#2212 travel Tuesday: staycation!

I missed writing on Sunday because I was kind of tired from all the excitement of the weekend. I did all my usual Saturday stuff and on Sunday I was prepping for the arrival of my sister, Lizzie, and the start of my staycation!

Lizzie got here just after 2:00 in the afternoon on Sunday. After hearing about her epic book tour road trip (you can buy her book here!), we decided some fresh air and a stretch of the legs was a good idea, so we headed out for a nature walk. We chose to go on the Wild Rose Trail just above Eaglewood Golf Course in North Salt Lake.

I don't care for the term "hiking". To me it means big ol' boots and heavy socks and a backpack and warm water from a bladder in said backpack and rocky trails and dirt. I prefer the term nature walk, so let's go with that.

What I liked about the Wild Rose Trail was that it was easily accessible and there were other people and dogs on it. There was a man and a dog that was ahead of us a little bit and he came back to where we were and told us he saw a snake on the trail. He threw rocks at it to get it to move along. That's heroic and gentlemanly. We did not see the snake or any other snakes, I am happy to say. We did see different levels of tree cover and beautiful views of the Great Salt Lake.

Open trail leading up to the hills

Trees on both sides of the trail, but still pretty open

Looks like we are going through a forest!

Great view of the lake

 

Lizzie! She's the cutest!

This nature walk is a nearly two mile loop. I enjoyed it and would probably do it again. I think MT would like it. I bet it's pretty in the fall because there are a lot of scrub oak up there. Lizzie and I were happy to see some pretty wildflowers.

Yesterday, Monday, we had a full day. We were up fairly early and decided to go out to breakfast. Lizzie chose Roots Cafe in Millcreek. What a cute place! The temperature was just right, so we sat out on the patio. What a glorious way to start the week. I had an omelet with sausage, home fries and a pancake. Lizzie had an amazing-looking breakfast sandwich. We were nicely full when the food was gone, so we decided to take another nature walk. 

We chose to walk around Sugarhouse Park, so it was more of an urban walk. The walking loop is basically the road around the green space. In the morning there is very little shade on the walk, so it got a bit warm and it wasn't very scenic. Neither of us took any photos. It was nice to walk off breakfast, though.

In the afternoon we spent time planning the weekend - we are going to Las Vegas. Lizzie is going to be doing a couple of readings there on Friday and Saturday night and invited me to come along. How could I refuse? Lizzie and I used to go to Vegas every year or so when we were younger but we haven't been there in awhile. It should be fun.

With our Vegas plans made, we headed up to Park City for dinner and a ghost tour. We. Love. Ghost. Tours. We try to go on a tour in every city we visit pretty much. Yes, I believe in the spirits. No, I haven't ever seen a "ghost" but I have seen some paranormal stuff. What I really like about ghost tours is that you get a bit of history of the town plus some ghost stories. It's good fun.

Park City is cool. We had dinner at The Eating Establishment (fish tacos for me and a BLAT for Lizzie). We finished exactly in time to head to Miner's Square to meet the tour guide, Hutch. There were maybe a dozen people on the tour including Lizzie and me. We enjoyed walking up and down Main Street and listening to stories. Hutch was a good guide. I took a few photos:

These houses!

I like old doors

This is part of a mural that was in the China Bridge parking garage

We finished off the night with a lightning show on the drive down the mountain back to SLC and a stop at Crumbl for a very late dessert. 

What a fun day!

This morning we woke up a little later since we had been up so late and we were moving pretty slow. We decided to get some coffee from Starbucks and just come back home to read and relax a bit. We spent a few hours doing our own things although we were sitting together at the table. I enjoyed just hanging out. 

In the afternoon we went to see the movie Late Night. Both Lizzie and I liked it very much. It was smart and clever and funny. I actually have lots of thoughts about it, but that might be for another time. Let's just leave it at this: it was great to see a show about women by women where many of the men were just sort of in the background. 

This evening I had book club (#ekpesbookclub). We are reading one of my favorite books from last year, Where the Crawdads Sing. I am reading along with the group, but I do know the story and the ending, so it's fun to see what the other readers are saying about it and their speculations. 

Another thing I did today was replant several houseplants that were outgrowing their accommodation. I hope I did okay by them and that they will flourish. I'll keep you posted. I don't have much of a green thumb, but I'm hopeful. 

For dinner tonight we had Atlantis Burger. It is a must-have go-to place for Lizzie and my mom. MT and I like it too. So good!

Lizzie and I have tomorrow's plan roughly sketched out. I think we'll be a little more active than we were today. I'll let you know all about it on Thursday!

ps...you can read Lizzie's take on our adventures plus posts about her epic book tour road trip by clicking here.