Weekly Newsletter: February, 5th-11th, 2024

This week was packed with fun activities! We met up with some "new" friends, made some yummy homemade pizzas, and witnessed the spectacle that is... Skijoring! 🐴 ⛷️

Check out our new posts and videos 🆕 🎥 📝

Two-Week Road Trip Through Oregon with Friends: Part 6

A summary of our Oregon road trip. Highlights of the coast, Northern California, and interior Oregon. This is part 6 of the multi-part series.

Keith and LindseyLindsey Huster

Finally meeting some "new" friends 🎿 🛬

It was nearly 4 years ago when Barry and his son Joe first contacted us via our YouTube channel. Barry and Joe were excited to come out to Utah to ski and meet with us. We were just as excited to meet them as well.

Unfortunately, due to several uncontrollable circumstances, including the COVID-19 Pandemic, Barry and Joe's trip to Utah never happened. That was, until this week. 🎉 Barry reached out to us once again to let us know that he, Joe, and Joe's friend Cooper were heading to Utah for a week of skiing. We were super stoked to finally get a chance to meet them all.

Unfortunately, due to timing and Keith's limited vacation schedule this year, we were not able to ski with them. We did however get to meet them for dinner at Bandits' Grill & Bar in Cottonwood Heights, UT. They also sent us a few pictures of their great time skiing at Brighton Resort in Big Cottonwood Canyon.

Pizza night at home 🍕 🏡

Lindsey decided to try out a new pizza recipe this week. We typically make a naan-style flatbread pizza but this new recipe was more of a foccacia-style thick crust. Lindsey hand-made the dough and then we loaded the pies with all sorts of ingredients; ham, pineapple, sweet peppers, pepperoni, and lots of cheese!

The pizzas turned out perfectly. The crust was thick, bubbly, crispy on the outside and a little gooey on the inside. This may be our new favorite pizza dough recipe.

An over-the-top brunch in SLC 🥞 🥚

Speaking of food, we also checked out an over-the-top brunch spot on the north-side of Salt Lake City; Marmalade Brunch House.

This boutique brunch spot offers delicious sweet and savory breakfast options. It also has a "mimosa bar" where you get to pick a selection of berries and juices to mix with the table-side champagne service. We didn't partake in the mimosa bar this time because we had plans after breakfast.

We did order a selection several scrumptious options from the menu. Keith ordered the Blueberry and Lemon Curd Pancakes (of course 🥞 🤤). Lindsey ordered the Biscuits and Gravy and a Bloody Mary. We also shared a Beignet Basket to round out our brunch. This was definitely an over-the-top and much-enjoyed meal.

Skijoring in downtown Salt Lake City 🐴 🎿

We decided to skip skiing on Saturday to attend the Salt Lake Winter Roundup in downtown Salt Lake City. This event was put on to promote various events around the area including the Professional Bull Riding rodeo and Skijoring!

We first learned about Skijoring a few years ago when we ran across the event being held near Heber, UT. Skijoring is a strange yet exciting mashup of horse racing and skiing. A skier is pulled behind a horse that races across a snow-covered course. The skier has to maneuver across several jumps while collecting a set of rings around their arm. Yeah, it's as crazy to watch as it sounds.

This Salt Lake Winter Roundup hosted the nation's first "urban Skijoring" event. Several tons of snowed were hauled in from Solitude Ski Resort to create the race course in downtown SLC. The event had a festival-vibe with lots of popular early-2000's music being played for the crowd to dance and sing along with. We were both so excited to finally get to witness the spectacle of Skijoring once again.

Tour Divide training update 🚵‍♂️ 🥵

Keith took on three huge indoor hill-climb training rides this week. On Monday, he took on the Road to the Sky route which includes the infamous Alpe Du Zwift climb to kick off the week. This route is just over 20 miles (32 kilometers) with 3,547 feet (1081 meters) of climbing. What a way to kick off the week! However, this would be the "small" ride of the week...

On Tuesday, Keith stepped it up a notch by taking on the Quatch Quest route. This route takes the rider over several smaller climbs, including the Epic KOM climb before finally ending with the Alpe Du Zwift climb. Keith also threw in the Radio Tower Climb as an added bonus. 🤪 In total, this route consisted of 37.5 miles (60.4 kilometers) with 6,060 feet (1,847 meters) of climbing.

On Thursday, to wrap up the training week, Keith went all out. He took on back-to-back climbs up Alpe Du Zwift without stopping! He rode the Road to the Sky route and completed the first climb up to the top. He then focused on recovery spinning and refueling during the descent back down the mountain. Upon reaching the bottom, he immediately turned around and headed back up to the top. In total, this route consisted of 37 miles (59.5 kilometers) with 7,008 feet (2,136 meters) of climbing.

This was a brutal training week but also necessary to prepare Keith for what he will go through on his attempt at the 2024 Tour Divide. All in all, Keith covered 94.5 miles (152 kilometers) and climbed 16,615 feet (5,064 meters).

Upcoming posts and videos 👷‍ 👷‍♀️️

Keith is still working on the posts from our Las Vegas trip. We will get those out as soon as possible. Keith is writing posts from our tours of the Titanic and Bodies exhibits. Be sure to subscribe to our blog so that you don't miss out.

We haven't been recording our ski season this year. We have a lot of footage over the past few years from Snowbird so we haven't been too excited about recording more. Would you like to see more of our skiing videos? Let us know in the comments below.

We hope that you are enjoying our newsletters. What did you think about the Skijoring event? Does your hometown have any unique events such as this? Let us know in the comments section below.👇 💬