Day 5, 6, and 7--Christmas, skiing, and sledding

Well, we had a very different Christmas this year. For Christmas Eve, we went skiing all day. The kids and Wendy went to ski school, while Dan went crazy on the slopes. Everyone did great! Later that night, we went to a Christmas Eve service at a local church. It was a great way to end the day.

Ready to ski

 Christmas morning was spent at the condo, having breakfast and opening stockings/gifts. The kids also went sledding. For the afternoon, we hit the slopes again. Wendy and Erin skied together, and Dan and Kyle skied together. It was a balmy 20 degrees on the slopes.On Friday, Dan and Erin went sledding again in the morning, then Dan and the kids went skiing again in the afternoon. Wendy stayed back and relaxed at the condo. It was a fun few days of hitting the slopes. Tomorrow we head home.

Sledding

Day 4--Park City

Today was a day to explore Park City. We went to the ski resort and rented our equipment for tomorrow, so we will be ready to hit the slopes. Then we went to the Olympic Park.

Ready to Bobsled

It was really neat. We got to go to the top of the Nordic Ski Jump, and the Luge start house. They were a lot steeper than they look on television.

At the top of the Nordic Ski Jump

 We then rode on a virtual bobsled, and the kids did a virtual ski jump.Dan and Wendy then enjoyed a walk down Main Street. (It is great that the kids are old enough to stay at the condo without us for a few hours.) Tomorrow is a ski day!

Day 3--Arches National Park

Today we went to Arches National Park. We were able to go on several hikes, and climb all over the structures. Again, due to the time of the year, it wasn't very crowed, and on one hike we didn't run into anyone else! It was very beautiful and amazing to see how big the structures were.

Can you see the person standing in the opening? That's how big it is!

Then we were off to Park City. On the way, while going over a summit, it started to snow and there was a road closure due to a big rig that had jack-knifed. We were told that we would be sitting (in the middle of nowhere) for about an hour! Luckily, we only had to sit there for about 30 min. As we entered Park City, it was snowing quite a bit, but we made it safely to our condo without any problems. The kids were very excited that it was snowing, and a snowball fight happened as soon as we were out of the car.

Day 2--Bryce Canyon

Wow! What a great day. We went all over Bryce Canyon. It was colder than yesterday, about 39 degrees, plus a cold wind. We went on several hikes/walks. Our favorite hike was at the highest elevation, 9000 ft. We hiked a mile or so through the snow. The kids loved being in the snow--I think they enjoyed throwing snowballs more than the scenery! Dan and Wendy enjoyed the quiet of being in the woods, all by ourselves. (A plus of visiting at this time of the year--hardly anyone is here!)

Erin also became a jr. ranger. Then it was back in the car for a 250 mile drive to Moab, Utah. We drove through "frontier" country--nothing around--we didn't pass another car for 60 miles. We drove through a bit of snow, but then were rewarded with a beautiful rainbow. The kids are swimming in the outdoor pool right now--the temperature of the pool is 89 degrees! Arches is tomorrow.

Day 1--Zion Canyon

Today was the first day of our "Winter Vacation". We have never done this before, so we were excited to go some place where there will be snow. Dan drove about 550 miles today! We left at 5am all packed and ready to go. Our final destination for the day was our hotel by Bryce Canyon. Along the way, we stopped at Zion Canyon. We had a little picnic lunch, and went on a few short hikes. We went to the Weeping Rock--it constantly "cries", and you walk behind it, into a cave. We also went on a short hike along the river. Dan decided to see how cold it was and waded across it! (The rest of the family was wise enough to stay out!) We then went through the tunnel towards Bryce, and went on a great hike up, and over a ridge to see the other side of the canyon. It was a brisk 45 degrees out. Then it was back in the car towards Bryce. Along the way, we saw some buffalo--don't see that every day. So far a great start to our vacation.

At the "Weeping Rock"

The Hikers