"C-H-I-C-K-E-N, That's the Way You Spell Chicken!"

Okay! I admit it! I'm a big chicken..... Always have been, always will be. Opa would probably say that it's because my parents babied me, and maybe it is, but all I know is I am a big scaredy-cat about being up high, going fast, going down hill, looking down from high building balconies, etc. Yall know I freak out when I am trapped in a car that is driving up a canyon, with a long drop just a few feet away! That's the reason I always want to take I-80 through Wyoming when making the Utah-Alabama drive. I just can't take the scariness of driving through the mountains. Driving in that awful area north of Price, Utah on the last leg of our drive out here in November was too scary for words. I just kept my seat reclined and played Solitaire on my laptop so as not to watch. (Even Opa found the drive dangerous, as it was dark by then.)

Anyway, a couple days ago Opa wanted to drive up to Brighton to check out the slopes, etc, and he wanted me to go with him. Not that I don't love to hang out with Opa, but I was just finally getting over the cold or whatever has been plaguing me since we left Mobile, and "baby it was cold outside" and I was aware of the switchback road that it the road through Big Cottonwood Canyon, leading to Brighton. But, being the loving, supportive wife that I try to be (stop with the smirks, girls!), I climbed in the truck and off we went, stopping on the way for a few errands. By the time we got to the turnoff for the slopes, there was not a lot of traffic heading in the same direction we were going. Curiously, there were lots of cars coming back down the mountain. Of course my paranoia shifted into high gear, as I became sure that there must have been a sudden blizzard up at Brighton, causing the road to close, etc. Never mind that the sky was blue and the day was sunny! Jim reasoned with me, and I calmed down, until we started seeing flashing lights, and traffic accidents. Jim drove extra cautiously, and I sort of calmed down. As we drove further up canyon, winding slowly around curves, it got colder and colder, even with the heat on.

So, I had a wonderful idea! Instead of me going all the way up to Brighton with Jim, 'risking my life on that road', I would get him to drop me at one of my favorite places, in spite of its location, the Silver Fork Lodge." I have spent many a happy summer hour sitting on the balcony with Dave, chipmunks scurrying around our feet, enjoying the summer beauty of the canyon. I remember eating breakfast there with Jim, Jake and Cheree, Ashli and Alli (our niece) on the morning of Josh and Amanda's wedding. Their oatmeal is the best in the world! Good Times! The picture is of Jake and Cheree on the balcony at the Silver Fork.

So Jim, even though he wanted me to continue up the "dangerous road to Brighton" with him, willingly dropped me at the Silver Fork Lodge. Dave's friends John and Angie both work there, and were coming in to work just as I got there. They found me the best table in the house, right in front of a roaring fire in the stone fireplace, with views on both sides of the snow-covered slopes. So I spent the next hour or so, sipping the very excellent Silver Fork Lodge hot cocoa, enjoying a plate of cheese fries. John and Angie checked in on me frequently, as I thawed out, relaxed and just enjoyed the heck out of that place. Jim returned from his drive up to Brighton and joined me for cheese fries and cocoa before we began our drive down the canyon. We passed four more traffic accidents on our way down! So glad to get back home at the end of that adventure. But I sure could use some more Silver Fork Cocoa! And that's the way they spell 'Chicken!'