Hitting the Slopes

There are only two cities I can say I love year round. One is Paris, though I've only been there in the summer, I'd go anytime (yes, Randy, that IS a challenge!!) The other is a place I can actually speak to with some experience, and every time I drive to Utah I just want to stop - Park City.

In the winter the snow is breathtaking and the mountain all dressed up in her coat of white velvet beckons you to her. In the summer, she sheds the coat for her naked beauty, and accessorized with just a hint of wild flower and greenery, her slopes are still irresistable.

We visit her like a great aunt every trip - we only stop for a short time, we don't actually know that much about her and what she has to offer, but we settle in and enjoy the familiar. And like a child who is offered a piece of candy from the hard candy dish, we usually just choose a safe butterscotch or strawberry with the chewy inside - we do the alpine slide in the summer and tubing in the winter (apparently I am always wearing sunglasses and a hat), but once in a while we venture out and try the red one with the swirls that look like a ribbon.

Last summer we were treated to a girls night out with Auntie Heather, and the outdoor hot tubs were a hit!! This summer, along with the slide and coaster, we visited Olympic Park to watch a ski jump show. The boys loved sitting in the bobsled in the museum and I couldn't get enough of sitting outside soaking up the sun and breathing and smelling the arid mountain air.

And, like when I was a child and would go with Grandma to see Aunt Loene, I loved her little old brick bungalow with the giant bathtub and tree-lined street and pictured myself living there, I could say the same for Park City. But chances of it happening are about the same as they would have been for moving in with Aunt Loene.