Mush!

Tonight is our last in Park City, and I'm kind of sad. This has been a very enjoyable, relaxing, and fun trip for Mom and I. We've had countless cups of hot beverage, and read hundreds of pages in books. Mom's finished two books on this trip---that's HUGE, considering it's been a long time since she's been able to read a book. And I finished one of my book club books, and probably will finish another one on the plane ride back tomorrow. This is fabulous, because it means that I can read what I want to for the next two months!

Anyway, on Saturday morning, Mom and I slept in for a little while, but got moving for the International Pedigree Stage Stop Sled Dog Race at Quinn's Junction. Long name, long race. The race began in Jackson Hole, Wyoming several weeks ago, and the last leg was Saturday in Park City. Before the race began, we got to meet the Mushers and the dogs. I've never heard the likes of howling and barking dogs before. We also got to see an ice-sculpture demonstration. We trekked out to the starting point of the race to wait on it to begin, and found ourselves in snow a foot deep. It was a beautiful sight---like fields of sparkling diamonds, perfect and untouched. While we waited, we built a snowman and ate fresh snow. It's been years since we've had enough snow in Tennessee to provide the necessary building materials for a snowman.

Soon enough, the race began. Before the start of each round, the dogs had to be held back by five or six people. They were chomping at the bit to get started. It was a really exciting experience to watch them race off, and surreal to know that they'd run nine miles before crossing the finish line. Today we found out that the same woman that won the race last year, won again this year.

The weather was gorgeous and sunny, yet still snowy and cold, while we were at the race. After the last pack of dogs crossed the start line, Mom and I left to go eat lunch. We found a place called Souperman, serving a bunch of homemade soups. I had the Thai Noodle, and it was all-natural, freshly made that day, and delicious! I wish we had a place like this in Nash, but I know that it wouldn't do well but a couple months out of the year.

After lunch, we caught the shuttle up to Deer Valley Resort, and read and napped in the lodge while we watched skiers coming down the mountain. Well, at least until cocktail hour started, and we were told we had to order food and drink or leave. So, we left. Mom and I went back down to the historic district and found ourselves at Java Cow for a little while longer.

By this time, dinner rolled around and we found an Irish pub called Flanagan's that looked good. I had fish and chips and it rivaled what I had in London. And the housemade tartar sauce was extraordinary!

Mom and I had spa facial appointments later that evening at Aura Spa for the Spirit. Two hours later, we were pretty exhausted, and ready for bed.

This morning we woke up and ran a couple of errands before driving up to the Tanger Outlet Mall. It was a dry run though, as we didn't really find anything interesting. So, we headed back downtown to the historic district to visit the Kimball Art Center. We got there when the museum opened, but the receptionist set off the security system alarm, so it delayed our entry a bit. While it didn't take us long to go through the exhibits, it was interesting to see what local artists are doing around here.

Lunch was at Main Street Pizza&Noodle, as we'd been craving pizza. The dough tasted fresh, and we stuffed ourselves. After lunch, we hopped the shuttle to the Park City Mountain Resort and took over two plush leather chairs at the base of the chair lift. It's been a trend on this trip to read and drink coffee and watch the skiers, but it's a trend that we've enjoyed. It snowed all day today, and so everything felt right.

Several hours later, we emerged into the cold, snow and wind to check-in for our horse-drawn sleigh ride on the mountain. We bundled up, and the driver told Mom and I to get up front with him. We climbed in, and started laughing as visions of "Rusty!" and "beef-a-roni" from Seinfeld arose. A few minutes later, the horses started up the mountain and onto the trail. It was slightly frightening at times, considering two horses were dragging this cumbersome sleigh on a narrow, uphill trail. We had a sharp turn on the way down the trail, and one of the horses got spooked, and started tearing down too early. It drug our sleigh off the trail and through the brush, snapping a tree like a catapult back at the last row of people on the sleigh. Harrowing, but still funny. A cheap thrill, anyway.

After a photo-op with the horses, Mom and I stopped at Whole Foods to pick up some fruit in lieu of dinner. We were still full from pizza earlier in the day. We rounded out our evening by a dip in the pool and hot tub---while it was snowing, no less.

Our flight leaves tomorrow, and while I'm ready to get home, I'm going to miss the time spent with Mom. We wondered tonight where we should go next. Any ideas?