Weekly Newsletter: November 20th-26th, 2023

We hope that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend! 🦃 We are super thankful for everyone who takes the time to read our blog. 😄 We spent some time relaxing at Snowbird Ski Resort this week before the ski season begins next week. We also visited downtown Salt Lake City to view the incredible Macy's candy window display.

Check out our new posts and videos 🆕 🎥 📝

Two-Week Road Trip Through Oregon with Friends: Part 2

We continued our trip along the Oregon coast and visited Cresent City, California. This is part 2 of the multi-part series.

Keith and LindseyLindsey Huster

Celebrating Thanksgiving at Snowbird 🦃 🏔️

Keith has been in charge of planning and cooking the meal for Thanksgiving each year since we moved to Utah. If you don't already know, each year, Keith plans a themed meal using all of the traditional Thanksgiving ingredients in a non-traditional manner. For example, we have had tur-ham-ken roulade, Mexican lasagna, Chinese hot pot, etc.

This year though, Keith has been incredibly focused on his Tour Divide training so we decided to take a break from our tradition and instead celebrate Thanksgiving at Snowbird Ski Resort. Snowbird has a fully featured Thanksgiving buffet that includes all of the traditional elements including turkey, sweet potatoes, etc. They also offer an assortment of delicious side dishes and desserts.

The overall experience of the dinner was great. We had an excellent view of the mountain and more food than either of us could handle. The only gripe that we had was that most of the food wasn't very hot (some was actually cold) and the prep staff didn't seem to be able to keep up. These issues did degrade the overall experience but it was still nice to be up on the mountain enjoying Thanksgiving dinner together.

Relaxing weekend at the Snowbird Cliff Lodge 🏊 👨‍🍳

A perk of purchasing a Snowbird season pass is that we each get a free night to stay at the Cliff Lodge. We decided to use both of our nights to stay on-mountain after the Thanksgiving dinner buffet. This meant that we could take our time and enjoy the holiday weekend rather than trying to rush back down the mountain in the middle of a snowstorm... oh, did I not mention the snowstorm? Yeah, it snowed a lot while we were there! ❄️

We did not partake in the Cliff Spa amenities this time due to some ongoing renovations. Instead, we spent the days and nights relaxing, eating at the various restaurants, and wandering around the resort grounds. We also took advantage of the main guest pool and hot tubs. There is nothing quite like being in a hot tub during a snowstorm!

We were fortunate that Snowbird also reopened the tram for winter scenic tram rides while we were there. We were both eager to get a sneak peek at the conditions on top of the mountain so we jumped at the chance to take a ride to the top. The snow coverage is very thin this year, especially when compared to the record-breaking 2022 ski season. However, we are hopeful that more storm cycles will continue to fill the mountain. 🙏 ❄️

Viewing the Macy's candy window displays 🍬 🎨

After a relaxing couple of days at Snowbird, it was time to head back down the mountain. Instead of driving straight home, we decided to head to downtown Salt Lake City to see the famous Macy's candy window displays. These huge, ornate ornaments are built from thousands of pieces of real candy! You really have to see them in person to fully appreciate the amount of effort that goes into these works of art.

Before heading home, we stopped at Laziz Kitchen for an early dinner. Laziz serves incredible, modern Mediterranean cuisine. We also wandered around the surrounding area checking out an ice rink and local sculpture park.

Tour Divide training update 🚵‍♂️ 🛍️

Keith did three, back to back to back, indoor training sessions on Zwift this week since he wouldn't be able to ride while we stayed at Snowbird. Keith rode a total of 107.2 miles (172.5 kilometers) with over 7,500 feet (2,300 meters) of climbing. He did however get in one long outdoor riding session on Sunday. His ride was a very chilly 🥶 86.8 miles (139.8 kilometers) with nearly 2,100 feet (640 meters) of climbing.

Upcoming posts and videos 👷‍ 👷‍♀️️

The year is wrapping up so quickly... it's hard to believe that Thanksgiving has come and gone already! 🦃 Next thing you know, Christmas will be here. 🎄🎅 We have several exciting plans for the remainder of the year that we can't wait to share with you. We are also slowly working on some of the promised blog posts. We will get those out as soon as possible.

We hope that you are enjoying our newsletters. Did you do anything special for Thanksgiving? Do you have any big plans for the upcoming holiday season? Let us know in the comments section below.👇 💬