Dreaming of snow

Posted on August 25, 2022 by dinajohnston

It’s now the end of August and it’s been a hot summer. Here in central Florida we still have at least 2 more months of heat (although if we are lucky the humidity won’t be so bad in October). I’ve been reliving our trip to Park City in January, dreaming of when it will be cold again, when I found these pictures I took at Shoe Tree Park on our trip. We kept seeing trees full of shoes as we drove around town and while Brett was skiing one day I took a hike over to the park. It’s just one street over from the main drag in Park City so it was easy to find.

There’s no real reason the trees here are full of shoes but it dates back to the 1970’s. Urban legend is that a group of guys were drinking one night and started throwing their shoes in the trees and it became a thing. It’s now part of Park City’s character. The city thins the shoes out of the trees each fall as new shoes are added.

There is an actual park here with a river and picnic tables. It looked like a small winter wonderland the early morning I was there. I was the only one there but I’m sure it’s busy in the warmer months.

Taking a break with a new friend. Man, I never thought I would miss being bundled up but I’m ready for some cold weather.

Last day of vacation

Posted on March 24, 2022 by dinajohnston

After leaving Park City in January, we headed over to Salt Lake City to do some tourist stuff. This was our 2nd visit here with the 1st being in October of 2019.

We drove up to the capital, got out and walked around.

There’s a cool church across the street from the capital. The White Memorial Chapel was built in 1883. It’s a non-denominational chapel and you can get married here.

We found a park farther north of the capital, Ensign Peak. We got out and walked about half way up the trail to the lookout area. It was a shame it was so hazy looking into the city.

Later we drove by the University of Utah on the way to the zoo.

On the way to the airport we saw a frozen pond that had ducks walking around on the ice. Something I’ve never seen in person, I had to get out and get pictures. It’s amazing their feet don’t freeze.

I noticed some goldeneye ducks swimming around near the unfrozen part of the pond. I’ve only seen one goldeneye here in the Tampa Bay area and that was years ago.

Heading home. Now it’s late March, warm and humid. I’m really missing that snow.

Thanks for sitting in on my “What I did on my winter vacation” pictures.

Surrounded by snow covered mountains

Posted on March 15, 2022 by dinajohnston

Across from Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City is Heritage Park. We stopped by for a quick walk around the park but did not go into the historic village (there was a fee to get in and we didn’t have enough time since we would have to leave for the airport soon).

It was beautiful here and you can go horseback riding in the summer. It’s amazing it’s only 15 minutes from downtown Salt Lake City.

I found a frozen pond and thought that was cool. Wasn’t sure how far down it was frozen so I wasn’t risking walking across although it was tempting.

The monument tells the story of how the Mormons settled in the area. The view from it was amazing, surrounded by snow covered mountains. Back home we have been in the 80’s since the beginning of March so the cold is only a distant memory.

Not too cold for a quick walk at the zoo

Posted on March 14, 2022 by dinajohnston

On our last day in Utah in January, we checked out of our rental and headed over to Salt Lake City. We had half a day to kill before our flight so we stopped at the Hogle Zoo. It wasn’t too crowded because you know, who goes to the zoo in Utah in the middle of winter? But, there were a few other people there and it was sunny and mild, around the high 40’s. The animals were all out running around.

The meerkats were staying warm in the sun.

Lots of red pops from the plants. The berries looked interesting and I found out the red bulb was some sort of sumac. I haven’t seen these in Florida.

A few of the wild critters roaming around. Yes, another magpie and a Canadian goose high up on a building.

A cool statue.

Some house sparrows all puffed up trying to stay warm.

The zoo had amazing views of the mountains from every spot. There was an interesting park across the way from the zoo. What is that statue? After walking around we headed over to find out.

More from my winter vacation.

Posted on March 10, 2022 by dinajohnston

Shots from Deer Valley ski resort in January. The sun had not come up over the mountain when we got there, although it wasn’t that early. I think the slopes had just opened up.

I watched Brett (in the orange jacket) head for the ski lift and then I went off to hike around and look for some things to take pictures of.

I headed up to a nearby hotel that has amazing views of Deer Valley. We stayed here several years before in October when everthing was orange and yellow so it looked very different.

Much later we took a ride around the area before going for an early dinner.

Snow in the middle of nowhere.

Posted on February 28, 2022 by dinajohnston

We booked a snowmobiling trip while we were in Park City in January. This was my first time snowmobiling, although Brett was driving and he had been before. We got to the Lodge a little early (it was about 45 minutes outside of Park City) and discovered this beautiful area behind it.

We rode out for a while to flat area where we could ride around. Then we started to head up a mountain.

The view from up high. It was beautiful up on the mountain. We were with a group of about 10 other people and my only regret was that we could not stop more often to take pictures. We had a lot of ground to cover in our 2 hour tour.

Pano with my phone of the area.

The token “vacation” picture of us at the top. Then we zig zagged back down the mountain and back to the lodge. It was a lot of fun and it felt like we were way out in the middle of nowhere.

Jordanelle State Park

Posted on February 17, 2022 by dinajohnston

Late one afternoon Brett and I headed out of Park City to see the outskirts of town. We were originally headed to Cottonwood Canyon to look for a place to hike around in the snow. We passed this beautiful lake and I told Brett we had to turn around and go back and check it out. It was Jordanelle State Park. A very busy park in the summer with campers and swimmers, there were only a few people out in the snow when we stopped.

This was the prettiest spot we saw during the week we were there. Even prettier than the area where we went snowmobiling. We spent about an hour walking around here and taking in the sites. The lake was only frozen in one small corner of the lake.

Sunny in Park City

Posted on February 14, 2022 by dinajohnston

Yes there was snow, but not fresh snow. It was still beautiful to me. A blizzard had come through the area the week before we were here so we missed the worst of the weather while still being able to enjoy the snow. Brett was snowboarding the first day we were in Park City so I went to the slopes with him and watched as he got on the lift and then walked around the village at Park City Mountain for a little while. Then I headed over to Main Street in the old part of Park City to walk around.

The streets and sidewalks were clear so it was easy to get around.

I was watching this guy shovel all of this snow off the side of the restaurant and was thinking “Is anyone going to eat outside? It’s 27 degrees!”

I found some magpies eating out of a garbage can. The beautiful birds are all over the area. They reminded me of the mockingbirds back home, always seeing them around.

After walking around Main Street for a while I headed back to the ski area to meet back up with Brett for a late lunch. We then headed out of Park City to check out some local parks.

Antelope Island critters

Posted on February 12, 2022 by dinajohnston

As soon as we drove into Antelope Island in Salt Lake City we saw a northern harrier sitting on the fence. I had only brought my shorter lens with me since I hadn’t really planned on doing a lot of birding. I got out of the jeep and walked over to the edge and he still sat there. I was thinking “I really wish I at least had my 300mm lens”.

Farther down the road I made Brett pull over again. There were tons of ducks napping on the bank of the lake. I think they were northern shovelers but maybe there was some other ducks mixed in.

I crept down the side of the bank and it looked like they were all northern shovelers. We get a few in central Florida during the winter but I had never seen this many in one place. There had to have been over a thousand. Every once in a while a group of them would fly off and circle around, landing back on the bank.

Winding our way around the island I was hoping we’d see some buffalo. We saw several when we were here several years ago.

Here was one, feeding down a hill. We waiting for a while for him to look up but he just kept on eating.

We saw another one out in a field and he was walking towards the road. We stopped and the car coming towards us stopped and watched. He crossed the road and walked close by our jeep as he headed the other way. Brett was ready to take off if he turned and headed towards our jeep.

It was a sunny mild day and hardly anyone at the park. Probably only tourist like us visit the park in the winter. After an afternoon driving around and a little hiking, it was time to head to Park City to see some snow.

Antelope Island

Posted on February 3, 2022 by dinajohnston

My view from the plane as we headed to Salt Lake City and then Park City for a week of snow. I knew we were getting close as we passed over the mountains covered in snow. As we headed into Salt Lake City, I could see the sheets of ice over the Great Salt Lake. It’s not the salt water that is freezing but rain that has frozen on top as it’s falling over the lake.

A must stop before heading to Park City is Antelope Island. We were there in October of 2018 and it was a lot browner than our last trip. There wasn’t any snow in the area but you could see it far away on the mountains.

Looking back after driving over the long causeway into the park, everything looked brown and dead. It’s a weird thing to see since I’ve been living in central Florida for so long now. Many trees lose their leaves but most of the grass stays green.