Summer Trip - Part 3: Crested Butte

Dave says: When our time in Park City was finished, we still had one more bike destination to visit. Crested Butte has been on our list for a while but we had never visited. This year, we had some great friends to be our guides and show us around on the best trails. Crested Butte has big mountain views and incredible wild flowers. Unlike the smooth and flowy trails of Park City, every ride felt like a backcountry adventure. Even though we were feeling pretty fit, we were grinding our way up some relentless climbs and then plunging down through some fun techy descents. Somehow Alisha was doing all this while sick with a lingering cough. Highlights included Teocali, Dr Park, and the 401. The bike park was also really good, especially the double black Psycho Rocks.

The kids had a good time in Crested Butte. Camp was right near by and they also had lots of adults to hang out with and entertain them. Every morning they liked to go play in the flowers right next to the condo. We also found surprisingly good food in Crested Butte at pretty much every restaurant we tried. Crested Butte may have crushed our legs but we're already looking forward to our next visit.

Summer Trip - Part 2: Park City (Mountain Biking)

Dave says: Park City is mountain bike heaven and we wore ourselves out enjoying hours and hours of great riding. This year there was late snow lingering in the high mountains and so it took a few days before we could hit some of our favorites like Wasatch Crest. The typical daily schedule involved dropping the kids off at camp and then going on a long ride that finished somewhere with lunch and then riding a bit more after that. We also had lift passes to allow for some extra downhill runs. 

We rode with a bunch of great people including Sonny, Matt, and some of the other Jetset guys. I hit some double blacks with Aleks. Lauren joined us one day for a big Wasatch Crest loop. Deer Valley's newest flow trail, Undertow, did not disappoint and felt like a bike roller coaster. Overall, the weather was great and we had a blast.

Summer Trip - Part 2: Park City (Kids)

Alisha says: The kids were fun and challenging on the trip. Okay if I am being completely honest they were mostly challenging. Jade was pretty good but a typical 17 month year old and into everything, she didn't like to sleep through the night and ended up sleeping in our bed most nights but she did good at kid camp, was a great hiker and still a sweet pea. Skye had brief moments of sweetness but was also very whiny and clingy which was partly due to her missing her afternoon daily nap for many days in a row. She really didn't like kids camp and became very anxious and drop offs were not fun with lots of tears. The counselors then said that she became very emotional and clingy to just one counselor and wouldn't play much without someone being right with her. It was rough because then when we would pick her up she was hungry and tired and the cycle continued. 

There are a lot of fun things to do with kids though so we persevered and rode bikes to the park, rode the trolley, bus, gondola, and ski lifts. We ate yummy meals at Vessel and Zupas. We hiked and listened to music. We celebrated the 4th of July at the parade.

Listening to music at the Deer Valley summer concert series

Skye loved riding the Trolley. We also rode the bus a number of times. I think it is good for kids to get exposed to things different from their regular home routine and being on trips is a great time to do this.

We rode our bikes with the kids to the park a few times. This time we rode to the Canyons and then rode the gondola.

Going for a walk after riding the gondola up to Red Pine Lodge. Jade was a great little hiker and Skye did a lot of whining and wanting to be carried because her "legs ran out of batteries".

4th Of July Celebrations at the main street parade

Jade's first experience with snow. We found a small patch of crusty snow on another little hike.

Summer Trip - Part 2: Park City (Family Time)

Alisha says: Our summer trip is also a great time to see family that lives scattered around Utah at least once a year. We took the opportunity to meet up with my sister Amber and her family on a perfect overcast day at Lagoon. There were lots of rides that were geared for little kids and even Jade got to ride her first roller coaster (it may have been a little much for her but she survived). Skye got to ride the medium sized roller coaster Bombora and it ended up being her favorite ride. It was super cute to hear say how much fun she had. We had so much fun that we actually came back the next weekend for a second day and while we still had fun it was much hotter and we were missing the cousins to go on rides with.

We also met up with my brother, Richard, and his family at Wheeler Farm where we saw animals and fed the ducks. We then had some Thai lunch followed by a swim in the pool at their house. 

Lagoon

Wheeler Farm

Summer Trip - Part 1: Cedar City

Dave says: We started our big summer trip in the usual way with an initial stop in Cedar City. Our kids love to play with Brody and Elsie and there is always a lot going on. Some of the highlights from this year include bike rides around town on the path, going to the aquatic center, and playing in the back yard. Alisha and I also managed to sneak out for some bike rides ourselves. We hit Gooseberry Mesa one day which was one of the best rides of the whole trip (now that Alisha has the tech skills). We also enjoyed the growing network of trails around Cedar City.