to crawl. He officially started crawling at 7 months (two months behind Miles). But he started cruising the furniture, too, so we'll see if he walks sooner.