Half Day!

So on top of today being Friday, I was able to leave work a full 3 hours early! This week at work we have been interviewing candidates for the Elementary Education program. I am in charge of organizing these interviews and have to stay at work until the last one is complete. So on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I stayed at work until at least 6:30pm. This gave me a lot of overtime, so I decided to take the day off early today and go to lunch with Zach. We went to this Chinese Buffet in Lindon that we like to go to, and since it was just lunch it was a lot cheaper. Don't worry, we ate just as much or more than we would have for dinner, kept me full for the rest of the day. It was a good deal.
After lunch we didn't want to just go home and waste my half day so we decided to drive up American Fork Canyon on the Alpine Loop. We had never done it before, but after today I think it is definitely something that everyone should do at least once before they leave Utah. The fall colors were beautiful! The weather was just perfect and the drive was nice and peaceful. The
Alpine Loop ends at Sundance Ski Resort. After our big lunch we thought it would be fun to ride the ski lift up the mountain and walk around a bit, get a little exercise and enjoy the scenic view. Sounded like a perfect idea. When looking at the prices we noticed that you can get one ride up and down for 8 bucks or you can get two for 10 bucks. The catch is that both of these rides need to be for the same person. You can't just buy the 2 rides and use them at the same time... believe me, Zach asked. Anyway, we went in to buy our tickets; 16 bucks seemed like a lot but it was a half day and so all financial sense was put on the back burner. As the woman at the cash register finished running our card she casually mentioned that the lift closes in 5 minutes. 5 minutes!? The first thing that came to my mind was, "How will we get down the mountain?" I shared this thought with the cashier and she nonchalantly said, "Well you won't actually be able to get off at the top, you will just ride it up and then down without getting off."
Is it just me or does this not seem like a very good deal? I mean half the fun of riding the lift up is enjoying the view and exploring the top of the mountain without actually having to hike to get there. I asked her if we could "un-buy" the tickets and maybe come back another day (yeah right, who knows when my next half day will be...) Luckily, she was a pleasant woman and just put the money back on our card. Feeling a little defeated, we headed back to Provo.

My favorite part of the whole afternoon, however, had to be when Zach figured out what ATV stood for. "I get it, ATV, Activity Vehicle." I followed up with, "What does the 'T' stand for?" Realizing his adorable mistake he responded, "Well, it's an ActiviTee Vehicle." ... I love my husband, he is so cute! (by the way we both know ATVs are All-Terrain Vehicles, Z just forgot for a second is all)

***The Pictures: The first one is a view from our drive, the white flowers were at the top of the mountain and the orange flowers are actually from our front yard.