Thanksgiving 2015 in Utah

We made it to Utah and back for our traditional Thanksgiving vacation.  The drive out was a bit rough as we had to wait at the bottleneck of the pass in order to put on our chains.  I had never put on chains but I knew I could do it.  Even still, they kept the roads pretty well salted and plowed and I think the chains were overkill.  But whatev.  

The kids were stoked to experience fresh snow.  There was barely enough to sled in but they were out making the most of it!  They'd go down the grass, onto Schpark's driveway, and into the street.  

Thanks to Shauna for loaning us all this snow gear.  It was great.

It snowed a little more through the night and they did some more sledding the next day.  

Chelle with her youngest daughter, Andalee.

Me and Scott ice skating at the South Davis recreation center.  I'm kind of a has-been with respect to my ice skating.  I used to be pretty good, especially for how much I practiced.  But since the hip surgeries, my muscles were too weak to do any single axles.

The ice skating rink was a few minutes away from the Bountiful temple, where Heidi and I got hitched almost 11 years ago.  It was a chilly 26 degrees fahrenheit.  Brrr!  But I'm loving my new coat.

The drive home was pretty straightforward.  We switched drivers at this rest stop near the salt flats and I did this panorama.  Normally, all of this is solid salt, but this time, it was about a foot of water.

There were two wrecks on the way home.  The roads were pretty slick even before Wendover.  I actually like driving in the snow, though.  But I'm less gutsy than I used to be.  The van ran well and we were real grateful for the heater since it was three degrees in some places.  We had it running the whole time at almost the hottest level.  Good old van.  160k!

It's good to be home.  I like the weather here.  Okay, bye.