Sometimes living in Utah we tend to overlook the mountains of our great state. While people from around the world flocking here to get a taste of our fresh Utah powder, we’re complaining about all the snow we have to shovel off of our driveways.

I have a friend from out of state that happens to be one of those flocking to Utah. Actually, the highlight of his year is his annual trip to the Wasatch Front. So naturally when he came into town a few weekends ago our plans were centralized around the mountains, more specifically, Solitude Mountain Resort. Solitude is a local favorite that prides itself with short lift lines and plenty of terrain to enjoy. 

After taking some warm up runs on freshly groomed, wide open trails, we headed to the more adventurous edge of the resort and found some hidden powder stashes left untouched from the previous week’s storm. The snow was great, the staff was super friendly, and due to a bad fall by my friend, we found out first hand that the ski patrol and on mountain clinic were great too.

Solitude truly has a wide selection of terrain and although the mountain has plenty of runs that suit the beginner or intermediate skier, it has some steeps that are sure to give even most advanced skiers an extra dose of adrenaline. If the in-bounds terrain isn’t enough of a challenge, Solitude offers a program called Backtracks, a guided tour that takes you out of the resort’s boundaries and into the untouched Wasatch back country.

Seriously, the hype that surrounds utah and it’s claim to the greatest snow on earth is true. Visit www.skiutah.com to schedule your trip and check out Solitude and Utah’s 12 other world class ski resorts.

The name of my blog post is more than 10,000 lakes which is in reference to the fact that Minnesota has over 10,000 lakes (There are 11,842 lakes in Minnesota 10 acres or larger in size). This became apparent as we were flying into Minneapolis- there really were lakes everywhere! Minneapolis is probably one of my top 10 favorite US cities. It has an artsy feel with tons of sculptures and galleries everywhere. The downtown area has a ton to do and see, for those of all ages. It even includes some really pretty walking paths. Our first stop was the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden; apparently the cherry on the spoon sculpture is famous. The park is filled with other unique and interesting pieces. It was fun -definitely worth it to check out.

We ate dinner at Pizza Luce (insert appropriate accents) where for the first time ever I tried mashed potatoes on pizza. Gotta say I didn’t hate it, actually it was really good. The restaurant has unique art hung on the wall, a friendly staff, and nice collateral (sorry work at an advertising agency).

The main reason we came was to see a premiere of the snowboarding film: That’s it that’s all. It was awesome. The showing was held at Pantages, a venue that mostly hosts musical and plays in the downtown Hennepin Theater district of Minneapolis. The movie is really cool, if you haven’t seen it yet (the movie is on tour). After the show we headed over to Sebastian Joe’s Ice-Cream Cafe. The ice-cream there was drool worthy. It is all homemade in the shop and they are famous for their unique flavors. I had the Pavarotti- a banana ice-cream with chocolate chunks. Oh so good. Apparently the Oreo sundaes were pretty tasty as well.

The next day of our trip was spent exploring Rochester, MN where our friends live. Rochester, as most people know, is famous for the Mayo Clinic. I couldn’t believe how big the Mayo Clinic Campus is! It’s pretty impressive. Also, our friends took us to the Plummer House. The house is an English Tudor Mansion and the former home of Henry S. Plummer, who was a member of the Mayo Clinic Staff starting in 1901. The house is 5 stories high, contains 49 rooms, and occupies 11 acres which include outdoor gardens and water tower. The house was closed for tours but we enjoyed walking around the gardens.

That night we ate some of the best burgers of our lives in downtown Rochester at Newts. Newts has been voted the best burger in Rochester for five consecutive years. It was packed when we got there so we had to wait about twenty minutes. The vibe was very laid back, a very home town cheers feel. I got a mushroom burger and I have to say it was delicious. They also give you about a pound of fries with your burgers.

It was a great trip and thank you to Chris and Lisa for putting us up (and putting up with us) and spending time with us. We had a blast and look forward to returning the favor to them this winter. I have to say I was genuinely sad to leave.

*photo credit to genius photographer Reid Fuller

Trips I have already taken this year:

1. Anaheim/Disneyland
2. Washington DC
3. Anchorage, Alaska
4. Saint George, Utah
5. Las Vegas, Nevada

Ok, so the first part of the year was a little slow as far as travel goes, which makes me a little sad. However, when I think about it- we bought a house in February and we spent the winter doing a fair amount of snowboarding, so I guess you could add Park City, Utah to the list.  Anyways, I am gearing up for Fall travel season which includes an awesome trip to Europe (my first time!). I used to say that we are going to backpack through Europe but apparently that’s not true- I was told we are packing our clothes in a backpack and going to Europe. So that accounts for the first five places on the list- and the rest are stateside cities or states I want to visit.

Trips I want/will take this year:

1. London, England
2. Athens, Greece
3. Ireland
4. Slovenia (here is a map- in case you want to know where this is)
5. Paris, France
6. New York City
7. San Diego
8. Seattle
9. Oregon Coast
10.North Carolina