Summer 2020: Day 56

Staycation, Day 1!

I have 20 days off amid the next 25 -- a much-needed break after taking just two PTO days since last August. I want to make every one of these days count. We definitely made some memories today.

I didn't sleep too well last night and ended up not waking up until 9:30. Despite the later start -- we didn't get out the door until 11, then got sidetracked by the slowest Jimmy John's experience ever in Park City -- we enjoyed a wonderful afternoon on the Mirror Lake Highway east of Salt Lake City.

I'm not sure how we've never driven this road in 20 years living in Utah. It darts up and through the Uinta Mountains and offers plenty of places to stop and enjoy the scenery. We visited Provo River Falls, a gorgeous overlook of the rockier peaks, and then Mirror Lake itself.

The temperature neared 100 in Salt Lake City but was pleasantly in the 70s in the mountains at 10,000 feet. Many people had the same idea we did, and some of the spots we visited had more people than we would have liked during a pandemic, but we brought our masks and people were generally respectful. We hiked around Mirror Lake (and I stepped in the lake to my calves), then took the long way home to finish our drive.

Dinner was Costa Vida, and I walked the dog to the park, where she got to play with a puppy that was Popcorn at age 6 months, and another black lab mix that looked exactly like her but just a bit hairier.

I know that I won't be able to get the entire family on an adventure every day of this staycation, but at least we all were able to hang out and explore here on Day 1. I'm already looking forward to Day 2.

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