Helen's Australian birthday

It was my birthday in Australia and we started celebrations with breakfast "up the canyon" at Ruth's Diner. Jenny and I are united in admiration for American diner breakfasts and plan to have as many as possible. Ruth is no longer - she looks rather a tough nut - but her legacy lives on in her signature "Mile-High Biscuits" which are a slab of fluffy scones, butter hiding underneath to soften, which are plonked on the table as you sit down. 

Then we set off into the mountains heading for Park City via Guardsmans Pass. It was the most magical day with warm sun, clear cold air and snow icing the limbs of the spruce trees interspersed with clumps of yellow trembling aspens. At the top of Guardsmans Pass we stopped for a selfie where you can only see the top of Jenny's head. That's why we are all laughing. 

It's 9700 feet above sea level and very cold but a brisk invigorating cold. Next to us were a group of cyclists about to ride down the hill - you couldn't ride up. Next stretch of road is unsealed but quite wide and not a problem to Australians. 

Rory had a surprise planned - something he saw last week and hoped would still be there and it was! At a place called Strawberry (fabulous name!) 3 year-old Kokanee salmon come to lay their eggs (females) and fertilise them (males) then die. There they were in their dozens, waving in the stream, bright red, doing what nature planned and then they die. At night wild animals like bears, cougar, skunks come and eat the carcasses which go white - all very tidy. A ranger explained it to us; quite informal, no entrance fee, no coffee shop, just a stream flowing into a lake where they live. Each female lays 12,000 eggs of which 2 fish will survive. So interesting and we were thrilled to see the fish. The strongest get upstream where the eggs are harvested and all 12,000 survive to be put back into the lake. 

We returned via Heber City and ice creams at the Dairy Keen where electric trains whirr around the cafe above your head - more of Rory's local knowledge which he is accumulating at a great rate. 

I was allowed to choose the place for dinner in Park City and after wandering up and down Main Steet reading menus (so many art galleries!) chose Chimayo which specialises in South-Western food with a twist. Great choice: we all enjoyed our meals. Jenny and I shared a rib crown roast which was brilliant; David joined us in an Oregon Pinot Gris while Rory had a - no kidding - Polygamy Porter, a beer. So the locals can poke gentle fun at themselves. Chimayo was decorated for Halloween which is coming soon: