The PILE meets a new heights

After our most recent valley storm the Pile gets as big as we have seen. November 29th, 2010.

THE PILE IS BORN

We have a goal to keep a small amount of snow in our front yard for the whole winter if possible. On November 21st, 2010 THE PILE was born.

Rita and Vern visit SLC

Before Thanksgiving we had our first official guests come and stay in our furnished guest room. Rita and Vern kept a journal while they were here and this is the run down of the events:

Friday November 19^th

Lacy drove to the Portland airport at 4:30 Am and Danie picked up at SLC airport. The 3 came and visited the house before heading to the Gateway Mall area for a great lunch at Biaggis. Then it was Nap time back at the house while Danie worked from home. Lance got home from some training about 3:30 and it was time for some cocktails. We all went and visited the lulu lemon show room in Salt Lake and Rita had a great conversation with the store manager. We got back home to prepare for the Jazz game against the San Antonio Spurs. After the game we had a great time watching the dueling piano show at Keys on Main till 1 AM.

Saturday November 20^th

Woke up and cooked breakfast before going on a site seeing tour of the Utah State Capitol building. We did some hiking around the hills about the Avenues neighborhood. It was VERY windy. Had a visit from Jeff Weinstein and left for Dinner at the Red Iguana.We came back home after dinner to enjoy a Beaver victory of USC (36-7). Dan made it home from work to finish the Beaver game and watch the Utah Utes come back and win their game. We also found the house with the most Christmas decorations in America.

 

 Sunday November 21^st

Left at 8:30 am for Park City and Lance started training at 10 am. Vern, Rita and Danielle walked around Park City Mountain Resort area. After Lance training we drove to lulu lemon showroom in PC and peaked in windows.We stopped by the Utah Olympic Park and museum but was cut short because of snowy conditions. Went to historic Main Street in Park City and ate lunch at the No Name Saloon. Danielle and Rita walked around Main Street while Lance and Vern watch the Patriots beat the Colts. Stopped by High West Distillery. $140 for bottle of 21 year old whiskey. Went to Jeff and Erika’s home and did a long walk through deep snow around their neighborhood. Back home in SLC to vegge out and eat ice cream and heard about Dan's promotion in his parking job!!

Monday November 22^nd

Spent 3 hours on Antelope Island North of SLC on the Great Salt Lake and saw tons of animals. Drove South of Salt Lake and ate late lunch at In and Out burger. Drove South to Provo and drove up the Provo Canyon. Beautiful scenery through Midway and Heber. We also drove up and around Deer Valley Ski Resort and saw the unbelievable houses on the mountain. We drove back through Main Street and around shopping area in Kimball Junction.We finished the day at Legends Sports Bar for dinner and drinks. Back home around 9:30pm. Watched The Factor and sleep time.

Tuesday November 23rd

Danielle had to go to work today and Rita and Vern were scheduled to fly out at 6 pm so we had a lazy day planned with a visit to Temple Square. As the day went on we heard more about weather warnings because of snow and wind. Our Temple Square tour was cut short as the wind picked up and closed some of the buildings. We met Danielle for lunch and she told us her office was closing at 3 PM. Around 2 PM Rita got a phone call from her airline saying their flight was cancelled and she rescheduled for Wednesday morning. The storm was supposed to be strongest at 6 PM so we went to the store for supplies and had a surprise extra evening. 

We woke up to lots of snow but were able to safely drop the parents off at the airport and they made it back home in one piece.

Snowing in SLC

We woke up to rain this morning but as the day rolled on, the snow started to fall. It didn't really let up till 3 PM or so. It's starting to feel like snowboard time.

The forecast calls for more snow this week!

Game Day!

Game Day brought Lance and I an early morning hike above City Creek Canyon. The fall colors and the views were amazing. After the hike the Sparks (Jackie and Ryan) and Krob (Kyle Robinson) came to our house to watch the worst day of football in a while. The Utes Lost, the Ducks Won and the Beavs embarrassed themselves big time. Bummer day, but with great Company, so it was over all, all good.

Walk to the trail head

View from halfway up

Cuddle bugs back in action.

SO great to see KROB

 The boys needed some relief from the bad football games, so skateboarding it was. 

Happy B-Day Lance!!!

I took the red eye from Anchorage to Salt Lake City and had the privilege of listening to a screaming baby sitting across from me from 1 am to 6 am. Awesome. Needless to say, I didn't sleep much. It didn't matter because I was so happy to be home. Saturday brought us to Lance's B-Day, a Halloween Pub Crawl, new friends (big and small) and an all around great time.We had an excellent birthday lunch at Lance's choice of restaurant, The Olive Garden.

Costumes from L to R: Unemployed, Dirt Bag and Red Neck

What Happens in Vegas follows you home for 400 miles...

So the boys decided they had worked hard enough around the house and they realized they had drinking all the beer. So what better place to relax and re-hydrate? Obviously Las Vegas. With the destination being only 6 hours away and the Hooters Hotel only costing $30 bucks a night, the decision was not a hard one. On Monday afternoon on October 25th the boys started the drive. They arrived in Vegas at 8pm local time, thanks to an hour time change gain. The drive was quick and painless.

Snow on the drive down.

View from their hotel room

Night number one they did a quick tour of the hotels near Hooters and gambled there for a while and drank $1.50 bud lights all night long. Literally.

At the Hard Rock

Before returning to their hotels at 4 am, Dan thought he witnessed the hotel being robbed. So he 'chased' the suspect and let security know of the breech. They kindly thanked him and returned the [drunk fool] to his room. Good night gentlemen. (As the next day would reveal, the 'suspicious' man Dan chased actually worked for the hotel).

Old Man Tax Pants

The next day the guys woke up at 11am and hung out at the pool, enjoyed bloody marys, the sun and then dollar beers until about 2pm. Actually they enjoyed the pool until Dan dove into the shallow end and drew blood. No Joke.

Then the guys got ready and ventured to the Toby Kieth bar and did a little sightseeing on the way.

The Paris

Dan the bird man

Transformers

When night fell hell broke loose. They took the monorail to the Stratosphereand then it was off to Harrah's and back to Hooters, because they again, could not get enough of the dollar beers. They also could not get enough of the $2.99 12am-6am breakfast. So they did that twice. Once around midnight, and once around 6am. What did they do in between those breakfasts? The world will never know.  They made it home after sunrise, slept until 12pm then it was a long tired drive home. Apparently they were pretty miserable. I wonder why?