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Published: March 1st 2010
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Hello form Utah! I have had a great week out here in Salt lake City, lots of snow, lots of sightseeing and plenty of good food! After leaving San Francisco I unfortunatly took a turn for the worse...a horrible cold got the better of me which made the 16 hour bus journey out here rather interesting. Luckily Dan was on hand to look after me so a big thank you must go to him. It was a shame because we passed through some beautiful scenery but all I could really do was concentrate on trying not to be...welll....you can guess the rest. We left San Francisco and stopped off at Oakland, Sacremento, Trukee, Reno and Wendover. There was so much snow around and the views were awesome. I saw a tingy little ski resort as well which looked like fun (only a week until I hit the slopes!) We arrived into Salt Lake at 6am and by that time the worst of the illness had gone (probably peaking at 2am or something rediculous like that). We met Marcie who we were staying with and she took us back to the house where it took me only a few minutes to get into bed and sleep off whatever bug was trying to take over my body. We have been looked after very well this week so a big thank you must go to Marcie, Todd, Whitney, Tyler, Duckey and Zoe for being such great hosts. We spent our first day recovering from the journey out here. I was still in no fit state to move let alone do anything so we watched a few movies and ate a lot of donnuts. I did however make it out in the evening to take a look at the shopping mall and pick up some much need medicine! On Wednesday we were treated to lunch by Marcie's mum Linda who took us to the Village Inn where we had a huge meal and a free slice of pie at the end (the joy of going there on "Pie Rush Wednesday"). Linda then took us out to the Great Salt Lake and I now know why it is called "great" - it is massive! It was a bit hazy as well so we couldn't even see to the otherside. I saw all the salt flats around the edge and we stopped off at the inlet by the harbour and we saw the big hall where lots of concerts are held. In the evnening we took a trip down to the Temple Square where we looked around the temple, memorial building and the visitors centre. All very interesting and it is a religious way of life that I had never seen before so it was interesting to learn all about it. On Thursday we headed up to the family's cabin up in the mountains. The rumours of snowmobilling came true and there was more snow than we knew what to do with (about 4ft of fresh snow everywhere!) We left the freeway and parked up and then rode the snowmobile sup to the cabin. I started shovelling the snow of the deck whilst the others came up. We then tried our hand at some rather extreme sledding (Tyler got a bit too adventerous and the photo shows the result of that!) and I even had a go on an extra small but fun snowboard. It started snowing as well when we were up there and it really was coming down fast...kind of undoing the work we had done shovelling a little earlier! I had a go at driving the snow mobile and it was aweosme. So much fun and those things can go pretty quick. Dan managed to lose his sunglasses in the snow and no amount of shovelling was going to find them so I guess he'll have to wait until the spring when the snow melts to get them back! I also sledded back down the hill to the car and gave a go at some head first riding as well. I could do the skeleton race in the olympics anyday! On Friday we took a trip to the State Capitol building and had a look around. Completed in 1916 this huge granite and marble building is home to the state's Governor, house of representives and legislators. The very first Capitol building is now the visitors centre and the current building is literally 10 times the size. By the weekend I was feeling a lot better and very happy about that...did not like being ill at all! On Saturday we all headed up to Park City to look around the outlet stores. Dan was in his element (as always with shopping) but I held back because money is tight as ever but I did pick up a cool t-shirt for a bargain $5! After checking out all the stores we took a ride up to the Olympic Park. This was super cool. Having watched all of the Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Olympic Games from Utah it was brilliant to have a wonder round the site where it all took place. The ski and Olympic museum was impressive. I sat in a bodsleigh, a luge and held a curling stone and I also held the actual olympic torch used in the 2002 games (photos are on facebook). We saw all of the medals used in the games and the gear used by some of the top US competitors in alpine skiing. I caught a glimpse of the Bobsleigh, Skeleton and Luge track as well as the 90m and 120m ski jumping hills. You could also see the freestyle skiing hill and the training hill used in the summer where they land in a swimming pool (all iced over now though). Every night this week we have been watching the games form Vancover so it was good timing to head up to the park during the week as there was a good olympic vibe about it all. On the way back we stopped off at the Olive Garden restaurant for dinner and the food there was absolutly amazing. There was unlimited salad and garlic bread and the main meal was so big I nearly struggled to finish it...and that does't normally happen with me! Sunday was a fun day as we chilled out in the morning and watched the Ice Hockey gold medal game (that Canada won) in the afternoon and then headed over to Linda's house for a birthday meal for young Nathan (aged 5). Plenty of ice cream later we headed home via the shops. The plan was for Dan to by Tyler a shirt in exchange for his that (that he had become quite attached to) but we ended up leaving with a shirt each courtesy of Marcie so thank you very much! We all watched the closing ceremony to the Olympics which was good and we then caught up on some much needed sleep. So now it is Monday and I only have 2 days left here before heading over to Seattle back out on the west coast. I have two days there then it is up to Calgary in Canada for some skiing! Dan is heading home next week so we are parting ways on Tuesday. It is going to be wierd travelling on my own but I'm pretty sure i'll get used to it in no time at all. I have a month and a half left and I will probably arrive back in heathrow with zero pence but it will all be worth it! I am staying with friends all across Canada so I will never be on my own but it will still be slightly different I guess. A big big thank you must go to Marcie and the family for looking afetr us so well this week and really making us feel at home. There are probably a lot of things I have forgot to mention but I can safely say it has been a brilliant week...despite being not that well at the beginning! It is just what we needed and I certainly have had a great few days out here. So on Tuesday I will be gearing up for another bus journey...out to Seattle and up to 18 hours long this time...lucky me.
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Tyler R
non-member comment
hey harry!!
hey harry im glad you've had a great time at our house. I know that the family( including ducky and zoe) will for sure miss you and dan staying at our house. Well we are heading out to cafe rio so im cutting this message short. Hope you have a great time in canada. With love, Tyler