Last night we were in bed by 9:00 so it was a very long night. 0400 I was awake, wide awake. I managed to stay in bed, occasionally dozing lightly, until the alarm went off at 0600. That’s when their breakfast service starts. So we were up and down to join the other half-dozen early-birds. Back at the room we pretended life was normal – reading (me the paper, Che her latest book) and such.

Sometime later she finished her book and we headed out. She was curious about Midway, so we headed up Parley’s Canyon (Interstate 80) to check it out.

We exited the freeway at Park City…

This expansive site is the training facility for our winter Olympic teams.

But the most fun was watching team members practicing in the pool.

It really looks like you’d break your ankles landing in the water like that. Before each skier jumped they turned on the bubbler. It’s to help the skier see the water below, but it will also lessen the impact.

In this clip from the “Double” above you can see that her skis have cutouts to lessen the impact even further. Not everyone used these but they would surely help.

We watched for a while, spellbound by the accuracy and artistry of these kids.
Then we headed into Park City itself – and stopped by the base of the ski area – where they had all of the typical ski area summertime activities: Mountain Biking, Mini Golf, Climbing wall, Zip Lines…

At this point we were a bit peckish so it was back in the car and on to Midway.

Midway is a quaint little village settled in the 1860s when Brigham Young encouraged settlers to build forts in response to Native American hostilities. The settlers in Heber and Mound City agreed to build a single fort midway between their two settlements – hence the name.
During the 1860s and 1870s a significant number of settlers from Switzerland arrived giving the town its character that lasts even today.

After a bite of lunch we stopped at a chocolate store for Ice Cream and a chocolate-dipped Mango, and made it back to the car just as the afternoon “shower” rolled in.

We made it out of the canyon and into Orem, traveling in a line of very careful cars doing about 30 miles an hour, while the canyon winds buffeted us and sent the rain swirling around us. Fun.

Things had pretty much cleared by the time we made it back to the hotel.
We read (Cheryl) and napped (me). Then we read some more while I worked on the blog – refreshing my memory on the best way to handle videos (you’re welcome) and such.
Dinner was early again to allow me time to finish this post before our 9:30 bedtime. Our alarm will be set for 5:30.

So that’s the day. Tomorrow we travel.

Till then…