Mauve On The Move: Beyond Salt Lake City

by Mauverneen

Previously I posted about my trip to Salt Lake City, Utah - now it's time for the rest of the story!

Touring SLC and seeing the Lake was just one of several day trips. My base was actually in Park City. While SLC is down in the 'bowl', Park City is higher up in the hills; about a 3000 ft difference in elevation.

Early October was a beautiful time to be there. The Aspens were in their golden glory!

A light dusting of snow on one or two days only added more magic to the beauty of the mountains.

My daughter and son-in-law happily showed me around their new home, taking me to scenic spots and favorite new restaurants they had found - fun for all of us.

The area is very scenic- which is why I am keeping words to a minimum this week. I want to share some of those glorious sights! Looking up at the mountains always leaves me awestruck and looking out over the vistas from the tops of those mountains is breathtaking. Around every turn the scenery is amazing.

We spent some time in Park City itself, a quaint town with an abundance of restaurants - both casual and upscale - and an abundance of trendy, upscale shopping.

One evening before dinner we went to the St. Regis for a pre-dinner glass of wine

The hotel sits atop a mountain and the restaurant is accessible via a ride in the funicular up the side of that mountain. As we ascended, the lights of the town slowly revealed themselves before us. The outdoor patio was ablaze with firepits spread throughout the landscaping - welcome warmth on a chilly evening and oh-so-inviting!

The Sunday we went to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir we went to a restaurant afterwards, for brunch.

Entrance to La Caille

Calling it a restaurant however seems an injustice. Just outside SLC proper, La Caille is an elegant farm to table dining experience that felt more like a trip to the French countryside, with it's beautifully landscaped grounds, roaming peacocks and vineyard.

We drove to Sundance and took a ride on the ski lift to enjoy the view and take a short hike. We stayed for lunch. On a wall inside one of the buildings is this beautiful sentiment written by Robert Redford.

''This place in the mountains,

amid nature's casualness toward death and birth,

is the perfect host for the inspiration of ideas:

harsh at times, life-threatening in its winters of destruction,

but tender in attention to the details

of every petal of every wildflower resurrected in the spring.

Nature and creativity obey the same laws,

to the same end: life."

We drove through forests of Aspen and evergreens and were awestruck at the beauty of our surroundings.

Another day we drove in another direction and found waterfalls

and mountain lakes.

And just over the hill from where they live is a reservoir, where a few sailboats were out enjoying summer's late gift of perfect weather.

We drove high up a mountain to hike - but didn't hike.The high elevation put hiking outside of my comfort range so we drove back down to enjoy the Oktoberfest celebration at Snowbird Resort.