It was a fun little trip. The driving was easy and uneventful, and we didn't have any trouble finding our way around the city-the streets in the main part are on a grid, so you can navigate pretty easily. Yesterday we dropped Millie off at the hospital for her checkup and went exploring. I parked the car back at the hotel and we walked the 2 blocks to the Gateway Center-built specially in honor of the 2002 Olympics. The three of us had gone there Monday night, too.
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| Millie and Gracie Monday night at Starbuck's-the coffee house looks out over the Olympic plaza. |
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| Eight years ago, while Gracie was in the NICU, we brought her two big brothers here to the plaza to play in the fountain. This week we got to take Gracie, something we weren't sure we would get to do back when she was struggling to live. |
Then Gracie and I took the train downtown to a brand new mall we heard of. I told Gracie to pick an activity to take her mom to, since she missed our day's fun, and she picked going back to the mall.
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| This city has a ton of fountains! |
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| The name of the mall is City Creek and a creek runs through the entire mall, complete with trout! |
We had dinner at the mall-we hadn't ever eaten at The Cheesecake Factory, so that's what we chose. The mall covers two downtown city blocks and is gorgeous!
We headed home today. We debated which route to take-the way we went down had been hit with a horrible man-caused wildfire, mere minutes after we drove through on Monday. Millie kept up with the local news on her smart phone, and found out the road had reopened, so since it's the shortest way home we headed that way.
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| As of this afternoon, the fire has covered 14,000 acres-quite a jump considering it just started on Monday. This is the area where the fire jumped the highway and the river. I took these pictures while driving. I could have stopped on the road, since there were very few cars going through. |
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| Right up to the road-with lots of active flames. |
We drove by a home that had been leveled-outbuildings, garage, etc. The only thing left standing was a child's swing set. Made me want to cry. Imagine my dismay when, after returning home, I find out that this is the home of my good friend's in-laws! They lost everything.
Lots of rain is surely needed in the West right now. Keep praying for a downpour.
What a sad ending to such a wonderful trip. How awful you had to see that child's swing and then to find you know the people. You really have to live each day to the fullest and appreciate all you have and hug everyone. Hugs to you.
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