Rockies Road Trip Day Seven: "Where the Real Fireworks Happened"

The weather was significantly different on Friday morning compared to the brilliant blue skies of Independence Day.  Thank You Lord for blessing the holiday with such perfect weather compared to the rain and dreariness that came the next day.  For us, it just made it a tad easier to say "Farewell" to Breckenridge and proceed on to our next destination, Park City, Utah.  This is where we had breakfast before leaving Breckenridge - you can tell the skies aren't nearly as pretty.  

The distance from Breckenridge to Park City was a mere seven hours, so we were feeling a lot better about getting that accomplished compared to being in the double digits.  We went on a more direct scenic route through Steamboat Springs - which not only got us there faster (take that Mapquest!), but was much more interesting.  Pretty soon, though, it felt more like Utah than Colorado....

We pulled into Park City at a decent time - right around 5pm.  Which was ideal enough to unload our stuff and turn around to head into the old town district for dinner.  This was another of the "full service" hotels we stayed at (though on points) - and you just wanted to sneak around the bellhop so that we could "please do it ourselves" and not have to fork out more money.  No luck.  And, we hit the hotel at a time they were doing renovations, so it was kind of haphazard with what it offered compared to what it promised.  But, it was nice.

We were given directions to a dinner spot that was "family friendly" and "American Fare".  Apparently they don't know our family very well when the menu showed "Kid Meals" at $12 each.  Really?  For Mac and Cheese?  The decision to leave was helped by Brayden who was especially worn out and not pleased with anything offered.  Awkward to leave after being seated? Well, yes.  Worth it?  Yes again.

We then decided to wander main street - bad attitudes collectively escalating due to hunger and fatigue.

We eventually ended up here - at the base of the tram. 

And, we opted to eat at the much more affordable "The Bridge" - that served breakfast all day long...(yeah for French Toast!).    (Note Brayden's posture...still not feeling that thrilled with life...though eating definitely helped). 

The kids asked for Shirley Temple's at every sit down restaurant we went to.  I think they mostly liked trying to stab the maraschino cherries with their straws.

Mikayla was in a festive mood.

Once we finished our meals, we walked over to the tram to take a ride up.  The gal said it could take up to two hours to get back down, and given the storm clouds moving in, definitely discouraged it.  Mikayla heard that and was like, "NO, NO, NO!!!!"  

I feel like we didn't give Park City the attention it deserved that night - just too much to compare it to between Jackson and Breckenridge, and too tired to explore beyond what we saw at dinner (which was kind of a put off as they had a singer/performer in the tram square that sounded like something we'd hear in our own folksy town - not our style at all, in fact, kind of grating).  

We decided we'd take a little time in Park City before making it to Redding the next day to give it a little more of a chance.  In the meantime, it was time for a visit to the pool.   This was by far the coolest feature of the hotel - but it was WAY CROWDED.   The kids were fine with it, but as little toddlers were jumping into the "meant-for-adults" hot tub and using it as their kiddie pool, I found my blood pressure rising.  Definitely nearing on the tail end of the trip in terms of my patience for such things.  It did finally clear out though - and as it did, I chilled out.  =)

 

The evening ended on a dramatic note with a glorious lightening storm (very wise choice to avoid the tram!).  I'm trying to work on getting the video up that we took, though for many that live in areas besides the northwest, this sort of stuff is probably second nature.  We, on the other hand, don't get many of these storms  - a couple of times a year, so I am much more in awe.  Mikayla was pleased to be inside and know it couldn't get to her, so she was my little pal at the window while the guys slept, both of us trying to capture "God's Fireworks Show" with our ipads or cell phones.  A special memory indeed.