#2866 all the fun we had

**NOTE: This turned into an extra-long post, but I think it's a good one. Lots of photos!**

October passed by in a blur. It was a busy month, packed full of a bunch of stuff. I did some leaf-peeping, did some day drinking, saw an annular solar eclipse, went to Dixon,  hosted family at my house and kept them entertained as best I could, went to Yellowstone National Park with the family, and saw the family off back to their homes. I also went to the dentist, and did a little work.

**NOTE: I could have probably stopped there, but I didn't. Read on...**

Pretty much immediately after I returned home from Dixon, I had a couple of days to clean up the house, then my cousins from Spain, Sonia and Nicole, arrived for a nine-day visit. My objective for the time they spent here was to show them around and keep them busy and entertained. When they arrived on Monday, the 23rd, MT and I picked them up at the airport, brought them to our house, and then took them out for dinner. That night there was chatting and laughter, then we all went to bed pretty early. Sonia and Nicole had been in New York City for three days, walking all over the place, and their travel day was LONG. It included a five hour layover in Las Vegas. 

I took all the time they were here off so that I could focus on having fun with them, and I'm really glad I did! Tuesday, we drove up Big Cottonwood Canyon. The leaves were mostly off the trees, but it is still spectacular, because the Wasatch Mountains are so rugged and pretty. We went for a cold walk around Silver Lake.

Thanks to the nice woman who offered to take our photo!

 From there, we went over Guardsman Pass to Park City, with MT pointing out all the things he built along the way. He worked on some really nice projects in the Park City area. We had lunch, then walked along Main Street. Nicole said she felt like she was an episode of Gilmore Girls. We stopped at JavaCow for a coffee for the women, ice cream for MT.

Thanks to the nice woman who offered to take our photo!

(Note: I am not loving my gigantic arm in this photo. I like my hair, though.)

That night, we ate dinner at home. Sonia made Kraft mac and cheese, which she loves, and Nicole made fried egg sandwiches. It was a nice, quiet evening.

On Wednesday, I took Sonia and Nicole downtown SLC. We went to the Capitol to admire the views, and we even went inside to look around. I didn't take many photos, but I couldn't resist taking a pic of this creepy pattern in the marble near the restroom.

EEK!!!

After the Capitol, we wandered around City Creek Center, a fabulous mall that MT worked on. I was happy to point out many projects he worked on downtown. Speaking of MT, we met him for lunch at Corner Bakery, then the four of us went for a stroll through Red Butte Garden. I love this pic of MT, Sonia, and Nicole:

Cute!!

In the morning, it was windy and overcast, but the afternoon was crisp and sunny. It was a gorgeous day to walk around "my" garden. 

From there, Sonia, Nicole, and I went to East High School for the self-guided High School Musical tour. Most of the movie was filmed at East, and it was one of the things that both Sonia and Nicole really wanted to do. It was fun to see them get all excited about all of it. We stayed there for quite awhile, then we went to Trolley Square so Nicole could take a couple of dance classes at Millennium Dance School. Sonia and I left her there to dance her face off, and the two of us went to the Delta Center for the Utah Jazz home opener. Sonia was so excited when she got to the suite and realized what she was looking at. A fun thing is that the Jazz gave everyone t-shirts that night, and we were able to get one for Nicole, too. I don't know if they will be Jazz fans, but they liked the t-shirt!

Thanks to my co-worker, Quin, for taking our photo!

MT picked Nicole up from Millennium, and we all met at home. Another successful day!

Thursday was less exciting, but still fun. We went to the grocery store to buy supplies for our trip to Yellowstone. We went to Trader Joe's, because...of course! We also went to Smiths. The Spaniards were slightly overwhelmed by the gigantic American-ness of it all. Another place we went was Delice Bakery. I picked up a cake for my mom and some kouign amman pastries for breakfast. That afternoon, we went to The Pie Pizzeria in Midvale for a late lunch, then it was time to head to the airport to pick up Mama and Lizzie!  We rented a big-ass Suburban to take to Yellowstone, so it had it's inaugural ride to and from the airport. We went to dinner at Copper Creek Pub, then to my house so Mama could meet Stella the dog. Sonia and I drove Mama and Lizzie to their hotel and made a plan for the next day.

On Friday, the six of us piled into the Suburban after pastries and coffee, and we headed up the road to West Yellowstone, MT. We stopped for lunch around 2:00 in Pocatello to have finger steaks and fries. They were not truly delicious, a little over-cooked, I think, but I still managed to eat all of mine. My BFF LA and her husband Rob stopped by to say hi, too, so bonus!

On the road to West Yellowstone!

The roads through Idaho were dry and good, but pretty much the minute we crossed the state line into Montana, the roads were snowpacked. We arrived in West around dusk, and found our Airbnb without much trouble. It was a great place for us, with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. Mama and Lizzie took the room with two twin beds; Sonia and Nicole shared a room with a queen-size bed, and that left MT and I with the giant room with a king-size bed. The living/dining/kitchen area, was cozy and perfect for us. That night, we did a little grazing, or peca-peca, with cold cuts, cheeses, nuts, chips, crackers, and carrots with dips, and cookies. We drank some beer and just reveled in the fact that we were going into Yellowstone Park the next day. Lizzie and I made a plan for the weekend (of course we did!) MT and Nicole started putting together a puzzle, and Sonia chatted with Mama. It was all pretty wonderful.

Saturday, Lizzie and I got up when it felt like it was still nighttime so we could make a bit of breakfast before we drove into the park. *SIDE NOTE: The host of the Airbnb provided us with a pound of coffee beans, a dark French roast that I wasn't sure I would like, but ended up liking it a whole bunch.* Everyone got up and had a little something to eat, and we were on the road into the park by 8:00, as per our plan. The road was snow-packed, but there weren't many other cars in the park with us. I'd never been there so late in the season, and the fresh snow from Thursday was still pristine. You could see animal tracks on the side of the road. Not too far in, we saw a good size herd of elk, so that was a nice welcome! 

Heading toward Mammoth Hot Springs

Our objective for the day was to go to Mammoth Hot Springs, then head east toward Tower Falls and then to Lamar Valley. We decided to go to the north entrance of the park, to Gardiner, MT for lunch. It was a wild west experience. Nicole had a bison burger, which she liked. I had a chicken fried steak, and it was pretty dang good.  What I will remember most about the side trip into Gardiner were the elk and the snow crystals floating in the air which caused the snow to sparkle like it was covered with diamonds. It was truly pretty.

We went to Tower, but decided not to go to the Lamar Valley because we wanted to get out of the park before sundown, so we headed back to West. We saw some buffalo along the way, and more close-ups of elk, so it was a good drive. 

Bull elk on an island

Back at the house, we picked up a couple of pizzas for dinner, then celebrated Mama's birthday a couple of months early with the cake from Delice and some cava. It was a special night, and a really good day.

On Sunday, we were a little more laid-back and took it all a little more slowly. Mama had a video chat with her sister in Spain. I read a book and drank coffee, two of my favorite things to do. MT, Sonia, Lizzie, Nicole, and I went to a place for breakfast. It wasn't really that great, to be honest, but there were a lot of people in there. Many of the restaurants were already closed for the season. Apparently, the park and West Yellowstone sort of shut down between Nov 1 and Dec 15. Some of the restaurants got an early start on their break. 

MT wanted to drive a bit less and walk a bit more that day, so per our plan, we made for Old Faithful. We stopped along the way at Lower Geyser Basin. Mama walked around the whole trail, snow-pack and all. It was damn cold, but not windy, so it was tolerable. 

We also stopped at Middle Geyser Basin (it probably has another name), so MT could go see Prismatic Spring. I chose to hang out in the car with Mama. We chatted and I read a little. We made another stop after that, but only MT went on that walk. We got to Old Faithful about an hour or so before it was scheduled to erupt, so we killed a little time, and then got a front row seat to the show. It didn't seem to shoot as high as it has in the past, but it was right on time. Iconic! 

Old Faithful!

After that, we went to the General Store and to get some hot chocolate, then it was time to head back to West. 

That night for dinner, we had pasta, breadsticks, and a tomato and mozzarella salad that Sonia made. We drank a little wine, and talked about the day, and it was all good.

Monday morning, we cleaned up the house in preparation for leaving. I wasn't very helpful because I was reading and right at the end of the book. (Sorry family!) We checked out of the house at 10 am, then went to the main street of West Yellowstone to look for souvenirs and some breakfast. Like I said, most things were already closed, so we didn't have luck with breakfast, but we all got some souvies. 

Homeward bound! (No, MT is not asleep lol)

We stopped at Harriman State Park in Idaho to look around a little. We might have been the only people back there! We stopped by the river because we thought there were buffalo, but it was cows. We did see a bunch of water fowl, and eagles soaring overhead.  We had to commemorate the moment with this  ussie by Nicole:

BRRR

We stopped at the rest area in Hell's Half Acre between Idaho Falls and Blackfoot for a tailgate picnic, then we powered on through to SLC, and got home around 6:30 pm, I think.  For dinner that night, we picked up Crown Burger to bring home, along with Crumbl cookies. Mama and Lizzie checked into their hotel, and our phenomenal Yellowstone adventure was complete.

Mama and Lizzie went home on Tuesday morning, but the fun was not over for Sonia, Nicole, and me. We had breakfast with MT at Black Bear Diner (so American!), then we went to the Halloween store so Nicole could buy a costume. We came home, and she tried it on, but did not wear it to my office where we went to trick or treat and meet my co-workers. Sonia and Nicole got so much candy, and everyone was delighted to talk to them. Why wouldn't they be delighted? Sonia and Nicole are adorable, and their accents are really cute! The three of us then had a late lunch at In-n-Out Burger (delicious!), then back to the house to greet trick or treaters and maybe go to a few places ourselves. 

Nicole was Barbie, and she was cute as a button, of course. Sonia bought some cat ears. 

Nicole carved the pumpkin on top; Sonia drew the face on the other one, and MT carved it.

I love this photo!

Hi suburban Barbie!

We only got two trick or treaters, both special needs adults who live in the neighborhood. I have a massive amount of candy in my house because we were prepared for hordes. Sonia, Nicole, and I did not go out, to MT's relief. Instead, we all put on our relaxing clothes and watched The Nightmare Before Christmas. (I only dozed off a couple of times.)

The next day, Wednesday 1 November, I had to work. I got up early and fired up my computer and a big pot of coffee here at home. Sonia and Nicole packed their bags, then MT took them to IHOP for a final American breakfast. We dropped them off at the airport at 1:00 pm, then we came home to a very quiet house. I kept working, and that is the end of my vacation story.

Looking back, I probably could have broken this up into at least two, or maybe three posts, but since I'm not posting as much, I decided to get it all out there.

Whew. Time to get back to regular life. 

Happy November!