Birthday Trip

On February 5th we took a trip to Utah to celebrate my birthday with Morgan. Thursday night was very wet and rainy as we drove to LAX. We left at 3:30 in the afternoon and still worried that we hadn't given ourselves enough time to make our 7:30 pm flight.
We just made it in time for the luggage to be checked in the mandatory 45 minutes prior to flight time. We raced through security and down to our gate, only to be delayed an hour. The plane was taxied in and police were dispatched to our gate to escort a passenger who was on the incoming flight off the plane. I assume he had done something during his flight to upset the flight attendants. The police ticketed him there in the terminal and were questioning him as we boarded our plane. No one on the incoming flight seemed to know why he was being ticketed as they exited the plane.
So an hour late, we arrive in Salt Lake for Morgan to pick us up. Morgan has a passat jetta wagon and we loaded our luggage and snowboard gear in. In order to get the snowboards in we laid one of the seats down, leaving the middle seat and the back passenger seat available. Now it only makes since that the smaller passengers ride in the back, so Eddie and I climbed into the back seats so our two children (both 6ft tall) could have the much needed leg room of the front.

We rented a house with another family who would join us on Friday, in Sandy Utah. Once we figured out the combo to the house (the rental agency gave us the wrong one) we quickly got comfortable and settled in for the night.
Friday we snowboarded at Brighton. I usually don't even take my phone with me when I go snowboarding but today I was trying to coordinate a dinner get together with my family that lives in Utah. This became a little difficult, but always worth the effort of getting together. Several emails delivered and read while on the mountain. I decided to meet up with whoever was available that night in Salt Lake at Happy Sumo Sushi at 7:30pm. When I arrived at Happy Sumo about 30 min late, there was over an hour wait to be seated. Jesse and Jenn suggested a burger restaurant called Acme Burger. We walked to the restaurant and enjoyed good food and good conversation. After dinner, our friend Dave hailed a taxi to go back to the Gateway parking structure. Not everyone used the taxi so it was quick goodbyes at the corner as we hopped into the taxi. I was so glad that my nephews Jarrod and Jesse, with their wives, Jessica and Jenn, made the effort to come out and get together with me and my family. These families have been so helpful and kind to us whenever I have needed them. They have helped me in more ways then I can even list in this post, and I am truly grateful and appreciate them. I love getting together with them. Next time I hope to see more family especially the ones I missed on this trip.
Saturday we snowboarded at Snow Basin. What a fun resort! I really liked the mountain and accommodations at Snow Basin. It was a really fun day. I think the best part of this whole weekend was that Morgan, Jake and I rode together. Its been awhile since we have been able to do that. I really enjoyed it. Eddie spent the morning getting new tires put on Morgan's car and met us later in the afternoon.
The next resort we went to was the Canyons. It is close to Park City. I didn't care for this resort as well as the others, but we still enjoyed ourselves. I used a tow rope for the first time at this resort. That night we played with my new toy, the Wii. Its super fun to play these games with my kids and see the different strategies they use. After 3 days of snowboarding I was wiped out. We had such a good time up in Utah. I only wish I had more time to visit family and friends. All in all, my birthday celebration was super fun and I'm thankful that Eddie made it all happen for me.