Weekly Newsletter: September 29th - October 5th, 2025

Keith's parents are in town this week! 😄 We are so excited to see them again, and we have a fun-filled week of activities planned. 🍁 🚲 ⛰️

Check out our new posts and videos 🆕 🎥 📝

Post 2: Banff: Canyon, Cruise, and Captivating Landscape

Keith and Lindsey explored Banff, Canada, before the start of the Tour Divide Race. This included hiking, biking, and a cruise!

Keith and LindseyLindsey Huster

Keith's parents have arrived in Utah! 🚐 🏕️

Keith's mom and dad, and their dog Lucy, are visiting us in Utah this year. They drove their motorhome over 1,600 miles (2,575 kilometers) to the Provo River Resort RV park. This campground is nestled in the heart of Provo Canyon along the Provo River.

After they got set up, they came over to our house to see us and share an amazing meal. Keith's mom and dad brought several delicious steaks, Indiana sweet corn, and baked potatoes. Yum! 😋 🥩

Driving the Scenic Alpine Loop 🍁 ⛰️

Keith's parents couldn't have picked a better time to visit us. It is peak fall foliage this week in nearly all of our surrounding mountains! We drove up to their campsite to pick them up and headed to Lola's Street Kitchen in Midway, UT, to grab some lunch before making the drive.

After our delicious lunch, we started our drive up Cascade Springs Scenic Backway towards the Cascade Springs nature area. This part of the drive provides breathtaking, expansive views of the Heber Valley and surrounding mountains. We also made a quick stop to check out the natural spring itself.

We then continued on our drive into American Fork Canyon to complete the Alpine Loop scenic drive. Along the way, we stopped at Tibble Fork Reservoir and a few other amazing scenic locations. Eventually, we descended off the mountain towards Sundance Mountain Resort to head back to their campsite for dinner, where Keith's mom had prepared yet another incredible meal: barbecue ribs! 🍖

Heber Valley Railroad experience 🚂 🛤️

The next day, we picked up Keith's mom and dad and headed to the Heber Valley Railroad to enjoy the scenic, historic railroad experience. Keith's mom and dad have never ridden on a train before, so they were both excited to share in this new experience.

The train ride takes you along the northern shore of Deer Creek Reservoir. This provides passengers with beautiful views of the reservoir itself and the surrounding mountains. During the ride, we were treated to lots of fun facts and history about the railroad. We also enjoyed the on-train entertainment, which included a talented violinist and an old-west comedian. This was such a fun and relaxing day out!

On the way home, we made a quick stop at the famous Dairy Keen restaurant for a little more train fun and some delicious milkshakes! Eventually, we made our way back to our house for a dinner of homemade chili and cornbread. 🍲

Tackling a bucket list activity 😱 😅

Before their trip, Keith's mom had mentioned that she wanted to try ziplining. There are several options for Ziplining in the Heber Valley and surrounding areas, so we knew that we could make this happen. The real question was, would Keith's parents actually go through with it once they got here?

We had originally planned to zipline at Provo Canyon Adventures since it is located so close to their campsite. Unfortunately, that outfit was closed this week. We briefly discussed ziplining at Sundance Mountain Resort, but Keith's mom wasn't too thrilled at the thought of being suspended nearly 500 feet (152 meters) in the air! So, we eventually selected the ziplines at Utah Adventure Park along the Deer Creek reservoir.

We chose to do the "Soaring With Eagles" package as it provided several ziplines and a small rope bridge crossing. This was the perfect mix of high-flying adventure, but not too high or too long. This package starts you off with a short training zipline span to teach you how to properly use the zipline equipment. You then ascend an 80-foot (27-meter) tall tower before crossing the first zipline span of the day.

Once we crossed the first span, we were tasked with climbing to the top of the next tower. This was by far the scariest part of the entire experience! 😨 The tower was effectively a telephone pole with a spiral staircase wrapped around it. The tower swayed in the wind, which made it even more "exciting". Keith's mom and dad didn't hesitate, though. They both walked right up to the top and worked their way across the remainder of the zipline spans. We were both so proud of them for conquering these challenges and their fears!

The last challenge of the day was a short rope bridge that returned us to our starting point. Keith's mom was initially scared of the thought of crossing a bridge such as this. However, when it came time to cross it, she leaped without hesitation! This whole experience was so much fun, and the Utah Adventure Park crew were excellent guides throughout the day.

An evening at the campsite 🦮 ⛰️

After our zipling adventure, we headed to Sundance Mountain Resort for a quick lunch and to enjoy the incredible views of Mount Timpanogos.

We then headed back to the Provo River Resort to spend the evening with Lucy and to share an incredible meal of homemade lasagna and apple pie. 🥧

Snow on the mountains! 🏔️ ❄️

Up to this point, the weather had been beautiful! The days were warm and sunny and the evenings were cool and dry. However, this was all about to change. Saturday brought torrential rains across the valley and mountain canyons. Temperatures dipped low enough that the upper mountains received nearly 6 inches (15 centimeters) of snow! This was quite the contrast to what we had experienced so far.

Since outdoor actvities were out, we decided to spend the next couple of days hanging out at our house. We played games, watched a movie, and of course, ate more delicious food including a lunch out at Mi Ranchito in Orem, UT.

Next week 📆 🚲

Keith parent's will be in town for a few more days next week. The weather has once again dried up and we have several more fun activities planned with them. We are so thankful to have this time to spend together. 🥰

Upcoming posts and videos 👷‍ 👷‍♀️️

We are finally returning to our scheduled weekly newsletters and posts! 🙌 Keith will be working on posts covering his 2025 Tour Divide experience. Lindsey will be working on posts covering her trip through Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks with her mom. Subscribe to our blog so that you don't miss out.

We hope that you are enjoying our newsletters. It's hard to believe that fall is already here. How was your summer? Do you have any exciting upcoming fall plans? Let us know in the comments section below.👇 💬