Park City Moutain Resort, UT

There is lots of family fun to be had up here, but for this new adventure, we were trying out the downhill mountain biking. Each all day lift pass was $18, one ride up I think costs $11, and the two lifts available to ride are the Payday (the main one at the base of the resort) and Town (right from downtown Park City). Payday lift was S-L-O-W. I never checked my watch but I bet it took at least 30 minutes to get to the top. On the way up we tried to decipher the map and match it to the biking trails we were seeing beneath us, and it was already feeling rather confusing.

We chose Trestle trail. Had it not been for the huge roots and mini boulders, it may have been a fair ride. There were even fallen trees at head level that could have totally knocked me out if I hadn't been paying attention! Pretty disappointing, so I let out some grumblings and almost tears and then tried to make a positive experience of it. I will say it was cool to see the occasional old rusty trestle hidden in the trees, from mining days I guess.

When the trail would split, there were no signs to guide us so we consulted the map -- which was SO not helpful. Um, yeah, pretty much we were lost and I was feeling a little bugged that they call this a fun place for mountain biking. Eventually (and don't ask me how) we were on a really nice trail, one where I could stay on my bike for a few minutes at a time, until the tricky switchbacks. That trail was taking us south-east and it dropped us on a road up above Park City, so we had a nice speedy ride on the pavement to downtown. It turns out that the only nice part of the ride wasn't even on the property of the resort!

I'll be honest, I was SO done, but hubby wanted to give it another go, so we rode the Town lift up. This one was a lot quicker and dropped us at the same starting point. I don't know what the deal was, but our only other option to get down was on the dusty service road, and even for that we had to beg passage because they were moving cement by helicopter above our heads. A pretty unusual day at the resort, but with the trails they offered I don't think I would choose to go again.

What I DID love from this adventure was dinner at Boua Thai Restaurant, located right at the resort. I love it when you have a waiter/waitress that is not putting on a show of kindness or being a pleasant person. She just was naturally hospitable and at ease. The food was superb. I was so excited to have some leftovers to take home! She told us how her dad was waiting for her downtown as they were getting things ready for their booth at the Arts Festival the next day. I was not surprised to find it was a family business. Doesn't it seem like those are always the best?

We tried to take a leisure ride up on the lift after dinner, but they won't allow going all the way up to the turnaround (to ride down) after 8 pm.



For treats we stopped at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. Honestly, how do you choose just one thing?! We didn't even try to resist. :o)