We're Back

Here is my one and only shot of our trip to Galena.


Beautiful, right? It really is. That is the Alpine Slide, and the people on the chair lift in front of me are Sean, Emma, and Maggie. This Alpine Slide was actually a lot of fun. It was pretty long, considering we were on the one and only mountain in most of Illinois. But riding the lift back up was cool, we had an amazing view of the Mississippi. I don't know what it is about that river, but it's just so mesmerizing to me.

We also did a little drive into Dubuque, Iowa. It's a lovely town. And by lovely I mean it's the kind of place you don't want to get stuck in after dark. It was a big ol' hole. I think we were the only non-smokers in the town, and probably the only ones not packing heat.

We had a way nice condo, courtesy of my mom's brother and his lovely wife. They are very sweet. We swam, watched movies, and just had a general good time. Galena is definitely some place we need to visit again, and next time we'll stay longer. It's like a miniature Park City, but with more rivers and less mountains. It has a million B&B's and the aforementioned ski resort. It is also home to Ulysses S. Grant's home, and an old period decorated mansion, called the Belvidere Mansion. We didn't go to either of those places. We hadn't heard great things about either place, so we passed. The kids were relieved.

I'd like to visit in the winter, and maybe hit the slopes. The ski resort had a couple of black diamond runs that were hilariously easy in comparison to Utah standards. But I could certainly use that as a little self esteem booster, right?