My last day skiing and in front of me as is a slice of our favourite Cherry Pie.  Sadly only one slice, Anne’s smiling face is thousands of miles away back in Australia working hard while I feast at Deer Valley Ski Resort in Utah for the last time after two weeks of skiing with Australian friends.  So unfair you say and I agree, it is not nice to eat cherry pie alone.

Deer Valley’s famous (in my view) cherry pie

How did we get into this strange predicament you may well ask.  Are we not the 2slowspeeds, not a single version?  In mid 2018 we agreed with good friends David and Marianne that we would ski together in Utah in March 2019, nothing on the horizon could cloud this excellent plan, accomodation booked, flight tickets booked, all we needed to do was sit back and wait for the powder snow to fall on the Wasatch mountains, however it was suggested to Anne shortly afterwards that she apply for a short term Project Management role on a health project in Queensland.  Low and behold she secured a contract and returned to the workforce after 5 years of frivolous travelling the world enjoying herself and 12 years prior running her own business.  Yours truly used some pitiful excuse about keeping the home fires burning to avoid undertaking such a similar arduous future.

With the project not concluding until April 2019, Anne said that I should still go and our friends believed that they could survive just my presence although Anne would be sorely missed, which she was. Still the skiing has to go on.

We have spent two enjoyable weeks skiing a number of locations around Salt Lake City, including Deer Valley, Park City, Alta, Snowbird and Solitude, the last two of which I had not skied before. We were blessed with a number of Bluebird days and even though US Colleges’ ‘Spring Break’ was in full swing, we were able to find less crowded slopes. I have included a few pictures for those who like snowy outlooks. 

Atop the divide at Snowbird, Utah

Aussies ready to go at Alta

First time in Solitude, worth the visit

What about Anne languishing back in Brisbane?  Well not exactly.  On the day of my departure Anne transferred and flew to a new role based in Cairns with responsibilities in the Cape and Torres Straight, which will extend her contract until the end of June 2019. When I return to Australia at Easter I will look to spend some time in Cairns and we are thinking of maybe take both Australian motorcycles, “The Bird” and “The Bee” up to Cairns to do some riding in the region, which neither of us has done before.

Between now and Easter, I will be in the UK, both to visit family and friends plus look at getting ‘Streak’ & ‘Storm’ roadworthy for our next adventure(s).  The precise format of the adventure(s) has not been determined but no doubt we will be poring over maps and blogs to identify possible opportunities for a number of shorter journeys to focus, as we said previously, on spending more time in a country or region.  

– Anthony