Park City…

What to write while on vacation? How about where you’re at? I’ve traveled most of the Rockies through the years, skiing, pulling a 47′ Road Warrior, cruising on the Harley, driving a Winnebago, going to dog shows, and just road trippin’. From New Mexico to the Canadian border, I’d been there…except for Utah. Well, that’s now been checked off my list in a pretty spectacular way. Having heard about Park City a lot, we finally planned the trip and after three days here, I’m glad we did. It’s beautiful, it’s clean, it’s easy to get around, and it’s BIG.

This song is a no brainer considering this week’s theme…

…but nobody rocks like Joe Walsh.

Driving in on the east side of the city, you get a fantastic view of the ski areas. And I’m super impressed, almost in awe, by the massive amount of runs they have, covering miles of mountainside. A remarkable view of the Olympic ski jump leaves no doubt that you have arrived. My skiing days are behind me, but I can’t stop visualizing what it would have been like to be a ski bum here for a winter.

We’re staying in a log home up in the mountains with mountain views in every direction. It’s the beginning of fall here and the trees have started to change colors. Going to sleep with the windows open leads to a very chilly walk to the bathroom in the morning. There’s no need for an alarm clock because Utah has a bird called the black-billed magpie this is more than happy to let you know the sun is up and it’s time to get going. These are new birds to me and they’re everywhere (along with bees that continually attack any food or drink you happen to be enjoying. I highly recommend not drinking out of cans here or you may wind up swallowing more than you paid for.)

I’d tell you about the drive out but it was truly uneventful… except for the fact that it almost didn’t happen. Because this blog is about my journey with Lou Gehrig’s disease, I’ll share that getting ready for the trip was much more of a challenge than the trip itself.

Leading up to departure last Saturday, I had a couple of long days trying to check off as many things on my to-do list as possible, knowing I’d never get them all done. To top it off, my favorite player I’ve coached started his senior football season as team captain last Friday night, and that was a game I couldn’t miss. All of this led to me taxing my body beyond what it’s now capable of. I didn’t sleep Friday night as cramps seized my left arm and right leg. As usual, I treated them with prayer, coconut oil, and a massage gun. At 8:00a Saturday morning, it was time to hit the road and while things were better, I was concerned that this would be the start of my body completely failing me.

You may be asking about now how Amy was dealing with this. Well, I hadn’t told her. There was nothing to be done that I wasn’t already doing so there was no sense causing her to worry. (I did finally tell her once we got here, so this is not a shock as she edits this.) She pointed out that she may not have been able to help my physical symptoms, but she could have prayed with me. And to that, I had no answer, other than being my usual stubborn self.

There is a silver lining to all this. First, I will sing the praises of my driver-assisted F-350 all day long. The first day on the road, I hit the button and seldom had to touch the wheel. By the second day, the cramping had subsided greatly. And by the time we arrived, I was back to where I started. So let the party begin!

And back, without further interruption, to Park City…

Downtown is a congested mix of old and new buildings, but it all seems to work perfectly. There are at least half a dozen restaurants in sight at all times. I counted 34 art galleries on Main Street alone, and we visited them all yesterday. From modern to abstract, to western, sculptures, paintings, and photography, you can find them all here. And did I mention retail clothing stores? There are a slew of them as well. We’re here in the off-season and I can’t imagine what it’s like during its peak.

I’ve spent a lot of time in ski towns like Crested Butte, Vail, Lake Tahoe… but in my opinion, Park City is the most condensed over a large area. Outside of downtown, luxury homes with million-dollar views cover the mountains for miles. The problem is, a million dollars wouldn’t buy you much anymore. We figure our small house would go for over $2 million on one of these mountains and we have seen many at 10 times that amount. A friend of ours bought here 3 years ago and his home has almost tripled in value over that time.

While I love my time writing for you, it’s time spent away from doing what we love. Today I’ll wrap this up as we head out to Mirror Lake, collecting more memories for future use. Of course Diesel will be a big part of those memories as he already has been. He’s taken very well to traveling and mountain life. Below you’ll see the prince sleeping in comfort on the road (remember that pink bunny?!?), watching mom do yoga on the deck, and surveying his new kingdom.

This saying just seemed to fit this week:

Thanks for traveling along with us this week. A special thanks to all who have signed up for the Moving Mountains with Mustard Seeds team at the Les Turner ALS Walk for Life at Soldier Field. We have exceeded 100 team entrants and raised almost $65,000 of our $100,000 goal. If you haven’t signed up or want to donate, there’s still time before the walk on September 20th.

Have a great weekend.

God bless.

Coach