In February, I took a long weekend to go and visit 4 friends I made while we lived in Wisconsin. Each of their husbands was working on post-graduate work, and we were nearly the only women in the ward without kids. We bonded there and have actually met up from time to time in Wisconsin, Illinois, Colorado, and Utah. The last two years - during COVID - we had spoken regularly on Marco Polo, a recorded video chat app.
I flew in on Friday morning, and Heather picked me up at the airport. While I was in the air with my phone turned off, our hotel accommodations had been canceled because of a positive cause of COVID in the room. The friends had asked the room to just be cleaned, but their protocols prevented us from staying. Utah had a bunch of fresh powder for skiers, so we ended up in a simple hotel in downtown Salt Lake instead up a cute boutique in the mountains.
Undeterred, we headed to Provo for lunch and met up with everyone else. After a quick tour of Jennifer's newly remodeled Provo home, we checked into the hotel and spend the COLD evening wandering under-construction Temple Square and City Creek Mall. We even got to listen to the Tabernacle Choir organist practicing in the Tabernacle. I enjoyed Cafe Rio for dinner and Cheesecake Factory for dessert.
On Saturday, we headed to the Bonneville Shoreline trail for some hiking. It had been so cold the night before, I dressed in lots of layers and then had to carry all my jackets and coats. It was beautiful and clear. Lunch was leftovers from the night before at the hotel while we showered and cleaned up for dinner.
For dinner, we headed to the Zermatt in Midway. We met back up with Jennifer and got some treats at the bakery next door. Then we changed into swimsuits for our dip at Homestead Caldera. It was perfect!
On Sunday, we attended church in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building with Elder Oaks presiding. Relief Society was led by Sister Kristen Oaks as well. It was a neat, especially since the General Conference talk I was scheduled to teach in two weeks was the lesson topic.
After church, we said our goodbyes. Sheena dropped me off at Kim's house in Springville. That night, Sean, Jen, and Julian came over for dinner, and we enjoyed the evening. Janice even gave me a gel manicure!
On Monday, Kim and I went to breakfast at True Religion in Orem, and then she dropped me off at the airport. It was a wonderful weekend with wonderful women!
