After Christmas Road Trip

The day after Christmas (Sunday) after church, Rick and I packed up and went on a road trip.

Our destination was Glenwood Springs, Colorado.

We hadn't received much snow in Grantsville and wanted to get up into the mountains for a "winter" experience.  Well, for sure we got a WINTER experience!  It snowed just about the whole time and it was dreamy, magical, beautiful, and fun!

It was a long drive taking us nearly seven hours to get there.  (I was thinking it would be between five and six.)  So we were both happy to finally get there at nine o'clock that night.  We stayed at the Courtyard Marriott and it was a nice room for us:)  We were able to unwind and get some rest after our long drive.

We woke up to a winter wonderland, with plows taking care of the parking lot and a man shoveling the walks.  As I watched the whole process of clearing roads and paths I also spied many people brushing the snow off of their cars getting ready for a day full of skiing.

Rick and I knew we wanted to get over to the hot springs so we decided on the Iron Mountain Hot Springs.  On a previous summer trip we had been to the Glenwood Springs Pool but thought we would try something different.  We set our appointment for 11:30 that morning.  Iron Mountain did not disappoint!  It was a very nice place overlooking the Colorado river.  The dressing rooms were updated with heated floors and all!  The hot pools were all fairly small but there were a lot to choose from, 16 in all, with differing temperatures.  That made it nice.  It was super cold outside and it was snowing so it was very nice to be able to soak in the differing pools.  There was also a jacuzzi and a larger pool which we spent some time in, as well. 

WE LOVED THE WHOLE EXPERIENCE!

The waters were fantastic and very relaxing.  It was definitely cold moving from one pool to the other but that made it so much nicer to get back in the hot waters:)

After coming out of the pools and getting bundled back up in our warm gear, we drove the short distance to the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park Gondola for a ride up the mountain.  It offered some beautiful views of the valley and rivers below.

Once we got up top we went right over to the Kings Row Caverns for a forty minute tour.  Our tour guide, Becca was super knowledgeable and funny.  She had us learning and laughing the whole time.

The caverns were very cool to see!

                                Here's a panorama of the main area of the adventure park.
 

SNOW!!

After the Adventure Park we were super hungry so we went to Zheng Asian Bistro.  We had eaten there before and really loved the food so we tried it again.  The host even sat us in the same exact spot we had been in the first time we came!  (We love it when those kinds of things happen:)  The food was great and afterward we went back to the room to enjoy some relaxation and warmth under the covers.  We enjoyed watching a couple of shows on Netflix and eating some of our christmas goodies.

The next morning we had planned on driving up to Aspen because we had never been there, but decided that we liked being in Glenwood Springs and really wanted to go back to the Hot Springs.  This time we made our appointment in the afternoon at 3 PM which left us time to get a morning couples' massage.  It was nice:)  We then went to Rocky Mountain Pizza and had some lunch.  We both got root beer and laughed because the carbonation made us burp a lot.  We don't drink much carbonation so it was funny to have all those big bubbles that carbonation creates!😂  After lunch we did some window shopping.  Rick tried on a lot of different hats at the cowboy store.  This one made us laugh!

The streets of Glenwood....

We enjoyed another couple hours at the hot pools and then had dinner at Chili's.  It was going to be an hour wait so we opted to sit at the bar.  We ordered a queso, chips and salsa appetizer which was super yummy but they did not have their chicken enchilada soup (which is what I went for) so I had the potato cheese soup.  Rick had the quesadilla explosion salad.  It was super yummy as well!

The next morning before leaving Glenwood we stopped at Daily Bread for a nice breakfast.  We both started off with some hot chocolate 'cause it was COLD!  We had a nice breakfast and then left Glenwood with smiles on our faces from the wonderful time we had there!

Next, we drove to Moab.  It was about a three hour drive from Glenwood.  We got there a little before three o'clock and decided before going right into Moab we would drive through Arches since we had time.  After buying a new annual national park pass, we drove to the very end of the road to take a short hike to Tunnel Arch and Pine Tree Arch.  Before we started on our hike we took a 30 minute nap in the truck.  It was super warm and cozy and frankly I did not want to get out in the cold air!  We did though!  

We walked up the trail about ten minutes and there was quite the decline on the path, and it was covered with packed snow and too slippery for me, so I waited while Rick went down the rest of the path to see the arches.  I'm sorry I missed them but I did not want to slip and fall.  That would have been bad.  One lady coming up the trail said, "yes, you made the right decision. I just saw a man fall and hit his head."  Many people had special traction pieces that fit over their shoes.  I did not have them.  They were definitely needed.

      Here are some pictures of the two arches...and Rick.  Arches Park is super cool!

On our way back through the park we drove to the Delicate Arch overlook. 

It is not very visible in this picture but if you look closely you can see it.

It made me want to hike to it.....next time in warmer weather.😀

After a pretty nice breakfast at the hotel, we soaked in the hotel's hot tub...outside in the cold :) for a 1/2 hour then headed down the trail back toward home.  What a nice relaxing few days we had together!  It's been a great way to spend the Christmas Break!

CHRISTMAS 2021

Christmas Eve pictures!

We enjoyed a nice dinner of chicken and dumplings, tamales, enchiladas, chips, guac, and salsa.  The food was delicious and we had nice conversation at the table.  

After dinner we attempted to have a nice program.  The kids had a hard time settling down for the Nativity.  It was very chaotic but we pushed through it.  The kids sang Away in a Manger and Picture a Christmas and sounded great!  Grandpa said a few words about following the prophet, and Skylar and Sarah and their kids sang Silent Night.  Not gonna lie....this year's program was tough to get through.  The kids were all over the place!  They sure looked cute, though!

                                                                   Family Pictures

 

                                                                MERRY CHRISTMAS!

CHRISTMAS DATE

Rick and I had our annual Christmas date recently.  Rick reserved us a suite at the Marriott Hotel downtown.  It was the same one we stayed in last year, overlooking the Gallivan Center ice rink.  It was a nice view from the 11th floor.

After getting checked in we drove over to the Little America Hotel for dinner.  We ate in the Lucky H restaurant that was just remodeled.  It had a very nice buffet and the atmosphere was really beautiful.  While the food looked really beautiful and appetizing, it was a little bland.  Still we enjoyed our dinner in the beautiful setting.

The Little America Hotel is always so decked out for the holidays.

We walked across the street to the Grand America to see the gingerbread houses.  I say houses because that's what I thought we would see....in actuality we saw ONE gingerbread house, but it was a gigantic one.  It was well worth the walk across the street!  Plus The Grand is just such a beautiful hotel to walk through.

As we were leaving we heard some beautiful music coming from the lounge.  There were a few soloists from the Utah Opera performing.  Oh my!  It sounded so lovely.  

The courtyard was all lit up for the holidays, as well.

         While it was super cold  and snowy outside, it didn't detract from the ice skating.

We walked over to the Macy Store candy windows.  This year's did not disappoint. 

Next, we walked to the Eccles Theatre for our annual Kurt Bestor Concert.

We both just loved it!

There is just something about listening to live music.  It was so inspiring and fun!  

We both hated it for it to end.  We could have stayed another hour.

The musicians are all so talented!

The next morning we had a scheduled endowment session at the Bountiful Temple.

While it had been snowing since the day before, the accumulation was minimal and the roads were clear.

Driving up on the Bountiful Bench, though, the flakes got bigger and there was a lot of snow on the streets.  As we were driving up the hill to the temple, out little car could not make the hill.  Rick slowly backed down the hill and let a few other cars pass by.  We took another run at it, and with the other cars paving the way, we made it to the top.

It was a beautiful endowment session.

When we were walking out of the temple we could see that the sun was shining and there was some blue sky.  I just had to get a picture of this beautiful snow covered tree.

Luckily, the plows had come through and with the sun shining, the roads were clear.

My gallant husband stopped to help an older couple who were trying to shovel their walks.  There was at least eight inches of snow!

 After our temple excursion we had a bite to eat at Firehouse subs and then enjoyed doing a little holiday shopping.  We had dinner at the Red Lotus Restaurant.  A funny experience happened as we were leaving. Rick thought he recognized a man as he and his wife were walking into the restaurant.  He walked up to the man and introduced himself and said "I know you from somewhere."  The man stretched out his hand and said, "I'm Russ Nelson" (Pres. Nelson's son).  It caught us both off guard, and we laughed and made some comment about seeing him on TV.  I think Rick was a little embarrassed but it was a fun little interaction.

We stayed another night at the Marriott.  Later that night we watched "It's a Wonderful Life" and gave each other back rubs:)  It was a good night!  We got home that afternoon ready to take care of Brach and Kendra's kids for the night while they had a date.  

We love this Christmas Date tradition!  Can't wait until next year's!!

Starting off the Christmas Season

Just a few days after Thanksgiving on November 27th we enjoyed an adult night out with the kids.  This year, like last, we chose The Five Alls restaurant as our dining experience.  We all enjoyed a wonderful dinner and conversation.  Here are a few pictures of the evening.  D and Kaitlyn were with us, but they left before the pictures.

After dinner we drove to the City Creek Mall to park our vehicles and then walked over to the Eccles Theatre for the entertainment of the night.  We went to see Gentry perform their Christmas Concert.  It was really nice.  They have beautiful voices!

          It was a wonderful night and a nice way to kick off the Christmas Season!