Tour de Mushroom

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August 5, 2017

Weather: 92 and sunny

Hours Driving: 30 minutes

States Drive Thru: Utah

Miles: 19 miles

Restaurants: Aristo Greek Cuisine, Harmons Grocery Store

Movies:

Games:

Books:

Hotel: Fairfield Inn Salt Lake City South Marriott





What a GREAT day! It''s going to sound like we ran around crazy all day but it was such a calm, smooth, fun day. After breakfast we headed out to do another hike up another big hill/mountain in Salt Lake City called Ensign Park. It seemed similar to the one we did the day before which caused the kids to look at us like, "Are you joking? Again?" We said trust us and they did. This one was longer and harder than the last (Camel's Back). The views got better and better as we climbed. It took us about 45 minutes to climb Ensign Peak. The view was spectacular of the city, the mountains and off in the distance the Great Salt Lake. The kids are really getting into this hiking and are quite proud of themselves when we are done.



We drove to the University of Utah campus to have a look around because our neighbors, the Radacky's kids go there. I should say, Max has been there for 2 years and now Caroline is going there this Fall. We are very close with Caroline and I wanted to see where she is going to school. It is a really nice campus surrounded by mountains. It is beautiful. It is a very doable campus and surrounding area. We also saw the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics flame at the football stadium. We searched around for lunch somewhere. We were trying to find a place that wasn't burger and fries and somewhere that wasn't $100 for a meal. We went downtown in search and found a great grocery store called harmon's that had lots of pre-made foods.



We grabbed some lunch and headed for a park. We couldn't find it on foot and ended up on a bench watched the Tour de Utah bike race which happened to be going on while we were there.

Paul without thinking tossed a chunk of mushroom into the street. I scolded him. Then it became comical and stressful because the racers were coming down the street in packs of 40 or more right toward the mushroom. It could have turned into an episode of Seinfeld. We waited for a biker to hit the mushroom and wipe out. Probably not possible but added to our suspense of the riders going by. See the video. No one ever hit the mushroom.



The guy at the grocery store recommended we go to Snowbird mountain ski resort because it is so beautiful and only 30 minutes away. Gorgeous! The drive up was beautiful and inside the resort was breathtaking. The weather is so beautiful that it is hard to believe people ski here. We took the Peruvian Ski lift up the mountain which was an open chairlift that is pretty frightening. It is so high. When we got to the top, we had to hike up to the tram down. We had flip flops on and shorts and tshirts. The temperature was 20 degrees cooler at the top and the hike up to the tram (which they said was an easy hike) was harder than Ensign Peak. WTHike. It was an amazing switchback hike through wild flowers and amazing vistas. So glad we did it but it was a challenge especially in flip flops. The most shocking thing to us Michigan skiers is that people actually ski down the hiking paths were on. Crazy. I would be scared I'd go off the cliff. See pictures. The tram ride down wasn't as exciting as the chairlift up though it was warmer. What a fun day.



We went back to the hotel so the kids could have a swim before dinner. When we were looking for restaurants for lunch, we came upon this Greek restaurant on campus called Aristos. It was closed for lunch so we decided to go there for dinner. Our neighbor Caroline said she ate there and liked it. It looked great. On the way, we were lucky enough (or not) to come across the Salt Lake City Zombie march. Weird.

Aristo is a stylish restaurant with an outdoor patio and a nicer indoor space. We ate outside. The weather was perfect. We decided to order for the kids since it was a Mediterranean style restaurant. We filled the table with saganaki, hummace, lamb tacos, chicken kabobs, Greek mussels, a flight of gyros and ended with baklava and rice pudding. Everything was delicious. We also had a Greek wine with a story. The wine has a hint of pine. The waiter really enjoys the wine and wanted to give us a history story about it. He said that when the Greeks were fighting in a war and lost, they would have to give up their food and wine to the enemy but they did not want them to enjoy the wine so they took pine needles and put them in the wine to ruin the flavor. It later became a wine tradition. They said the wine is an acquired taste but I did not find it offensive. It was nice. You can taste the hint of pine. The whole meal experience was great. The whole day was perfect. And a little unexpected. I love Utah. Neat place.



Tomorrow, we head out to Park City Utah for a couple of days. Can't wait. i love the mountains

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Comments

[Gramps]

Great photo!
Love this of Biddy with all the wild flowers.