Day 166 - 175: Snow, Roller Derby, Water Heater

 Our week was less eventful than the last. And for that, we are thankful! Brandon started working at Park City and loves it. How could he not? The view is great, and he gets to ski all day. There is more snow here than there was where we were in Colorado. It comes with the territory; we are closer to the mountains and travel in and out of them on a daily basis. Alanna had her first Derby practice with Wasatch Junior Rollers on Sunday, which meant that I had to bring Brandon to work. Brandon starts work at 7am, so we left our place at 6am. The roads by us were just okay, but once we hit the 40, they were not great. I was driving, and white knuckling it the whole way. I seem to have developed a slight fear of driving in inclement weather after our last two trips. It also didn't help that a Ford Ranger spun out in front of us, and it is pitch black out at that time of day. I became very nervous that I wouldn't be able to get Alanna to Salt Lake City for practice that day. After we dropped off Brandon Alanna and I went to a cute breakfast place and waited for the sun to come up. This also gave time for plows to get out and clear the roads. Once the sun came up and plows were out, we were on our way to SLC. We got there! I did it. I got Alanna to her practice! It's the small things, really.

Alanna was nervous and excited about her first day. We got there in time to watch the Junior travel team, and they were really good. Alanna jumped into her practice and had a great time. This team is very structured, and she is going to learn a lot. We are really excited to watch her develop and grow her skills. Between waking up prior to the crack of dawn, and skating her heart out, Alanna was super tired.

Brandon has been looking for new-to-him skis. The skis we have are good for Western New York skiing; AKA groomed hills and carving. Brandon found some powder skis for sale on marketplace and picked them up on Tuesday. Wednesday Brandon and Alanna went to Park City so Brandon could take some runs on his new skis, and I worked from the lodge. I wasn't the only one working from the lodge, and it's not a bad view! After a couple runs, we went to Salt Lake City to look for a second car. Something we can pay cash for that will help us to save on fuel cost. We didn't find what we were looking for, so the search continues. We did see some cool vintage Subaru's at the Subaru dealership and had some nice views in downtown SLC. 

 

In other news from living in an RV, our electric fireplace hasn't worked for a bit, and we are finally getting a replacement. It is covered by our warranty, but they don't cover shipping. It's always something with warrantees. Our electric portion of our water heater also went out. I have been YouTube-ing how to troubleshoot issues and fix it. So far, I have changed out the heating element twice, and that didn't fix it. The next step is to change out the thermostat switch. I have ordered the part we need, and it will be here by Monday. Our hot water heater can work off of electricity, propane, or both. We are already using propane to heat the RV, so it's not ideal to keep using propane to heat the water too. We have been turning it on to get hot water to wash dishes and showering at the showers here at the RV resort. The showers are nice, the water stays HOT (Alanna and I appreciate that), and the pressure is good. So, fixing the issue isn't a top priority or a major concern. If the switch doesn't fix the issue, then we will call to get it fixed. Until then, I'm having fun trying to fix it myself.

Things we learned:

• I have to figure out how to get over this new fear of driving in snow.
• Changing the heat element is pretty easy.
• The heat element wasn't the problem.
• Alanna is going to love being on the Wasatch Junior Rollers team.
• Brandon has an awesome job.
• Not all skis are built the same (We knew, but you don't know the difference until you try them)
• Utah is stunning.

Much Love and Happy Times,

The Blackshire's