After a quiet ride down the highway from Idaho, we had planned to stop by Bear Lake, which sits sidesaddle in both Idaho and Utah, but a headache snuck up on Ann, so we decided just to head straight down to the campground in Heber City, just outside of Park City, UT.
Ben and the skiing gang have skied Park City two or three times, and always thought it was a really neat, although very busy and very pricey little ski village. It was neat to see it in the summer. There was a ton of maintenance under way and lots of rushed remodeling to take advantage of the short construction season.
Since Ann wasn’t really feeling up to cooking, we decided to grab dinner at one of Ben’s favorite Thai restaurants, on Main Street. Nothing like a little curry to cure a headache.
As we got closer, there were clues that something wasn’t quite right. Either an apocalypse had hit while we were finding a parking spot, just one street over, or there was some kind of emergency situation we had accidentally snuck ourselves into. No one was around on Main Street and there were only emergency vehicles blocking both ends of the street.
The best way to get where you’re going when things don’t look good is to keep pressing on, right? So, we kept walking to our restaurant destination, expecting someone to start yelling at us or Zombies to pop out of nowhere. We finally made it to the Thai restaurant 10 minutes before our reservation. There was one dude who came to the door to let us know there had been a natural gas leak and the area had just been cleared. Apparently, he was the only staff that showed up once the area was cleared and he didn’t seem too confident that he could produce our dinner by himself.
Well poop, lol. We’ve had hail storms, tornadoes, close bear encounters and bike seats made of granite on this trip. Some little old gas leak wasn’t going to ruin our date night.
We didn’t get our planned Thai food but thanks to the need to evacuate everyone earlier, we had no competition for a table at the next restaurant up the block. Sushi is good too!
Our plans for the next day weren’t really defined but we knew we had some errands and chores to do before heading on to our next adventure in Zion. All our bloomers needed to be washed again and the refrigerator and freezer needed to be restocked before we hit “no grocery store” land.
It was about the time we were planning our strategy and reaching out to a local friend that we got a message from a local family member. We were aware that we had friends, as well as family somewhere in Utah but did not realize we were camped almost in their backyard! Thanks to THIS VERY BLOG, we realized our proximity, and we were able to shift up plans and spend some time with our cousins (or third cousins, twice removed, thrice baked? I never understood that stuff). We met them at Sundance, which I also knew was somewhere in Utah but didn’t realize it was 20 minutes from us. Really a special place and we had a blast catching up with John and Nancy!
After a lovely dinner and great conversation at the Owl Bar, at Sundance, we walked around the home base resort of the famed film festival and got some of the history of Sundance. Really a pretty cool place and absolutely stunning scenery. We said our goodbyes (knowing we’d see them in about month at our family reunion) and made our way back to the campground.
Once back to the campground, we spent our last evening in Heber City hanging out under the stars, with our little tiny airstream just mashed between monster mega busses and extended length 5th wheel campers. We really felt like the little kid brother camping with the older kids. But ours sure does drive and pull pretty easy! 😂
Once it got dark, we snuck off to the “adults only” hot tub area in the RV park. We felt the need to investigate what exactly “adults only” meant. We’re still kinda new to the RV park/resort thing, so we’re still learning about all the little intricacies and subtle, unwritten details about campground etiquette. We were really hoping “adults only” just meant no kids allowed, but we quietly feared that it might mean suits and trunks were optional. You don’t always find the sexiest age group, nor body type hanging out at the RV pool. No offense to our fellow RV park hanger outers. These scenes are not typically Miami spring break type of scenes. The truth hurts lol.
Anywho, there was one other couple there and they had suits on (thank goodness!) and there was a lingering whiff of weed coming from the cozy fire pit area. This is Mormon Land! Hmmm. The little rec building attached to it smelled like Mac & Cheese (evidence of the munchies!) and although yummy, there’s not much “adult” about it. Pretty boring scene here at the “adult only” pool area. Plus, as adults, the lights were turned off on us at 10 pm. Don’t worry. We showed them! We didn’t leave the area until 10:20 pm. Honestly, they should have just called it the “Old Fart Pool Area.” There weren’t any kids allowed and, to our great relief, that’s as special as it got.
The next morning, we packed up under the blazing sun and headed south towards Zion National Park. We were informed that we were pronouncing “Zion” incorrectly by a few of the locals. We had been pronouncing it like Zaiii – yaawn, and apparently, it is supposed to rhyme with the word “lion,” which with a slight southern twang sounds like “lyin.” So “ZI-uhn”. We practiced for the whole five hour drive. Then we pulled in to the campground and we were welcomed with “Welcome to Zaiii-yaawn!”
So we just gave up with pronouncing it correctly. Just by looking at us and hearing our voices, they’ll know we don’t belong here. Using the phrase “ya’ll,” is a dead giveaway you’re not from around these parts.
We were here back in late 2023 on the retirement tour. We loved the area and really thought it was just awesome, and we did get in a great hike to the Emerald Pools while we were here the first time. However, after eating a new food last trip, Ann got sick and we had to cut the visit short. That’s why we decided to come back, so we could give it another shot!
We had picked a shady spot which we had noted the last time we were here (that’s one of the perks of returning to a place you’ve already camped I guess). Got all set up, and will be hitting the park in the morning!
TaterTotTales 