An April Getaway to the City by the Bay

Only a few days after the visit of my parents, Susan and I were off to San Francisco to meet up with Susan’s sister, her mom, and her youngest niece.  Her sister was in the Bay area for a conference the following week and that was all the impetus we needed to plan a weekend getaway to meet them and check out San Fran together.

Early Friday morning, Susan and I left for Salt Lake and flew to San Francisco, arriving just before 10am.  Once Susan’s family arrived about an hour and a half later, we had the rental car ready to go and made our way downtown to the Fisherman’s Wharf area to our hotel.  We arrived at the Holiday Inn to realize that we were actually in separate hotels (Holiday Inn and HI Express…oops).  Luckily they were right next door to one another so no big deal.  Once that was sorted, Susan and I had a pier to get to for a ferry departure to Alcatraz.

Wasting no time, we caught the 1pm ferry to Alcatraz Island and completed the audio tour.  Otherwise, we mainly wandered the island enjoying the view and the weather and not partaking in any of the other major exhibits before catching the ferry back to SF proper.

Alcatraz island from the ferry   &   Sign at Alcatraz

A cell at Alcatraz   &   Al Capone’s niece signing her book

In front of our ferry

With the early morning buzz of activity, it was time for Susan to relax and catch up with her family.  I took the opportunity to get in a quick afternoon run where I headed west along the wharf area, past Fort Mason and into the Marina District.  There was a food truck gathering at Fort Mason and the parks were packed with people out enjoying perfect Friday afternoon weather. 

Cleaned up and back at the hotel, it was off to dinner at Leopold’s in the Russian Hill area.  This Austrian/German restaurant was excellent and had a great atmosphere (think of a more subdued and authentic Hofbrahaus experience).  The three ladies enjoyed snitzel and I had the pan-fried trout which was much better than the version I had in Brno over the summer…mainly since they filleted it properly and wrapped it in bacon.  Our drive home took us near the top of Lombard St. so we took the opportunity to wind our way down and back to the hotel for the night.

Saturday brought a leisurely morning and breakfast at the hotel before driving to Chinatown for a City Guides walking tour.  The tour started at Portsmouth Square Plaza, which was heavily trafficked by the local population who gathered there for the playground, reading newspapers, Tai Chi classes, and tile and card games among other activities.  As the guide began the tour, we started to wonder if we’d make it through the whole thing.  He spoke quietly and was hard to hear over the background noise and also tended to ramble at times.  Luckily, we didn’t ditch the tour before leaving the park since it picked up once we got on the move.  Highlights of the tour were the back-alleys, the architecture, the fortune cookie factory, and the small markets.  About 2 hours after we started, the tour ended near Old St. Mary’s church and we returned to the car with some shopping en route.

 
Some highlights of the tour

Group shot after the tour

Locals at the square

Back near the wharf area, it was lunchtime so we split up and got ourselves fed.  Susan and I opted for The Codmother, a food cart with an outdoor seating area.  The fish and chips for Susan and the fish tacos and garlic fries for me were both excellent, and the lady I assumed to be the Codmother herself was quite a character and seemed to love her job.

Post-lunch it was time for a break before heading out in the evening for a drive northwest and over the Golden Gate Bridge.  We continued north and into Muir Woods National Monument to walk amongst the Redwoods.  Little Eva was put to sleep by the drive, so Susan’s mom stayed with her in the car while the rest of us wandered a portion of the scenic trail (and got free admission via my Annual Parks Pass!). 

  
Driving across the bridge   &   Tree pose with the trees

Hugging a Redwood

As we made our way back toward the city for the evening, we pulled off at the Marin Headlands and took in the south-facing views of the Golden Gate Bridge with the city skyline as a backdrop…very impressive views.

Saturday night, we dined in Ghirardelli Square at the Pub.  The food was good, pretty much standard pub fare, but after dinner we indulged in Ghirardelli ice cream which was the highlight.  With full bellies we returned to the hotel for the night.

Sunday morning I got up early for a run where I made my way first out to Pier 39 to say good morning to the sea lions and then continued south along the shoreline, under the Bay Bridge, and down to AT&T Park before retracing my route back to the hotel.  After cleaning up and grabbing a snack, it was time to check out.  Miraculously, we fit the luggage and baby gear into the Camry a 2nd time before heading over to Hyde St to catch a trolley, which we rode to its terminus on Market St then waited in line to ride it back.  On the return route we got premier seating in the open-air front area.

Back at the car we were westward bound to dine at the Cliff House Bistro.  While waiting for our table Susan and I wandered a little on the Land’s End trails before succumbing to the chilly wind and heading back for shelter.  Brunch/lunch was excellent with highlights for me being the eggs San Francisco and the popovers.

Leaving the Cliff House brought us to about the end of our time in the bay area.  We needed to drop off Susan’s family at the Ritz in Half Moon Bay where her sister had some afternoon conference obligations, so we took a scenic route down the coast and hung-out a little bit while they got settled at the hotel.  Then Susan and I departed for the airport so we could hurry up and wait for our delayed flight home.  Finally, at around 12:45am Mountain Time, we pulled back into our apartment in Logan.

Next weekend I have the Salt Lake Marathon looming and we’re only a couple weeks away from a visit back to the Midwest.

A Birthday Weekend Visit

The doldrums of late winter and early spring are behind us.  Susan and I have hit a few weeks of high activity that will take us into mid-May, starting with my birthday and a visit from my parents a couple weekends ago.  On the agenda for the next few weekends are a trip to San Francisco, the Salt Lake City Marathon, and a trip back to the Midwest that includes the Kentucky Derby, a family wedding, and Dr. Susan’s graduation.  We also get to know more about our baby in a week.  But first, let’s look back a little…

My 28th birthday (I have to double-check my actual age) came and went.  It was a Wednesday, so it was a pretty typical middle of the week day.  However, I did get some cards throughout the week and got some style upgrades (clothes) from Susan so it was a good day. 

On Friday, my parents came into town for a visit.  We haven’t seen any family since January so they were the first to get to see Susan’s bump in person.  When they arrived in the afternoon, Susan was still working so I took them around to do some garden shopping for our porch.  My mom helped me pick out some decorative flowers and I also grabbed fresh herbs for the mini-greenhouse.  Friday night we just relaxed and caught up while also gearing up for the upcoming release of the new Arrested Development season by watching old episodes.  We capped off the evening with a trip to Zeppe’s for a Gelata.

Bump update

Saturday arrived early as I got everyone up pre-dawn so I could drag them down to Ogden for me to run a half-marathon tune-up race.  The Strider’s Winter Running Series half-marathon was actually in the mountain town of Eden and covers the first half of the Ogden Marathon in May (which I will not be running).  My SLC Marathon training schedule needed me to do a 10k race on Saturday, but 13.1 miles was the shortest I could find that wasn’t sold out.  Somewhat unintentionally, I ran the first 10k of this race like it was a standalone race, and then suffered through the rest to finish just under 1:30.  At the finish I grabbed a couple yogurt and granola cups (nice finish food!) and jumped in the car so we could bee-line to Salt Lake.  Derby had an appointment to catch!

The plan was to bring Derby down to the race with us so we could send him to daycare while we toured around Salt Lake City.  However, since the pup would be visiting a new place he had to pass a temperament test (i.e. play nice with others) before we could leave him, and this had to be done before 11am.  While Derby aced his test, I sought out a fitness center (Planet Fitness) where I was robbed of $20 in exchange for using their old, cramped showers.  At least it got the job done.

All business matters out of the way, we reconvened for lunch where we hit up the Red Iguana for delicious Mexican.  Refueled, we navigated away from Temple Square since it was General Conference in the LDS world and went toward University of Utah’s campus and to the Red Butte Garden.  They were having an orchid show which we checked out before meandering through the rest of the manicured gardens.  Small flowers were in early bloom along with herbs and the gardens also provided some nice panoramas of the rest of the city in the valley below.

  

Leaving the gardens, we considered hitting the Natural History Museum next door, but with my tired legs and Susan’s pregnancy fatigue we weren’t sure we could handle walking through an entire museum.  Instead we decided to brave the crowds and headed into the greater Temple region of downtown Salt Lake to check out the City Creek Center.  This is the newest indoor / outdoor shopping center and has been receiving a lot of praise for its design.  For being a high-end mall, it was indeed impressive including features like a retractable glass roof, fountains, a large outdoor fireplace, and a “creek” that runs the length of the promenade.  We were there for a couple hours while Susan and my mom did some dress shopping and I was entertained without spending more than a minute or two in an actual store.  After the shopping trip, we were beat so grabbed the dog and returned to Logan for another night relaxing at the apartment.

City Creek with Temple Square in the background

Sunday we awoke to chilly temps, low clouds and light rain…lovely.  My parents and I still trooped out for a morning run so we could earn our brunch at Angie’s.  Once done eating with the locals the weather was still gross, but we had planned to see some of Logan canyon and didn’t have a lot of other options on a Sunday in Utah.  We decided to drive through the canyon to Bear Lake to see if the weather was better on the other side of the mountains (it wasn’t).  It was actually much worse just before we got to Bear Lake when we hit the high altitudes and the snow.  As we came over the top to descend to the lake (where you are normally rewarded with a stunning panoramic view) we just saw low clouds.  Where was the Jimmy Dean sun when you needed him?

Making lemonade, we continued into town and descended to the point where the lake came into view.  By the time we got shore side, it was actually sunny, but too cold to get out for a hike.  Instead we drove north along the shore until we passed into Idaho before turning back and returning home.  Sunday evening we took the parents out to our favorite Chinese place, The Black Pearl to show off their Lo Mein.

Monday was the last full day of their visit and I had to work in the morning to not burn through all my vacation time.  At lunch time (in Utah), I called it a day and we ventured out to the Crepery for coffee and crepes.  Then since the weather was still depressing, we opted for indoor activities and visited the USU Art Museum.  It was small, but more than I expected from a University art museum.  We especially enjoyed trying to interpret the more abstract works.

Monday evening, we capped off the visit with yoga class (all four of us) followed by dinner at BW3’s which was crowded for a basketball game of some sort.  Tuesday morning, they took off for the airport completing their last visit to us while we are Utah residents.  I’m looking forward to seeing them (and the rest of the family) again in just a few weeks.

Spring Break Weekend in Park City

The evenings are growing longer and the Cache Valley is thawing out after a tough winter. I’m hesitant to claim victory over the cold weather quite yet, but the conditions have gotten much nicer in the past few weeks…I have even been able to ride my bike outside (once).

Thawing of Cache Valley

With spring in a college town comes spring break, and with spring break and a wife that works for the University comes vacation time. Unfortunately I did not receive time off work, but that didn’t keep Susan and me from taking a short weekend getaway down to Park City. The ski season is still on in Utah until April and we have not taken full advantage of our proximity to the mountains. This weekend would provide the opportunity to hit up the ski resorts while still in season before we move back to the Midwest. A co-worker of Susan (and friend of ours) splits her time between Park City and Logan and is plugged in to the tourism industry via her husband. She helped us plan our trip and was able to hook us up for the weekend with hotels, ski passes, ski gear and be my mountain escort on my day of skiing. We were very thankful for all of it.

Saturday morning we made our way down to Park City from Logan, only a 2 hour drive (a mere stone’s throw in the West) and arrived in town just before lunch time. We parked off Main Street, the historic and shopping hub of the city, and then walked to the lower end of main doing some light shopping along the way. I restocked on Mountain Town olive oil and balsamic vinegar (Delicious!) before we stopped for lunch at The Bridge. This was a small café that sits next to the Town Lift for the Park City Ski Resort (the resort that is pretty much right in town). The name the Bridge is in reference to the snow covered bridge that the skiers come across at the base of the runs to get to the Town Lift. The weather was around 50 and sunny and sitting outside next to the building we were protected from the chilly wind. It was nice to enjoy lunch in the sunshine with skiers coming and going around us.

Down Main Street – Park City

After lunch we worked our way back up main pretty much to the top of the commercial district before heading back to the car. We explored the areas above town (away from the highway) via car and got some good views of the city from above before making our way back to the main thoroughfare to check into our hotel. For Susan it was nap time, but I wasn’t ready to get out of the sun so I went for a walk to check out some of the bike trails and neighborhoods that surround the city. I sort of lost track of time / distance while taking in the scenery and ended up walking over 3 miles before getting back to the room.

Once Susan was ready to get going again, we drove down toward the interstate to some of the shopping developments and outlet malls down that way. An afternoon ice cream stop soothed Susan’s chocolate craving, which was the highlight of the venture. As the sun started to go down, it started to cool off significantly and so we moved back toward the hotel before stopping for dinner at Squatter’s Roadhouse, a brew pub for one of the main Utah breweries. It was crowded and didn’t have much of a waiting area so we chilled in the car until our table was ready. The food was standard pub fare…nothing spectacular, but tasty. We left satisfied and with a refilled growler for me, so no complaints. Since we had driven up to town in the morning and toured most of the day we were pretty beat and called it an early evening after dinner.

Sunday morning I arose before dawn to a completely different climate than the previous day. There was a light covering of snow down already and it was windy and cloudy out. It was just the type of weather that makes it difficult to convince yourself to run in. However, I ventured out anyways, but cut my run short after meandering around different parts of Park City and the outlying neighborhoods. I wanted to save some leg energy for the slopes.

Susan and I leisurely got packed and checked out of the hotel before meeting up with Trish, her aforementioned co-worker, in the parking lot of the Canyons Resort. She let me borrow skis and poles so all I had to rent were boots and a helmet (at her “family” discount) and was set to ski. Then we grabbed a non-skier lift ticket for Susan so she could ride to the Red Pine Lodge in mid-mountain and we could have easier access to her when it came time to take breaks.

Let’s Go Skiing

From there, I just basically followed Trish as she navigated us around the south side of the resort, stopping to wait for me (I’m slow) periodically. We stuck mostly to medium (blue) runs and skied in the vicinity of the Colony, the upscale housing community with ski in/out access to the Canyons. One of the longest runs we took was nearly 3 miles…these were no Perfect North slopes. After covering nearly 10 miles according to Trish’s ski iPhone app, we got back to the lodge for a snack break with Susan.

Back on the slopes, we headed to the North side but only skied a couple more runs before calling it a day. Susan and I wanted to get on the road to have plenty of time to get settled back in (and pick up Derby) Sunday evening so we weren’t planning on staying out too much longer. What hastened the end of the ski day was a tumble I took on the first run back out that spooked me a little and got my hands wet…speeding up their numbing. With the marathon I’m training for in the back of my mind the fall got me thinking about possible injury and I just couldn’t get back into the groove of skiing after it. The north side was much more exposed to the elements (it was windy with gusts up to 40+ mph) and was far icier than the slopes we skied in the morning so they weren’t as pleasant anyways.

Heading Back Down the Mountain

By mid-afternoon we were back at the car and driving back to Logan with clearing skies. The next event we are looking forward to (other than more thawing hopefully) is a visit from my parents just after my birthday.

“I Wanna Go Where It’s Warm”–A Winter Weekend Migration to Vegas

Since we’ve returned to the Cache Valley after the holidays we have been faced with the reality of a consistently dreary and cold Logan winter. Long-term locals are also struggling with the gray snowy weather, so maybe it’s just a harsh winter...or maybe I’m just not the mountain man I hoped to be (see: wimpy). Either way, Susan and I have been eager for a break from the cold and the inversion and finally got our chance this past weekend. An opportunity to be sold a time share in Las Vegas was jumped on last summer and realized over the President’s Day weekend. Basically, we had free accommodations less than 2 blocks off the Vegas Strip behind the Venetian. The catch was that we had to attend a sales pitch on Sunday afternoon…a fair exchange if you ask me. Here’s the recap of our Vegas experience.

Susan and I departed Logan (with Derby in tow) on Thursday evening after work. Our Valentine’s Day evening was spent romantically driving south along the Wasatch Front with a classy dinner stop at Chipotle in Sandy (to-go). This actually was quite a treat since we have no Chipotle’s in the Cache Valley and Susan had just been hit with a severe hankering for assembly line style pseudo Mexican food that just couldn’t be sated by the similar restaurants that are near us. We continued into the abyss that is south-central Utah before arriving at our pit stop for the night in St. George, just before the border. We kept with the classy V-day theme by crashing at the Motel 6 since pets stay free.

The next morning, I got a sunrise run in where I didn’t have to deal with snow or ice. The road I was on also gave me a nice view of the valley that St. George sits in. After stretching the legs, Susan and I loaded up and dropped off Derby at the Red Rocks Pet Resort for the remainder of the weekend…he also gets a vacation.

Only a couple hours after we got back on the road we were arriving in Las Vegas. With the size of the casinos and the flatness of the valley, you can see it coming from a long way off…even in the morning hours (without the lights). We went straight to our resort with the intent of just dropping off bags and parking the car, but they were actually ready for us to check in at 10:30 am. Settling into our 2 room condo, we noticed the headboard in the master bedroom was just lying across the bed. Either previous guests had partied hard, or it was not installed properly. Turns out, it hadn’t been installed at all as we were the first guests in this particular villa post-renovation, so had the honor of hanging our own headboard. Maybe this is a Vegas tradition I’m not aware of. Our room was enormous for the 2 of us and included a modern kitchen and a bathtub built for 6 (or more…we didn’t test the capacity limits).

Condo for the weekend

After unpacking and a quick strategy session we returned to the car and drove to the North end of the strip. This area is kind of a work in progress and includes some new condo complexes, some old casinos like Circus Circus and the Sahara, and big swaths of construction sites. We grabbed a small lunch at Rock n Rita’s in Circus Circus where we were treated to slow service, mediocre food, and a dismal beer selection…not recommended, even with our low expectations going in. From lunch, we hit the street and meandered up and down the north strip mostly just enjoying the sunny, 60 degree weather. We made our way as far as Stratosphere (the end of the strip) before stopping at a large souvenir shop and then returning to the car. Then it was back to the condo for a break before dinner.

Circus, Circus

Susan’s first time at the slots (with winnings!)

Stratosphere

In the evening, we caught the resort shuttle to Bally’s and walked over to Caesar’s Palace for our dinner reservations at Mesa Grill (a Bobby Flay restaurant). The restaurant was in the midst of the casino, but had its own ambience to not give the feeling of being in a casino. Everything about the dinner lived up to expectations and the honey salmon with spicy black bean sauce was excellent. Other highlights were the queso fundido with goat cheese, the mashed potatoes with queso crèma “gravy”, the tamales, and the blue corn cakes. We also enjoyed listening to the country bumpkin couple seated at the table next to us and clearly unsure of their first Vegas experience.

Ceasar’s Palace for the Mesa Grill

After dinner, the rest of the evening was spent doing more wandering along the strip, catching the Treasure Island pirate show (very risqué) and the Mirage volcano. We checked out the interiors of the Wynn and the Venetian casinos as well before catching the shuttle back to the resort.

Strip at night

Waiting for the volcano show

During the volcano show at the Mirage

After the Treasure Island pirate show

Winn Chinese New Year dislplay   &   The canal in the Venetian

Saturday morning began with a run out to the Welcome to Vegas sign, then back down the strip. It’s basically a rite of passage run in Vegas and there were plenty of other runners out on similar routes. Of course it’s also a terribly inconvenient run since the strip includes winding sidewalks with lots of pedestrians, catwalks (with stairs) to cross busy intersections, and lots of crosswalks. I had fun with it though and one time tried to sneak across the street sans catwalk, but ended up getting caught out in the road before jumping a fence back to sidewalk safety…good fun.

The majority of the day was spent exploring the strip near the South end. Areas seen were the New York, New York casino, the new City Center area including the Aria casino (very nice and spa-like atmosphere), and the Bellagio with a fountain show. Susan was offended by the Faith Hill accompaniment to the fountains. After missing our return shuttle at Bally’s we walked back to the resort for a break. Luckily it was another beautiful sunny day.

New York, New York

Jeff at M&M World   &   Susan in front of Paris

Fountain show

Another Chinese New Year’s display.  This time at Aria.

Saturday night we ventured back to the strip and to the MGM grand for the Cirque du Soliel, Kà. This show has less of the mind-blowing acrobatic tricks, but has a linear story-line with stunts and acrobatics worked into the plot. The stage for the show is on a giant mechanical arm, allowing the stage to orient in nearly any direction. At times it was used vertically as a wall or a backdrop, while other times it was flat and even recessed into the ground a bit. Watching the performers gracefully navigate the stage amidst it moving was impressive. The story was hard to follow at times since there is no dialogue, but we kept up pretty well. Overall it was definitely worth the price of admission.

Post-show, having walked our legs off throughout the day, we just ventured across the street to New York, New York where we played around on some penny slots, grabbed a casual snack dinner, and basically killed time before catching our shuttle back to the resort for the night.

In “Times Square”

Sunday morning, we slept in. Originally, we had planned to venture out to Hoover Dam in the AM, but just weren’t feeling up for it. Instead, I went for a late morning run away from the strip to the convention center and we hung around at the resort pool for a little bit until lunch time. In the early afternoon was the dreaded sales pitch. We grabbed some food and made our way to the sales center for our “three hour tour.”

At around 4pm, we emerged mostly unscathed and with $200 cash (our reimbursement for the money we paid up front long ago). Not wanting to waste the whole day, we immediately hopped in the car and drove to the far south end of the strip and parked at Mandalay Bay. Here we took in the aquarium which is small, but includes an impressive shark tank as the main attraction. After the aquarium it was back to what we do best, wandering. This time we toured Mandalay Bay, Luxor, and Excalibur before returning to the car and venturing off-strip for dinner.

Susan with the Vegas sign

Mandalay Bay Aquarium

Luxor

Excalibur

Our goal was to have Thai at the recommended Lotus of Siam, but we were unaware that it was a reservations necessary kind of place. We walked in to a 2 hour wait at 8pm on Sunday…it must be good. We weren’t into that kind of waiting though, so instead ventured in the direction of the resort before stopping at Mint Indian Restaurant just across from UNLV’s campus. It was delicious, on par with our favorite Indian establishment in Cincinnati…so we were no longer lamenting missing out on the Thai goodness. We wound down the evening relaxing at the resort.

Monday arrived and it was time to venture back to the winter. We checked out and left Vegas, but before long stopped to take in the warmth one last time. Our stop was at The Valley of Fire State Park, a red-rock preserve NE of Vegas. We drove a portion of the scenic byway and stopped to climb on the rocks at a few places, basking in the sun. There weren’t many regulations about where you could venture on foot, so it was kind of like a natural adult playground. I did a lot of scrambling up rocks while we were there.

Before long though, it was time to hit the road for the long drive back to Logan. We grabbed a tired Derby in St. George where he behaved wonderfully according to his report card. We arrived back in Logan around 8pm to 20 degree weather, rejuvenated somewhat to begin looking forward to spring…hopefully not too far forward though.