Mosaic Monday #109: Road Trippin', Part V

October 20 - 22: Livin' the High Life

Visiting my brother and his wife comes with several certainties: flying, a garden tour and my sister-in-law's culinary delights.  We scored on all three!  On our first day, Spousal Unit went for the rollercoaster ride of his life -- my brother, along with five of his buddies, went formation flying in experimental aircraft.  (The "experimental" designation has been in place for over 5 decades to denote aircraft built by individuals rather than a commercial company such as Cessna.  Licensed by the FAA, these aircraft are used for non-commercial, recreational purposes.)  Spousal Unit rode with one of the buddies since my brother's plane only accommodates one person.  He said he knew he was in for it when the pilot said "At least we won't be doing negative Gs today."

Below is a video of the plane bearing Spousal Unit.  You can see how it goes practically straight up.  "I was not expecting it.  It feels like your stomach flips over your head!" Spousal Unit explained later.

I was pleased (and not surprised) to see that he was still smiling when he returned.  (And he didn't have to use the barf bag!)

My brother also flies sailplanes, and that is more my speed, so we went up in the afternoon.  In case you are not familiar with this type of aircraft - a sailplane has no engine.  It is towed into the air by another aircraft, and once it reaches an appropriate elevation with promising currents, it is released.  The pilot then must utilize the thermals to keep the sailplane in the air and, preferably, rising to allow for a long ride and to create more options.  On this flight, we ran the ridgeline of the Wasatch Mountains, offering views of Snowbasin Ski Resort and more.

As the passenger, I am sitting in the front of the sailplane, and part of my responsibility is to keep an eye out for other aircraft.  The picture below shows another sailplane, below us. 

The southern end of the ridgeline was anchored by communications towers, which support the nearby Salt Lake City airport.  Don't they look like golf balls?

I am so accustomed to looking UP at mountains, that this perspective was quite refreshing.  As we circled back to the airport, we passed directly over the house - it is to the right of the large green patch you see in the photo.  I imagined waving to Spousal Unit and my sister-in-law, who were busy making a White Chocolate Huckleberry Cheesecake, which has been featured in a past post. 

I regret that I didn't take ANY pictures of the tantalizing food that we ate.  Quite frankly, I was enjoying the meals and the company and it just didn't take priority.  We did copy a couple of the recipes, which you will see at the end of this post.  I am salivating even now as I remember many a tasty morsel!

I did get another sunset photo or two ....

The next morning, before we headed out for a short drive and hike, I climbed the hillside in front of the house - don't they have a marvelous setting?

My brother and his wife share our love of ski resorts; it was delightful to get a short visit of Snowbasin and imagine what it might be like in a month's time.  (Snowbasin typically opens around Thanksgiving.)  From one of the resort parking lots, we embarked on a short hike.  Some of the aspens were still in full color, and the sun was beaming down, encouraging us to shed layers as we strolled along.

In the afternoon, it was Spousal Unit's turn in the sailplane.

Below is a video of the sailplane being towed into the air.  My sister-in-law and I left after this video to do a little shopping in Ogden.  (Little did we know that, when the sailplane reached 2,000 feet, the tow rope broke.  This is a designed feature, called a weak link.  When there is too much turbulence between the tow plane and the sailplane, it is preferable for the weak link to break than to potentially cause problems with the aircraft.  This allows both planes to safely return to the ground.)  This is precisely what they did, and tried again, in an area with less turbulence.  

Our prime destination was the Shepherd's Bush Fine Needlework store.  Back in 2018, when a bunch of my family visited us for the first time in our new home, my sister-in-law gave me this cross-stitch design (among many other goodies). Other projects have taken priority, but now I was ready to "get ready" - I needed fabric!  And if it turned out I fell in love with a couple of other designs, how bad could that be?

Unfortunately, as we discovered when we arrived at the door, the shop is not "open" in the conventional sense.  But the two sisters who run this treasure chest of a store are committed to their customers, and they proceeded to bring fabric samples out to the front step.  Over the next few minutes, they helped me select a fabric and an alternate floss color, not to mention a needle threader (no more licking my floss!) The shop is known for specialty "buttons" as part of cross-stitch designs, and I also purchased the buttons that augment this design.   

(As an aside, I began this project on Thanksgiving weekend.  I am loving the look of it!)

When we returned to the house, I utilized my sister-in-law's sewing studio to put the finishing touches on this pillow for #1 Daughter and The Boyfriend.  (see posts here and here about this project)  I am so grateful for the use of the zipper foot!!!!

By this time, Spousal Unit and my brother had returned from the sailplane ride, and I was delighted to accept my brother's invitation for a more extensive garden tour.  All of my fellow gardeners out there will appreciate the joy of wandering a garden, talking plants and shrubs, pruning, fertilizing, suggestions for alternate plants, challenges and potential solutions.  Oh my!  It was fun.  

We gnoshed on another lovely meal, and there might have been some wine consumed as well.  Lots of laughs - my sister-in-law has a delightful sense of humor, as ably demonstrated by her kitchen cloths!

I was happy to leave them a hand-drawn thank you card, but not happy to leave.  We know we will be back!  A heart-felt thanks to both of them for making this part of our road trip so special.  Until next time!

 Two recipes: Zesty Pumpkin Soup and Chicken and Wild Rice Soup.  Thanks to my SIL for the delicious food!

***I may be slow to comment this week since #1 Daughter and her boyfriend arrived yesterday.

Mosaic Monday

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Please include at least one photo mosaic/collage in your post.

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