PSA

The people at Starbucks lie.  Pumpkin Spice Hot Chocolate IS DELICIOUS. They said it wasn't.

 

What brought about this PSA?  I recently bought Pumpkin Spice Coffemate.  While on my girl's weekend, we were at the airport Starbucks and KC ordered a "pumpkin steamer" which is just hot milk with the pumpkin flavoring.  It was really good and so when I got home and saw the pumpkin coffeemate at the store so I bought it.  I was telling Sarah about it and she said she asked the people at Starbucks once if they did a pumpkin hot chocolate and they said they tried it once and it wasn't good.  Well, I'm here to tell you it is fabulous.  Maybe not the way Starbucks does it, but mine was soooo good.  Try it out if you like pumpkin and chocolate.  And really, who doesn't.  Add that to the White Chocolate Pumpkin Spice popcorn that Sarah sent for my birthday and I'm in hog (yes, indeed) heaven.

 

Your welcome.

an adventure

This last week I did something I've never done before.  I went on a "Girls Weekend."  I know plenty of other people who have done this, and I've done a "Sisters Weekend," but for me this was a first.

It came about because two of my bike group girls (Sandy and Leslie) were going to BYU parent's weekend and they wanted to combine that trip with getting together with two women who used to live and bike here (Patti and Chris.)  Another of the bike group girls (KC) was going to go as well.  I had been invited to go, but was reluctant because I didn't really know the two Utah women and didn't want to feel out of place.  But they talked me into it, and it was really fun. Let me just say that these women are amazing.  They are strong. They are beautiful inside and out. Some have been through a lot. They have made it easy for me to adjust to our move two years ago by welcoming me into their midst.

We flew out Wednesday morning, and KC drove to the airport.  She flies frequently and parks in the "premier" parking area which gets you right next to the airport and fast passes through the security line.  Sweet!  We stayed at Leslie's family's condo in Midway.  Condo is misleading.  It has six bedrooms.  We met up with Chris and Patti, drove the Alpine loop and enjoyed the beautiful fall colors. 

 

We hiked to a waterfall near Aspen Grove and had dinner at Sundance. 

 

We giggled into the night and watched a chick flick and ate junk food.  Thursday we rented a 6 person ATV and drove up into the area above Midway. I couldn't believe the colors of the aspens.

 

We acted like kids, driving through a stream that crossed the road over and over to get just the right picture.

 

Afterward we cleaned up and drove to SLC to a lacrosse game that KC's son was playing in.  We came back to the condo and played games and ate and laughed some more.

On Friday we had breakfast at the Homestead and the BYU moms headed off.  More talking and laughing.  Later that day we picked up KC's son and friends and met up with Patti and her husband in Park City for dinner.  My crown roast of beef ribs was amazing. 

 KC and I got a hotel room in SLC.  They had very cool bathrobes for us to use.

Saturday I spent time with Becca.  She treated me to breakfast for my birthday and I dragged her to a quilt store and a crafty and home decor place.  It was fun to see her.

This whole outing seemed a very decadent thing to do, but Mark pointed out that it was one of the perks of being an empty nester.  It sure was fun!

Donner Pass ride

In 1960, Interstate 80 through the Tahoe area was begun and about 3 years later was completed.  Prior to that time, the only way to get through the Sierras from Sacramento to Reno was Highway 40.  As a child, Mark made that trip many times on the way to visit relatives in Utah.  The road from Donner Pass to Donner Lake is steep with many switchbacks.  This road existed long before guardrails were invented and Mark remembers seeing rusting wrecks that were once cars that had gone over the side.  So it was a trip down memory lane for Mark to ride up that road once again.  Only this time on our bikes.

We began at Donner Lake.  This picture shows the mountain we are going to climb. The arrow points to a bridge.....

........ about a mile from the top.  The bridge was built in the 1920's.  If you look closely, you'll see Mark riding his bike:

The view from near the top:

We saw a lot of rock climbers up there as well.  This picture has two arrows pointing to rock climbers.

Thanks to my telephoto lens, you can see these crazy people up close!

We stopped at a historical society marker in Soda Springs Station and the man there told us that before US80 was built they would get as many as 7,000 cars through their town a day.

It was a tough three mile climb, and then a fun downhill for about 12 miles.  The only problem is that you have to ride back UP those 12 miles and then go down the three mile switchbacks which can be a bit scary.  But not as scary as what I imagine rock climbing to be.