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I'm back. Back home. Back to a regular schedule. Back to reality.

It has felt like I've been gone longer than I have, but I think being in so many different places in a short amount of time will do this to you. I feel like a gypsy, maybe. Although I didn't steal anything (aside from the cool pen in the room at Sundance) and didn't wear anything outlandish (aside from my newly purchased ski socks).

Utah was beautiful. I have been there twice before - once as a six-year old on a six-week family vacation out west, and once when I worked for Einstein's. I don't remember much of either time, except for the mountains. I never forget mountains. Something about them makes me feel so tiny compared to their enormous peaks and deep valleys. Going fast down the mountains on two thin pieces of wood also makes you respect them quickly. And there's nothing like driving at night near the mountains, with stars overhead and small twinkling towns below.

Sundance is in the middle of nowhere, about 45 minutes from Salt Lake City. You get there by way of a winding mountain road lined with tall pine trees and a running stream. At the top of this road, you are suddenly at Sundance. Sundance sits in the valley of towering mountains with snow-capped peaks. All of the buildings are rustic, but not rustic in the dilapidated, dirty sense. Rustic as in wide-planked wood floors, western accents in all of the dining rooms and rooms, and "Western" cuisine in all of its restaurants. Is there rehab for red-meat eaters? Because I think I had some sort of red meat at every meal, no joke. Here is one of the rustic buildings at Sundance. The rehearsal studio, I think they call it:

This is one of the set of stairs that we had to take from the main lodge area to our suite. It goes up, and then a trail winds back and forth up the hill:These are the stairs that went up to our suite. (It's behind the pine trees to the left):Here is our dream house that was up the hill from our suite. It was humongous!: And then there's the Robert Redford factor. Because he is the founder of Sundance, and has such a hand in everything there, every available wall space has a picture on it. The pictures are from some of Redford's famous parts (a lot from Butch Cassidy, for obvious reasons), and some are of other famous actors who have come to Sundance for various reasons. One of my favorites is a trio of pictures of Alan Alda and another actor giving what looks like an interview on a stage. Alan Alda is caught in the first picture smiling his famous smile. In the second one, he is beginning to laugh. And in the third he is laughing hysterically. It's a classic.

Chris and I skied one day at Sundance. We decided to take a lesson since it had been a while since we both had skied. After being paired with our instructor, we were told to wait for more people. When no one else showed up, we were told to go. We got a private lesson for the price of a group lesson. Yay for us! Our instructor, Wendy, was great. She grew up skiing at Sundance, and had been a full-time instructor prior to becoming a teacher. Now she instructs on the weekends. She taught us all kinds of tips to help us improve our skiing, but most importantly, to build our confidence. By the end of the time with her, we were looking good! Chris and I stayed a while longer trying to get more practice. Here is Chris and Wendy on the lift:

It was a fantastic day for skiing. It had just snowed the day before and the sun was out.

After skiing, we both got massages and relaxed before going to dinner at the Tree Room. I had more meat, a buffalo steak. Wow, was that good. It was served with a potato gratin stack that was just as good.

The next morning, before leaving for Park City, we went to brunch at Sundance. And what do you know? I had more meat. How could I resist steak eggs Benedict?!

Park City was beautiful, but definitely more touristy than Sundance. (Sorry, I don't have any pictures of Park City, and Chris unfortunately lost her camera this weekend). The downtown area of Park City is an old miner's town, and the streets are lined with shops and restaurants. The mountains look like they just come straight up from this little town. One of the lifts for the Park City resort actually starts in downtown Park City.

Chris and I looked around the downtown area for a bit, and then went tubing at a nearby tubing hill. It was nice that they had a tow rope for the tubes, otherwise I would've been whipped by the second or third time up! That altitude gets me every time...

That night we went to the No Name Saloon, where, what else could I eat but a buffalo burger? It was just the casual place that we wanted after a few days of upscale eating at Sundance.

We did go skiing in Park City at The Canyons. It was snowing pretty hard already in the morning, so we were a little hesitant to commit to skiing that day. Chris finally said, "We're here, we might as well go." So we did. I'm so glad we did. We were able to practice more of the tips that Wendy gave us at Sundance, and by the time we stopped, we were looking even better. We came in from outside just in time. As more people came off the mountain, they had inches of snow on their hats and helmets. The snow picked up intensity the rest of the afternoon and evening, so our trip to the airport the next morning was a bit treacherous. (Thanks again for driving, Chris!).

It was just what the doctor ordered: Time with my fabulous friend, fun, relaxation, and delicious food. Ahhh.