Last week Tab and I headed out on a little grown-up getaway to Park City, Utah. Every year Tab’s company has a big incentive trip for the producers. They pull out ALL the stops to get their teams to work extra hard and it totally works! What an incentive!
Not our typical Easter morning activities…lunch at the airport, but excited about a few days along.
We arrived Sunday evening in Park City and headed straight to the Deer Valley Resort. You guys…this place is BEAUTIFUL!
We stopped at a ski shop in town and I found the perfect goggles for my skiing adventures.
The next morning we were up bright and early for my ski lesson. Let me add here that I loved the ski gear. 🙂
EEK!!! Right after this Tab dropped me off and I headed to ski school. Seriously, I checked in where all the four-year-olds checked in as well. ha!
I didn’t want to spend a crazy amount of money and just wanted to learn a few basics before tackling the mountain with Tab later that afternoon, so I signed up for a Max 4 First Timers Group Class. A max of four adults with one instructor for three hours sounded great. I learned a lot considering I had no clue how to even put a ski on (and that’s exactly where we started!), but two instructors actually got together to instruct. Which made our class have 8 people! I felt like we were waiting a lot. After the fact, I wished I’d splurged on a private lesson. Just a thought to keep in mind if you’re about to sign up for ski school. 🙂
Some thoughts about ski school:
*I have a nervous laugh. If I fall or if I continue watching others fall, odds are I’ll experience the nervous laugh. At one moment our instructors were showing us how to shuffle from one area to another on LEVEL ground. The girl in front of me could not figure out how to get started (I’m talking like over a minute trying to move her feet and they’re going no where) and I started quietly laughing (I get it…because how rude was that but I just could NOT control it) and could not stop.
*Another lady in my group fell backwards down a little hill. Insert my nervous laugh. (I should add that no one was hurt during this class even though there were lots of spills.)
*I was shuffling my way in line on LEVEL ground and slipped and instead of falling quietly…I SCREAMED and threw my poles in the air. The instructor turned around and in the cutest South African accent said, “Erika…what was THAT?”. Insert my nervous laugh. 🙂
*I heard AMAZING things about Deer Valley’s ski school for kids. Apparently, it’s the place to be if you’re young and want to learn how to ski.
*I was right in the middle of the all the ski school kids and all the instructors were amazing and SO patient!
Tab skied over to watch for a few minutes.
Now I’m going to add a few thoughts about skiing from a newbie:
*All skiers make it appear to be very easy. I’m here to tell you it’s not. 🙂
*I was somehow freezing AND sweating at the exact same moment.
*When it was pouring snow, it was beautiful outside but crazy tough to see.
*I have NO idea how to transition from the pizza. Therefore, I’ll be skiing in a pizza for life. I’m not actually sure I’ll even mind because going fast makes me nervous and the pizza controls my speed perfectly. 🙂
Some first day shots!!
We came in for a little break and whew, my legs were killing me! I’d been tense pretty much the entire morning. My ski boots made my toes numb. Newbie here so I’m still not sure if that’s normal or not and my nervous self just needed a break!
We stayed at the Montage Resort and it was GORGEOUS!! After our break our options were to “green run” over to the Montage or wait for a shuttle to pick us up and drive us back. I put on my big girl pants and decided we could “green run” over. At the very top of the mountain, it was crazy cloudy and snowing, I handled it like a big girl but I was so nervous!
Look behind me…it was hard to see!!
I must add that the “buff” thing or whatever they’re called over my mouth really helped but mine was so thick. Tab would pull it up over my nose and it felt like I was suffocating myself so the majority of the time I just pulled it down.
We came around the bend and I’ve never been happier to see the resort!! AAAHHH!!
That night we had a little welcome reception complete with the best crab cakes I’ve ever had. They were delicious!
Shannon’s husband works with Tab in the Dallas office. It’s so weird how Tab sees some of these people all the time and I’m sure we all hear stories about each other. We just don’t see each other in a social setting very often, so it’s always fun to catch up.
Tuesday morning I woke up and laid in bed for some glorious minutes. Don’t worry the creamy eggs got me up. 🙂
I went back to the room to get a little work done while Tab was doing this…
They had a luge challenge and he was on the winning team!
I was enjoying the nice quiet room and the views.
Then we headed back out for round #2. One of Tab’s friends joined us and he was a great skier. I felt so bad for him because he’d ski a bit and then just pause to wait for me. hahahaha!
Tuesday night they split us up into regions and we all had dinner at different restaurants. The downtown area in Park City is just so cute! A night shot…and a shot during the day…
There are lots of restaurants, cute shops, and ski shops. I bet they have the cutest parades!
Our dining stop was Riverhorse. We had a little private room and the set up was so cute. I had the halibut (delish) and was not disappointed one bit.
All the trees lining the entrance to the resort where lit up…it was breathtaking!
We came back to the resort and found a spot close to the fireplace. These guys work together everyday.
Shannon and I had a great time catching up.
Wednesday morning started off with my last round of creamy eggs and then the SPA! At this point, I needed it! My shins were bruised from skiing, the boots, and falling coupled with sore leg muscles and I was in rough shape!
The Montage Spa has the best lounge it’s quiet and so relaxing. I could have sit there and read all day, but instead I met this guy…
for a last round of skiing. We stuck to my green runs, had the best cheeseburgers and fries for lunch, and were on our way to make one last run before heading back to the resort. This is where things took a turn for the worst….
I kept asking Tab what this run was called that would take us to the ski lift that would then take us to the run that would dump us out at the Montage. Skiers, you’re so used to this, but for those of you who have never skied…it’s amazing to look at those maps.
Anyway, so we had to take one little run to get to the lift. I was doing great until I came over and saw how STEEP this little hill was. Girls, I just learned how to PUT a ski on two days ago! It was so steep that my pizza was having a hard time going down the mountain. I fell a couple times. Tab was waiting on my halfway down while I’m shouting, “THIS IS NOT A GREEN!!!”. I was definitely being a bit dramatic. (And for real we learned it was a blue. I wasn’t ready for those, clearly.) I’d go about a foot before falling again and finally I laid ALL the way down. I’m talking like I could have made snow angels. My head was even down in the snow. I glance to my right and see a Deer Valley instructor slow down beside me. Then I hear, “ERIKA, What are you doing?”(in a cute South African accent). You guys!! My instructor from Monday just happened to be going down this run at the same time!! What are the odds? She attempted to show me a way to slide down the mountain. I don’t have her skills so that was unsuccessful so I pretty much walked myself perpendicular to the mountain down-one small step at a time. I’m not even kidding. This was a moment where my hands were freezing but I wanted to rip off my jacket. And I wanted to strangle Tab, my tour guide, but I practiced self-control. Haha!
We finally arrived. #thankyoujesus
Another newbie thought…see the guy in the blue whose carrying his skies on flat ground? That was me. Skiers tend to make that whole dig your poles into the ground and push yourself look easy, but it really isn’t. 🙂
We came in and had to document my “I survived” moment!
That night was the “awards ceremony” but everyone had voted on a more casual event this year. My sweet hubby had told me it was jeans-casual, which as you can tell from the pictures just really wasn’t true. #thankyoutab
I forgave him the second I tasted the mac-and-cheese. By this night, I wanted all the carbs and I wanted them asap! It was spicy fish with peppers and onions, garlic mashed potatoes, bacon mac and cheese with fried onions (YES, ma’am!), and scallop ceviche. Delish!
We ended our night pretty early because we were hitting the lobby at 4:30 a.m. to catch our shuttle to the airport.
One quick flight home and then it was back to life, back to reality.
I must add that right before this at 6:00 a.m. in the Salt Lake City airport , I ran into the parents and younger siblings of one of my third graders from years ago!! What are the odds?? They live in Salt Lake City and were heading to California for a little Spring Break trip. We were walking to our gate at the same time, I looked over, and flipped out! Such a small world!
Tab and I had the BEST little getaway. Am I calling myself a skier? The verdict is still out on that. I’m totally up for another ski vacation. After more lessons, if it’s not my thing, no big deal…I’ve always got the spa’s number. 🙂
