a real winter wonderland

the winter-like weather in southern california last week was lovely, and a welcome change from our typical mild temperatures.  all those chilly temperatures plus the much-needed rain that we got resulted in lots of fresh powdery snow up in our local mountains, and we spent one sunday in the truck exploring some off-roading trails.

at one point, we got stuck in a line of other trucks and jeeps waiting for some dude who'd overestimated his car's capabilities and got stuck in some muddy snow.

it gave the bean a chance to reach outside and grab some of that soft powder to play with.

someone finally came down the trail the other way and helped that guy move off of the road just enough for the rest of us to squeeze past him and go on our merry way.

and then last friday the hub decided it would be a great time to head up to mt. baldy with the dogs and watch their reactions to the snow that was still falling as we drove up.  not to mention, a weekday is much better for heading up there because we knew that the weekend would bring way more visitors in search of the perfect sledding and snowman building conditions.

it was pretty funny to watch teddy and cocoa step gingerly on the cold ground.  they were so confused.

i propped my phone up on the car for a quick group shot.

and then i got this before i took pity on the dogs and brought them back inside the truck where it was warm and dry.

the hub and the bean stayed outside and threw snowballs at each other and shoveled some snow on top of the truck to take home as a souvenir of our outing.

and all that pretty snow somehow kicked off a fun craving for iced oatmeal cookies.  instead of heading to the grocery store to pick up a package from the cookie aisle, i googled and found an easy recipe using ingredients i already had, and so i mixed up a batch.

sadly for us, the temperatures are back up in the 60s and 70s, with no more rain showing up in the 10-day forecast.  sigh.  it sure was fun while it lasted.

eating waffles at the top of the world

as we checked out of hotel terra, i got the bean to take this:

and then we finally headed out to do something we'd been trying to catch over the last couple of days - the gondola that would take us up to the top of the mountain.

to be honest, rides like that actually scare the crap out of me - what if the cable snaps?  what if we get stuck?  what if king kong shows up and plucks us right off of there? - but i sucked it up and found a spot right in front.  we were surrounded by eager skiers and snowboarders who were in a rush to get up there and start heading down the mountain, and while i was kind of annoyed at these grown ass adults pushing and shoving to get on, i just tried to ignore them and relax.

when we got up to the top, we were again pushed around as we stepped out of the gondola and tried to stay out of the way.  while there isn't really anything to do for non-skiers up there, we were pretty happy to find that the little building was a rest stop with fresh waffles and hot chocolate.

the souvenir hound-slash-sucker in me really wanted one of these, but i restrained myself.

instead, i was super happy with a cup of hot chocolate and a nutella-filled waffle.

when we were done, we went back outside to take a look around now that the gaggle of eager beavers was gone.  it was frigid and windy and there wasn't much visibility because it was snowing on us, but we didn't care - we were loving being up there.

we headed back to the station to wait for the next gondola to take us back down to the base of the mountain.

it was a nice quiet ride back, since everyone was more interested in coming up and skiing down.

and then it was time to get back in the car to head out of wyoming, cut through a little corner of idaho and back into utah.  i kept missing the "welcome to" signs at the borders, but i managed to catch at least one.

we tried to stop for one of these "world famous" raspberry shakes, but all of the places were locked up tight.

in logan, we came across this little spot and decided to stop because we love historic holes-in-the-wall like this.

they had an old-fashioned candy counter and a soda fountain, and we chose to sit at the bar because it's always more fun than a boring old table.

and then just like that, we were back in salt lake city and checking into the hotel monaco again.

i really want one of these giant scrabble boards.  how fun is that?

because we'd had lunch so late, we weren't super hungry for dinner.  the hub opted to head down to the hotel bar to hang out and grab a drink while the bean and i chose to relax in our pajamas and order room service.  it was a nice way to unwind after another long drive, and it hit us all that our fantastic road trip was almost at its end.

one more stop - vegas!