Trip to Utah/Las Vegas: Part 3

Part 3

Day 6

We got up early as we had a very busy day ahead of us. Tyler and Kam grabbed breakfast from our favorite Kneaders and we drove to Moroni to visit Tyler's mom. She was so excited to see Kameron! This was a bittersweet visit because Kam's Grandpa Joel passed away while Kam was on his mission so this was his first time seeing Grandma Judie without Grandpa Joel.

My mother-in-law is a trooper. She has handled losing my father-in-law with grit and determination. She loves living in Sanpete county and doesn't want to leave. She has a ward that looks out for her and takes great care of her. She is independent and strong but I know that the days can be long and lonely for her so she tries to stay busy. Tyler was happy to be able to help her with some projects. He told her to make a list and she did. We were busy all day but it felt nice to be able to help her. 

She wanted to hear all about Kam's mission. Judie was excited to share memories from her mission too. She was a sister missionary back in the 1960s when not many women served missions. She was excited share her insights and to talk about the ways that missions are the same and different. Judie also had some special things that were Joel's that she had set aside to give to Kameron. It meant a lot to him. It was hard for Kam to be on his mission and away from family when Joel passed away.

Kam was able to help Judie set up a Venmo account and some other apps that she wanted put on her phone. It was cute to see them together. Grandparents are a precious commodity. Our kids are already down 4 with only two left. One they don't really know (my father) and their Grandma Judie. I am so glad that we made this trip.

We also went to the cemetery. Judie just had the headstone placed. We brought flowers and Kameron was given a chance to pay his respects to his Grandpa Joel. We had a great day with Judie. We enjoyed getting things done for her and also sitting around her kitchen table talking, eating, and sharing memories. She is having a new garage built and we were able to meet the guy who is building it for her and it was really nice for her to have some special one-on-one time with Kameron and also with Tyler. Usually we see her in a big crowd of people with a lot going on. It was nice to have some quiet conversations.

I love this picture that was painted by Tyler's Grandma Kofford that hangs on the wall at Judie's house.

Later that night we had dinner at La Casita which is one of my favorite restaurants. It is always so good! We also managed to hit BYU Creamery right before it closed and I got my favorite Sparkle Sherbet. 

Amazing!

Day 7

The next day we did a bunch of shopping while in SLC. Kameron still needed some new clothes for college and Utah has some great shopping! We also tried to eat all of the things that we don't have in Spokane. Ha ha!

We sadly do not have Corn Dog on a Stick in Spokane. Tragedy! I love corn dogs! Even though Corn Dog on a Stick is only a sad imitation of The Corn Dog Factory that used to be in University Mall and was my mom's favorite *fast food*/mall food. We would get corn dogs and lemonade every time we went to the mall with her as kids. It was always so hard for me as a child to choose which type of corn dog I wanted...the shiska dog, the cheese, the sausage, or the original. If my mom was feeling particularly generous we could get two and my order was ALWAYS the shiska dog (cheese/hotdog/cheese/hotdog) and the cheese (all cheese no hotdog). Ahh...the memories. Corn Dog on a Stick does not offer the shiska dog nor a sausage dog so my order is always an original and the cheese (cheese only). They are so good and I get my fix! Did I mention that this was our breakfast! LOL. We got there right after they opened.

We did a ton of shopping at the mall, outlets, and a bunch of other places. Kam got what he needed and we found Ailey her elusive Zara pants that I literally had to fight other Utah moms for while trying to find Ailey's particular size and color. Good grief. Take it down a notch Utah moms!!

Kameron chose Cubby's for lunch. He had companions on his mission that would wax poetic about the joys of Cubby's and since none of us had ever been there before he wanted to check it out. His old comp told him exactly what he had to order. I was still stuffed from my *healthy* corn dog breakfast but I did enjoy a very tasty rice krispie treat and part of Tyler's strawberry buttermilk shake. I also tried all of the stuff that Kameron ordered too. Delicious! But it was that strawberry buttermilk shake that sent us over the edge for the rest of the summer as we attempted to recreate it. It was SO GOOD!

After lunch we headed over to Kirk and Meki's house. It was so good to see all of them especially for Kameron! Kirk is a much beloved favorite uncle to our kids and always has been. Our niece Kaiya's boyfriend was in town. They are both professional ballet dancers. Her boyfriend had been on the East Coast doing a summer intensive with a ballet company there. It was fun to catch up with them and also with our dear friend, Julie, who is now my honorary sister. She came and joined in on the fun along with our two nephews. We had a blast with all of them!

Kirk couldn't decided between two restaurants that he wanted us to try. We ended up eating dinner at Via 313 Pizza because he wanted us to try the Detroit style pizza.  It was good! Also lucky for us the other place that Kirk wanted us to try, The Crack Shack, was right next door. We ordered food from both!! Kirk picked up our Crack Shack order and brought it back to Via 313. It was a delicious meal! Then we topped it off with ice cream from Spilled Milk... a family favorite!

We had so much fun with all of them and another very late night! 

Day 8

This was the day that we were scheduled to fly home. We had some time to kill before our flight and we made the most of it! We made an early morning pilgrimage up Provo Canyon. I, of course, had to spend time in Springdell and my beloved canyon. We stopped at Bridal Veil Falls too. The place where Tyler and I met. We regaled Kam with the story of our meeting. One he has annoyingly heard millions times and could quote back to us. LOL. "I was parked right over there when I heard someone whistle and yell "Kris'"...ha ha!  I never get enough time in my canyon. It was BEAUTIFUL in the morning light! 

We had a late breakfast in SLC at Schmidt's Bakery. Yum. Then we drove up to Snowbird to ride the tram. We always talk about doing this with the kids when we are in town and then never do. Too bad it wasn't Fall. That is my favorite time to ride the tram.

Where it was sunny and pretty in Provo Canyon...it was rainy and misty in Little Cottonwood Canyon.

While we were up on top, a storm quickly began moving in. It made the landscape even more dramatic.

Just as we were catching the tram to go back down, they evacuated the top due to lightening danger. They also closed down the tram due to the rain. We were the last tram. We got up there just in the nick of time and were able to enjoy the gorgeous views before the storm hit.

We did some more shopping at Snowbird and wandered around for a bit. I have so many memories of spending time at Snowbird with my family and then also with Tyler when he and I were dating. It is definitely a special place.

After Snowbird we headed downtown to City Creek. We walked all over and ate Greek food. Kristen Chenoweth was at a book signing while we were there. That was pretty exciting! I love her! It's always fun to have a celebrity sighting! She wrote a children's book that she was promoting. I tried to buy it but it was already sold out. Bummer.

After that we wandered over to Temple Square. As we emerged from City Creek, Tyler said, "Wow. It's crazy to see the temple like that." I legit looked right at the temple and said, "Where's the temple?" I literally didn't recognize what I was looking at. LOL.

The SLC Temple is unrecognizable. It's bizarre. I knew that it was being renovated but, not living in Utah, it wasn't really at the forefront of my mind. I also didn't realize how intensely it was being renovated and that the Visitors Center and some of the other buildings were gone too. It was shocking.

Temple Square seemed incredibly small and it was weird to see it all deconstructed. It will be several years before all of the work is done. At least there were some pockets of beauty and a few recognizable buildings!

The flowers are still as lovely as ever. I want to recreate some of their color schemes.

That was all that we had time to do before heading to the airport. Our flight was delayed for an hour due to the co-pilot's previous flight being delayed. I guess we didn't have to make such a mad dash to the airport!! Tyler likes to be there way too early and I don't like sitting at the airport for hours. This often makes for some tense drives to the airport! LOL. All in all, we had such a fun trip and it was so special to be able to have some alone time with Kameron after two long years! 

Trip to Utah/Las Vegas 2022: Part 2

 Part 2

Day 3

This was the day that we set aside to visit with my father. We got up early so that we could attend church with him. This was the second time that Tyler and I have attended his ward and we now know quite a few people. My dad was excited to introduce his return missionary grandson to everyone. It turns out that his current bishop is the brother of our friend Matt here in Spokane.

After church we went back to my dad's house to change out of our church clothes and then he took us out to eat. We ate at Lucille's again. It's a fun place. We are always up for Southern food!

After lunch we went to Gayle's grave to pay our respects. Then my dad wanted to show Kameron the Las Vegas Temple so we went there too and walked around the grounds.

After the temple, we went back to my dad's house. We took some pictures and spent the rest of the day visiting with him.

My dad wanted to hear all about Kameron's mission and he wanted to share some of his experiences from his mission to Argentina. He is also starting to go through his home and pair things down (THANK GOODNESS) and give away some of his sentimental items. It's actually quite nice to do it this way because he can explain why he wants particular people to have particular things and give us the history.

We had a very nice day together. It was good for Kameron to get to know my dad and they enjoyed their time together. We also facetimed with the girls and it was fun for everyone to be able to talk together. My dad had cake and ice cream for us that night just like my Grandpa and Grandma McKinnon always had on Sunday nights. It was fun to keep that tradition alive.

Later that night we were back out exploring the Strip. Kameron was interested in seeing as many of the hotels/casinos as possible so we walked our legs off!

It was really fun and we had another midnight feast. This time hot dogs and gelato!

Day 4 

We woke up craving a very *special* breakfast! Nothing gets your morning started right like New York pizza and cannoli for breakfast! Ha ha! It was amazing and I don't even like pizza. So that's saying something!

After breakfast we hopped on the monorail to go to the far end of the Strip to see some of the other casinos and to go shopping.

Kam wanted to see the New York New York which is always fun!

We ate lunch at Greenberg and Sons, a New York style deli. 

They have delicious Ruebens!!

Kam wanted to stop at the two story Taco Bell Cantina for a snack. LOL.

There were so many flavors of freezes! 

Tyler and Kameron wanted to go shopping at Ron Jon's at Mandalay Bay so we went there too. The boys bought shorts, t-shirts, and swimsuits.

We finally got to try Best Friend!!

Kirk has been telling us for years that we HAVE to eat at Best Friend at the Park MGM. We tried to eat there last year but it was still COVID-y and it was closed. This time we tried to make reservations but they were booked out for weeks. They did do to-go orders so at least we finally got to taste the kimchi fried rice that Kirk had been raving about. He was right! It was delicious! Kirk and I are crazy for kimchi!

We also like to eat at Eataly that is in the Park MGM. We picked up our to-go order from Best Friend and grabbed more food from Eataly and had dinner there.

We got a pasta dish and two different slices of pizza. The balls of fresh mozzarella on the pasta and pizza were incredible! So good! We ate well!

Then we were off to the MGM Grand. We went to our first Cirque du Soleil show. Tyler's co-worker recommended this show to us when we were here last year with the girls but it was still closed due to COVID. This time we were able to get tickets and FINALLY got to experience Cirque du Soleil. It was weird ((French clowns) and cool. The stunts were definitely amazing! 

After the show we hopped back on the monorail and went to the Linq Promenade to ride the High Roller.

This was the first time that we have gone up at night. It was really pretty and we were able to watch the Bellagio Water Show from up high. 

After that we stood on the street and watched Ken Block's Hoonigan Las Vegas stunt car racing being filmed in front of the Paris hotel for almost two hours. Tyler and Kam were stoked! I had never heard of him or the show. They could have stood there for two more hours. I could not. But it was pretty exciting.

Then somehow we found ourselves after midnight eating at Pizza Cake once again! It really is so good! We returned to our hotel in the early hours of the morning. Another fun-filled day!

Day 5

We slept in. It was much needed! We were heading back to Utah but before we left we stopped to do some shopping at the North Las Vegas outlets. I was super excited because they have a Kate Spade store. My favorite! I left loaded down with a new purse, wallet, shoes, and phone case. Tyler and Kameron kept encouraging me to keep spending! Now I wish I would have listened to them and got a few more things!  LOL. 

We also FINALLY got to try Shake Shack. Delicious!!

We drove back to Utah county late that afternoon with a second stop in St. George for more Nielsen's Custard! We got to our hotel late. We grabbed some dinner on our way to the hotel and ate it in bed. We were exhausted!!

Part 3... to be continued.