At long last I'm writing about our Utah trip. I know, I know, it took me for-ev-er. But really it was only a month ago. Since returning, I had the conference and a LOT of work. Plus, I wanted to get my millions of photos cleaned up and posted. But now I'm here and ready to share.

No, I'm not Mormon. This tends to be the first question people ask (or think to themselves, at least) when I say I went to Utah. Yes, we went to Utah and no not I'm not Mormon. We chose Utah because my in-laws invited us and a good friend of theirs had lent them a great condo (Mont Cervin) in Deer Valley. Lucky us - we basically got a free place to stay, and it was killer to boot.

I don't want to bore you with every last detail. Oh, and you know I would. Ask Josh how I detail out every thing in my day when he asks the innocent, simple question: "How was you day?" So I'm going to do my best to cover just the highlights.

Salt Lake City

We weren't in SLC very long--most of our time was in Deer Valley just near Park City. But we flew in/out of SLC. Our first day, we did a little touring of the city. As you probably guessed, the main attraction is the Mormon Temple. Man, it's a huge and impressive temple. It just towered into the sky.

Fourth of July

Our first, full day on the trip was the Fourth of July. We headed down to Park City for a true blue American parade. I hadn't been to a parade since I was a little girl. It was fun to see the USA spirit and celebrate our great country.

In the evening, we went to the Deer Valley Music Festival and saw the Texas Tenors. We had a nice picnic on the lawn and listened to them sing American, country, and other fun songs. At the end, they advertised their Valentine's Day cruise...umm, no. But it was a fun evening.

Heber Raft 'n Rail

This was one of my favorite days. We went on the Heber Raft 'n Rail adventure. We took a classic steam locomotive, the Heber Creeper, down Provo Canyon. Then we hopped into a raft and went down the Provo River. It was Class I rapids, so let's just call it like it is...floating. Our guide, Jessie, let me guide the raft for a few minutes. Check me out rowing (in slow motion) - look at that determination, look at that strength.

Sy's Ranch & Fishing

Sy Kimball is the good, family friend of the Brown's that lent us the most awesome condo for the week. He also has a ranch nearby. Josh and Don enjoyed a father-son morning fishing on the Ranch. We also visited the ranch and meet the horses. Sy's ranch encompassed all the Utah beauty - sky, mountain, lakes, horses...just beautiful.

Culinary Adventures

One evening, Josh and I headed to the Riverhorse on Main in downtown Park City to enjoy a fancy date night meal together. The food was delicious. I had Utah Red Trout and Josh had a Trio of Wild Game (buffalo, elk, and venison). It was deeelicious.

We also enjoyed a breakfast at one of Park City's coffee shops, Publik. We enjoyed their coffee, of course, but also some speciality toast. Did you know toast is a thing these days?

And we got several shakes - delicious ice cream shakes that were perfect for the hot Utah days. My favorite was the Banana Cream Pie shake from Hi-Mountain in Kamas. But the Oreo shake from Granny's was pretty dang good, too.

Kamas & Oakley

One afternoon we just drove around the countryside. We ventured out to visit Kamas and Oakley. They are the quintessential small towns with diners and random shops. We just enjoyed the drive around and soaked in the beauty of the area. And just so you're clear, no Oakley isn't the hometown of the Oakley sunglasses. It is the home of the Oakley Rodeo, though.

Sundance & Provo

You know the Sundance Film Festival, right? Well, Sundance is in Utah. We had a lovely lunch on the patio there and then took the ski lift up to the top. We got some great views of the area and had fun on the lift.

We also explored Provo, home of Brigham Young University. I'm pretty sure it was like 10 degrees hotter in Provo. Luckily, we went to Swig for their quirky sodas and famous sugar cookies (if you're on Pinterest, you know what I'm talking about).

Utah Olympic Park

You may remember that the 2002 Winter Olympics took place in SLC/Park City. Well, there is now the Utah Olympic Park which is a training center for budding Olympians, but also had fun activities for regular folks like us. Josh and I opted to go on the Alpine Slide. We also enjoyed watching the ski jumpers practice. Yes, ski jumping in the summer - you jump into a pool instead. Watch this awesome video I took of someone jumping - pretty dang amazing. Next time, I'll grab a ride on the bobsled.

Relaxing & Beauty

Utah is a very pretty state. The flowers, mountains, and water are so serene. As you can tell, we did a lot and had a lot of fun. However, we did get opportunities to just relax, read, work on puzzles.

See All The Photos

People. Photos take forever to touch up and post. It took me all month to get it done. Appreciate! All the beautiful photos are on my Summer 2014 album - scroll down past NYC photos and you'll find them.

Yay Summer vacation! I wish I were back in Utah right now.