So, when I left off blogging consistently, I was off to Utah and Idaho for a delightful little trip. What a blast it was!
Here are a few shots of some of my fav Utah spots:
The Provo Temple
Rock Canyon Peak
Mount Timpanogos
The first leg of my trip put me in Provo, where I was blessed to stay at the Witt condo. And, lucky for me, Pam was in town! Pam is amazing. She's been like a second mom to me ever since her daughter, my close friend Sarah, passed away a year and a half ago. I love that whole family!!! They're just plain wonderful. Anyways, Pam was in town from Albuquerque, and I hadn't seen her since October, so it was a blast hanging around with the Witt fam for a few days.
And, of course, I got to spend some quality time with my own family. My wonderful grandma, Doris, had been in Provo, nursing her brother and sister in law. I saw her briefly in Provo and then reunited a few days later at her cabin in Island Park, Idaho.
I just have to gush for a moment here - my grandmother is such a truly incredible woman. She's set such a wonderful example for me and my family, setting a lot of firsts: first to graduate from college (she got a BS in nursing from the U of U in the early 1950s, when college wasn't exactly a must, and followed it with a successful nursing career), first woman in the fam to serve a mission (as far as I know, that is - she served in the Georgia Macon mission in the early 1990s, shortly after my grandpa's passing). She's a skilled golfer (who, I'm proud to say, once scored a hole in one at Aliso Creek!), a talented seamstress and quilter (who made ALL of my childhood dresses before switching to quilting - and she won the Fremont County Fair blue ribbon at that, to boot), a gifted cook and chocolatier... and one of the most giving, service-oriented women I've ever seen. She takes such good care of her siblings and her mother-in-law when their health requires, and she's always so willing to help with just about anything when there's a need. She's not your typical teddy-bear type of grandma - she's definitely more of the tough love variety - but her love is always there. I love her soooo much!!!
Anyhoo... so, Idaho. My timing worked out so perfectly - my good friend Stacy, from my college days, happened to be in Provo the same weekend, so instead of heading straight to her home in Idaho Falls, Stacers came with me (and provided the transportation) to my grandma's cabin, which is about 20 miles from Yellowstone National Park, for a few days.
Grandma's cabin is, hands down, my FAVORITE place in the world. It's more of a home and a refuge to me than anywhere else in the world. Every inch of that place is saturated with memories - and that's not an exaggeration! - from childhood rounds of "Life" or "ToeJam and Earl" with my cousins and brother in the loft, to a giddy phone call to my best friend after my first kiss, to a phone call a few years later with the first-kiss-giving fella as he told me about
his first kiss with his now-wife.
Memories of childhood ice cream cones on the patio, of swimming in the mucky lake and peeling off the leeches (yeah, nasty, I know!), of lying on the cool grass and stargazing on a clear summer night while chatting on the phone with my then-squeeze. Walking into the cabin, inhaling its certain aroma - man, I felt like I was home, like I never wanted to leave!
But, alas, three days were all I had - and a snowy three days at that! That's right - snow. In June. Lame, huh?
Here's a shot of Stacy, working on our wonderful breakfast-for-dinner from our first night there:
Our first full day, Stace and I had a lazy morning and then headed into Yellowstone for about four hours, savoring the scenery despite the somewhat bleak weather. I had a field day playing around with my dad's camera, which he graciously loaned me for the trip (I had ordered the same one, but it didn't arrive 'til after I got home). Here's a smattering of my favorite shots:
Grandma arrived that night, and then Day Two of the trip, Stacy and I woke up to snow and rain! So much for the full Yellowstone day we'd planned. Instead we spent the majority of the day curled up in the basement, fire burning in the fireplace, while I devoured the
Twilight series and she worked on homework (she's getting a master's from Idaho State). May I just say, those
Twilight books are insanely addictive!!! I read the first three all the way through, plus all of
Twilight and half of
New Moon again during my 10-day trip. Granted, there was plenty of travel time for reading, but still - I couldn't put them down! I got Stace started in
Twilight too.
Look at how choppy Henry's Lake got in the storm!
That night we braved the snow to grab dinner in West Yellowstone and see "Oklahoma!" at the Playmill Theatre, a darling little summerstock theater with a cast composed of mostly BYU and BYU-Idaho kids.
(And yes, I did chuck that at Stacy after she took the picture!)
The play was fabulous, as it always is. The Playmill is, again, one of my FAVORITE things in the WORLD!!! I mean, I've always been an arts-loving girl, but I think going to the Playmill as a child was my first exposure to live theater, and the Playmill Players were my heroes when I was little!
I still remember seeing "Brigadoon" there when I was 6 or so - the couple starring in the show, Roger and Heidi Merrill, eventually married (if they weren't already by then) and stayed involved in the Playmill through the years - now they run the theater and their college-aged daughter is in the shows! (And that means I'm old... but whatever). Now I'm older than the majority of the Playmill Players, but I still feel a glimmer of that hero-worship for them. (And yes, I did audition for the Playmill in college, which was a lifelong dream of mine. Sadly, I choked on my second song despite a brilliant intro number - but that was the summer I interned in Seattle, and I'm glad I didn't miss out on that life experience, so it all worked out...)
But I digress... Stacy went home early Wednesday morning, and I got to spend a day with my grandma, just the two of us, which was delightful. I stayed in my PJs until late afternoon as we played round after round of Scrabble. I finally showered and dressed just in time to go to dinner at Dolly and Andy's, my grandma's neighbors a few doors down, for dinner. I've known of Dolly forever, it seems, but this was the first time I remember spending much time with them. Joining us for dinner was Dirk, another longtime Island Park resident. Yep - me with four septugenarians/octogenarians. It was such a blast!!! Admittedly, I was worried I'd feel out of place, but I wasn't at all. I just listened to story after story, which was just plain awesome. I love spending time with people older than 30!!! It's great to be enriched by their wealth of life experience.
The next morning was my last in Idaho. Grandma was kind enough to drive me to the airport shuttle in Idaho Falls, which is about a two-hour drive from the cabin. I enjoyed the scenery the entire way - I'm such a city girl, so the rural beauty of the Idaho countryside is just amazing to me!
Grandma and I did a session in the Rexburg temple (which is lovely!)...
... and grabbed lunch, and then I was on a shuttle back to Salt Lake, where I rented a car and returned to the Witt condo in Provo. My second weekend there, I had it to myself and enjoyed the R&R. I actually spent a LOT of time during that second leg of the trip at Bill and Necia's place in Orem (Sarah's brother and sister-in-law who is pretty much the big sister I never had!).
Finally, the whole reason for the trip came on Friday night: a retirement dinner for Dr. Frank Fox and Dr. Clayne Pope, the founders of American Heritage, the oft-maligned BYU general ed course for which I TA'ed for three years. Dr. Fox is my academic idol!!! Not only did he found the class that was such an integral part of my college experience, but he also founded the American Studies Department and taught two of my all-time favorite classes (San Francisco and the American Imagination, and Pop Culture).
Organized by the current American Heritage course coordinator, the dinner in the brand-new Hinckley Alumni Building was for all American Heritage TAs and professors.
While wandering through the alumni building, I found a bunch of old BYU yearbooks - including one with my Aunt Janet's pic! Can you spot which one is her?
(Top row, in the middle - see a family resemblance?)
The dinner was soooo worth the trip!!! I'd worried that I wouldn't know anyone, but instead I gladly reunited with Jordan and Kiersten, a couple of fellow TAs from my AHtg days. We sat together, plus Kiersten's hubby (who she met when *gasp!* he was one of her students!) and a really nice husband, wife and daughter from Louisiana - he had been a TA during the course's first year ever. We had such fun conversation - I especially enjoyed catching up with Jordan after the dinner. I wish I'd gotten to know her better during college!
Here we are - Jordan's in the red, Kiersten's in the pink. Huh, we're kind of color coordinated, now that I think about it...
The official presentation was just powerful. I don't think there was a dry eye in the house as we watched some classic clips from Drs. Fox and Pope's lectures.
That class has had a profound effect on my life, from the subject matter influencing how I see the world to the TAs I met there becoming some of my dearest friends in college and beyond. It made me so proud to be among the elite group who call themselves American Heritage TAs! People may grumble and groan about American Heritage, but I can attest to the fact that it is truly divinely inspired.
My final full day in Utah was devoted to my La Crescenta girls - Rebecca, Tabitha and Haas, my BFFs since high school. Haas's birthday had been that week, so I thought it would be fun to surprise her - Rebecca and Tabitha helped me in the ruse by arranging for a girls' day out with Haas's hubby, Mike. The surprise totally worked!!! I hid behind as we got to the door and totally got the shocked reaction I was hoping for. :)
Haas has an annual pass to This is the Place Heritage Park, just up the hill from her Salt Lake apartment, so we headed up there first and enjoyed looking at the historical buildings from the pioneer days. Here are some of my favorite shots:
By the time we were done there, we were all starving - especially a very-pregnant Tabitha! - so we piled into Rebecca's Prius and winded our way up Emigration Canyon to Park City for lunch at El Chubasco, my fav Mexican restaurant up there. It was fun, going back there with them - we'd gone there on a group date 5 1/2 years earlier during the Sundance Film Festival (it was Tabitha's second date with her now-husband).
After lunch we hit the Park City outlets, where they shopped for kid clothes while I beefed up my professional wardrobe (which was a must, since I got rid of my PR clothes during Round 2 of the Register and therefore had nothing to wear to the job I'd start the next week!). Man oh man, do I ever looooove the Park City outlets! Unfortunately, we had to head home before I could really sink my teeth into the Ann Taylor outlet (although I'm sure it was better for my wallet, in the long run).
All in all, it was a delightful trip. Somehow I keep traveling back to Provo - I've been at least a half-dozen times since leaving - but when you've got such good friends and family there, who could stay away?
