Diamonds & Snowflakes

 

Woke groggy sometime near 615am. Despite a cloudy forecast it was mostly clear. Enjoyed coffee, internet and half of a banana ahead of a stretch and run. I woke Mindy asking how long and what temp the breakfast casserole needed to bake. I was out the door around 7am. David & Anita were the only others up and in the primary living area. I left coffee at Mindy’s bedside.

I ran north (downhill) and into the Olympic park area taking my phone so I could get a few pics of the Olympic banner Mindy liked. My run back to the house had me huffing and puffing just like every other day that week. Needless to say my heart and lungs got one heck of a work out.

By my return most others were up either enjoying breakfast or preparing for our last ski day. I hit the shower before enjoying the breakfast casserole. It was yummy. I topped off our flasks. Filling Mindy’s with Gold Schlager and my own with George Bailey (Capn’ Morgan’s and Bailey’s). Despite a cloudy forecast, it looked like yet another bluebird ski day was in the offing. Hooray!

We opted to switch things up a little and asked Anita to drop us at the Town lift and then meet us at the same spot for lunch later that afternoon. That worked out quite nicely. We planned to start our ski day at the south end of the park where David, Glenn and I left off on Monday. The Town lift is a long slow ride but worth it.

We exited Town lift then headed over to McConkey’s to the upper ridge and then down Sunrise which is aptly named for being drenched in morning sunshine. The snow was groomed and soft – ideal really. The run was fast and exhilarating. David and I both had our GoPro’s in tow and running. We spent an hour or so on that end of the park and then made our way to the far north end over to Thaynes. Our plan was to ski that area for a couple hours before ultimately heading back to the Town lift area to meet Anita for lunch. Figured that to be around 1pm.

We had a very enjoyable time at the park’s northern most extremities, doing many of our favorite runs and then throwing in some incredible tree skiing in untracked powder. Mindy and I skied together for most of that time loving every minute of it.

Stayed bluebird all morning and early afternoon. Made our way back towards the Town lift near 1pm just as we had planned. David phoned Anita asking her to meet us at the Bridge restaurant for lunch. The final run down to the Bridge took its toll on Tommy. He was whipped. I loved it! I think his legs were aching and possibly even on fire.

All the others were already seated at the Bridge by the time Tommy and I got there. Anita was already there, too. We sat on the sunny patio enjoying an IPA and some appetizers. Not wanting to overload on food, I ate just one slice of a chicken quesadilla. I was amped for our last 2 hours of Utah skiing. After our brief lunch break, Tommy declared his skiing done. Made arrangements for Anita to come pick him up at the Bridge after first walking back to the house to get the minivan.

Skied hard and fast for the next 90 minutes or so. Mindy was gassed around 3pm, but I pushed her to finish out the day on a high note. She was proud of herself for skiing a slightly moguled black diamond with me earlier that day. Around 230-3pm, the blue skies gave way to thin cloud cover. Near 330pm we congregated atop the mid-mountain area and planned our ski back to the main Park City center where we would call it a day and meet Anita. To get there we took Homerun, which at that time of day gets really busy as everyone else is making their way back, too.

I could see the exhaustion in Mindy’s eyes as we took the PayDay run back to the center. We skied hard 5 of the last 6 days. No question, we’d earned some hot tub time! Great timing. Arrived at the base area at 4pm where David turned in his rentals. By the time we got back to the house, Tommy was already out of the hot tub and in street clothes. The rest of us quickly got out of our ski clothes and into our swim suits and then made a dash for the healing hot tub. 

David made reservations for the Deer Valley seafood buffet for 630pm. It was supposed to be top notch. But Mindy & I opted out and planned a date night of sorts in town, much like we might do at home on a Friday evening. All the others were in for the seafood buffet.

My plan all along was to have Mindy show me the diamond necklace that she coveted while we were up town shopping and possibly dining. We tentatively talked about eating at the popular No Name Saloon. We headed out a few minutes after the others departed for Deer Valley. Like other nights uptown, it took some doing to find a parking spot.

First on our agenda was picking up some souvenir gifts for David & Anita, who have so giving to us and our kids. After picking up a couple cool items, Mindy lead me to the Woodbury jewelry shop where she saw that snowflake diamond necklace. It was pretty but also expensive. Jo0rdan, I think, was the salesman’s name. He was most gracious and allowed her to try it on. Very chatty, too. We also met Dan, the onsite jewelry maker. We left without a purchase.

We shopped a few more boutique stores, eventually buying a t-shirt for myself as well as another gift or two for Anita. As we made our way back, I suggested we stop in the Woodbury jewelry store again and asked for a discount. I let Mindy do the talking. Her tactic was to ask if they ever put their items on sale. “Good question, but no, we don’t”. She asked to look at the necklace again. Both he and Dan smiled big.

While looking at it again, I spotted one near it in the secured case that I liked a whole lot more. Not only was this one more ornate, but also had a decent sized amethyst in the center. To my eyes, it was stunning! Mindy seemed to like it as much or more, too. The price was comparable to the other (actually slightly less) but far more appealing. I told Mindy happy anniversary/happy birthday. “Wrap it up Jordan”!

We spent another 20 minutes finalizing our purchase. Before we left they cleaned all the fine jewelry we wore in which included my wedding band and three or four of Mindy’s rings. Great customer service. Mindy was elated and on cloud nine. We popped in a couple more shops and then headed back to the House. Neither of us were that hungry for dinner after snacking so much earlier that afternoon. Of course we beat the others home from their seafood buffet, so during the time before they got back, Mindy put their gifts together in a presentable fashion.

I’m guessing they were home 20-25 minutes after us. They shared that the buffet was incredible. Top notch, just as it was billed. Shortly after everyone was settled, Mindy presented David and Anita with
gifts. They seemed to like/enjoy them. Like every other evening in Utah, we were off to bed fairly early and somewhere close to 9pm. We weren’t skiing the following day but instead departing for home. Mindy and I watched a little bit of TV from our bedroom before falling asleep.