I decided a few months ago that it would be fun to make a weekend trip to Utah to show Lia around BYU since we are all hoping that she will be a freshman there next school year. So after discussing dates with my dear friend, Sarah, who would be hosting us, I bought our plane tickets when they were on sale for a great price. We flew out Thursday evening and returned home late last night. We were blessed with beautiful, fall weather and had a great time and saw and did a lot during out time there. Lia fell even more in love with BYU and is so excited at the thought of being a student there next year!
Friday, October 17th:
After arriving late at Sarah's house the night before, Lia and I headed out this morning for our marathon day in Provo. We first drove to the West Campus where we had an 11 a.m. tour set up with the Theater and Media Arts Department. This was one of the highlights of the day! It was so fascinating to learn about the five majors in this department and to be able to visit their three theaters and the costume, props, and hair and makeup rooms. Lia is super hopeful that she will have the chance to participate in their theater program if she is accepted. Fingers crossed!
We then met the three cousins who are currently students at the Y for lunch at the Cougar Eat. Since Susie just happened to be in town visiting Spencer and Sarah, she and Hannah and Emileigh joined us for lunch, too. We had a fun time catching up with Riley, Callie, and Sarah.
After lunch, we met up with Lacey, the daughter of my good friend, Kerry, who Lia has been good friends with for years. It was so fun to visit with her and to see where she lives in Heritage Halls.
After our quick visit with Lacey, we walked over to the new visitor center to meet up with our 3 p.m. tour group. Our tour guide then drove us around campus in a golf cart while sharing information on many different aspects of campus, from the various buildings to programs to fun facts.
After our campus tour was over, we walked down to Helaman Halls which was the dorms that I lived in when I was a freshman 31 years ago. We met up with Gabby, one of Lia's good friends from HXP, who she hadn't seen since Africa. We had a quick visit with her and got to see her dorm room and drink some of the infamous, chocolate milk from the BYU Creamery.
Once we were done with our visit with Gabby, we hopped in the car and drove to a park west of campus to watch part of Callie's ultimate frisbee game. Since she currently plays on BYU's extramural team, we were able to watch her play against the University of Utah which was a cool experience. We stayed until 6:30 before leaving to drive back to Sundance to join Sarah's family for dinner and an evening of chatting. It was the perfect way to wrap up this busy day!
Saturday, October 18th:
Lia and I woke up and headed out for another day in Utah. We drove back to campus to pick up Lacey before heading to Cafe Rio for lunch. I dropped the girls off at the restaurant so that they could have some quality time catching up while I drove to Salt Lake City for a few hours. Sarah kindly offered to pick up Lia from the restaurant at 2 o'clock and take her shopping at her favorite boutique in the Riverwoods mall while I was driving back from visiting my friend.
I headed up to Salt Lake City to spend a few hours with my dearest friend (and fellow pyramid-climbing buddy), Melissa, from my Jerusalem study abroad program almost 30 years ago. She took me to an Oktoberfest picnic that some German friends of hers were hosting in a nearby park. We had a great time eating some delicious food while chatting in the shade for a few hours. It was so nice to get caught up with her.
After we all met back up at Sarah's house, we headed out to the Sundance Ski Resort for the evening. We first ate dinner at their little deli restaurant.
David and Joshua joined us for the evening. Here we all are eating our dinner together at the deli restaurant.
After dinner, we headed back outside to participate in a really unique, Halloween experience that Lia and I have never done before, the Haunted Lift Ride. Here are Sarah, Lia, and me standing in front of one of the beautiful, lit trees before getting in line.
We were able to take the main lift up to the top of the first mountain while looking at spooking decorations and people dressed in scary costumes below us. It was really cool to be on a chair lift late at night, especially while coming back down the mountain!
Sunday, October 19th:
We finished off our last day in Utah by first going to church with Sarah, David, and Josh. We then drove straight to Payson to have lunch with Sarah's mom who I haven't seen in decades. It was so fun to visit with Tricia and get caught up.
We then drove the hour back to Sundance where Lia and I had about an hour to pack before leaving for the airport. David offered to drive us and took us on a scenic route through the Alpine Loop on our way to the airport. We were able to see the beautiful fall colors all around us as we drove through the mountains and came out through American Fork Canyon. We stopped once to take a few quick pictures of us with the fall colors and the mountains in the background.
Lia and the Alpine Loop.
After getting to the airport, we bought some dinner and boarded our plane and made it back to Seattle around 10 pm. We were both so grateful to walk in our door a little before 11:30 p.m. It was a quick weekend, but I am so grateful for Sarah's hospitality and for our chance to visit BYU before Lia's application goes in next week!
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