Wayne and Anne's Adventure in Utah

Celebrating Wayne's Birthday:The Arts and Outdoors

2008-06-12T12:13:00.000-07:00

Wayne's birthday celebration weekend began on Thursday, May 15. We went to Abravenel Hall to see the Utah Symphony perform 3 of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos.

It was wonderful and we had great seats, 10 rows back on the right side of center. It reminded me of when Beth's orchestral small group performed the first movement of the 4th concerto in High School. Whenever I hear this piece I think of them.

We also heard the 2nd ( lots of high trumpet trills that were very impressive) and the 6th (the Masterpiece theater theme-lower, melodic, nice). My favorite was the third part of the 4th, when the solo violinist did some amazing sounds with his strings.

It was a short concert, just one hour, so afterwards we walked to Temple Square and enjoyed the sights and smells at night. The square was still full of blooming bulbs and the buildings and fountains were all lit so we could enjoy it at night.

Friday night we had tickets to the opera, Don Giovanni! I was excited to see it and Wayne knew he would enjoy the music played by the Utah Symphony if not all of the Operatic voices.

The staging and costumes were wonderful. We sat up high in the balcony so we could easily see the English translations posted above the stage without bobbing our heads up and down. In retrospect I wish I had gone with the front row tickets. In opera, the words are repeated so many times that you only have to glance up occasionally to understand the gist of the words, and there is nothing like being up close to really enjoy live theater.

My favorite performer was a soprano, Donna Anna who rejected Don Giovanni's advances and wanted revenge after he kills her father in a duel.
The story is about a Don Juan character who seduces women and then leaves them. There were only 8 characters, with only a minor character of the men, a tenor. The major men roles were baritone/bass. The women were sopranos or mezzo soprano. Because the music seemed lower to me, I found it more interesting. (I agree with Wayne and am not a fan of the high operatic soprano voice). I enjoyed the production but never felt anything for the title character who was a womanizer and especially preyed on the lower class. We will have to try going to the Mn Opera again when we return home. It is an artistic event. It was fun to mingle in the crowd during intermission. Most attendees were dressed up; with a few in evening gowns, top hats and tails!

Saturday May 17 was Wayne's actual birthday. He opened my gifts early after a big breakfast and a crossword, and then took off on his bicycle for a haircut downtown. Although I have accompanied him to his barber in the past, I stayed home this day to rest my back. One of the disadvantages of attending a performance at the Capitol Theater are the seats, which are set closer together than modern theaters, leaving no leg room. A few hours at the opera last night had rekindled my sore back so I stayed home to rest it. Wayne came home and we put together a picnic lunch which we took to the City Creek Park where we had had a picnic lunch in August of 2002.

I then drove him up to the mountain above the Avenues neighborhood so he could take his bike and try to get to the top without having to do all the city streets on the way. These hiking/biking trails are part of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail; a system of trails that traverse the sides of the mountains at about 5-6000 feet with spur trails following the crests of the lower peaks.

The trails run the length of the Salt Lake Valley, all along the Wasatch Mountains and give gorgeous views of the valley once you climb the 500-1000 foot entrance trails. It is one of our favorite things to do; Wayne by bike and me on foot!

Wayne started out at the Morris Reservoir Trailhead and then enjoyed climbing to the crests. He followed the shoreline trail until he met up with a few bikers who pointed out the entrance to the "bobsled", an exit trail with many turns, high banks, and even jumps over abandoned vehicles. Wayne had ridden half of it once before but was really pleased to try the whole trail, avoiding the jumps, and at a slower pace than some of the younger, crazier bikers.

Meanwhile after dropping Wayne off at the trail head, I drove home and left the car in the garage before walking to the library to return and get new books and music. On the way to the library I discovered a festival spread across the grounds of the City & County building and the street separating it from the library. I could see and hear live music, dancing and lots of food and drink booths. Naturally I hurried through my business at the library and then went back outside to enjoy the Living Traditions Festival. It looked so interesting that I reached Wayne on his cell phone and encouraged him to come there instead of going back to our place when he was ready to ride down the mountain.

The Festival was running for three days and had started Friday evening. It included 2 stages for live music and dance, a workshop tent to learn more about types of music, a kitchen tent that gave ethnic kitchen cooking demonstrations, an area just for kids to try all sorts of things, five craft tents with 4 demonstrators per tent as well as the blacksmith just outside the craft tent area, a craft market tent that sold the items being demonstrated in the craft tents and finally 20 different food booths sponsored by local clubs representing food from their native region. We could choose from Hawaiian, Basque, Tongan, Bolivian, Lebanese, Tibetan, Philippine, Tahitian, Pakistani, Laotian, Salvadoran, Thai, Swiss, Scottish, Vietnamese, Bosnian, American Indian, Italian, Chinese and Sudanese. Also the local brewery had a tent. Who knew there was such diversity in this predominantly Mormon valley!

Wayne met me at a corner entrance to the grounds and we wandered through the area, stopping to enjoy music or dance or to ask a question of a craft demonstrator. We decided to come back on Sunday to further enjoy the event and partake of the food, as we had already made plans for dinner and theater for Wayne's birthday evening. Wayne rode his bike home to shower and get ready and I visited the craft market tent before walking to the TRAX and my ride home.

Wayne wanted to eat dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, The Acme Burger Company. We were dressed nice casual, and enjoyed the few blocks walk to dinner. We requested outdoor seating and had a nice table for two where we could enjoy the fine weather and all the action of the street on a Saturday night. SLC's dining business was sponsoring a promotion called Dine Around the Town where each restaurant would have a three course meal menu choice that week for only $15 (or $25 at the high end restaurants). We decided to both try that and had incredible soup, (clam chowder for Wayne and squash bisque for me) lamb burgers, and ginger/guava/honey sorbet with cookies. It was plate-licking good! We were entertained by a valet service operating just across the street. The valets would take off at a run, weaving around traffic, heading we presumed to the lot where the cars had been parked. We never seemed to catch them coming back!

After dinner we walked a block to the Rose Wagner Theater Arts Complex where we had tickets at the Jeanne Wagner Theater for the 5th annual Slam by Plan B Theater. It was a 24 hour effort by writers, directors and actors to create a play in 23 hours and perform it in the 24th. There were 5 plays created, Jewel in the Crown, Burning Desire, Hootenanny, Oh My Goth, and Into the Black. Each writer was given a title and what the stage set would look like and then ran with it. Each play had 5 actors chosen by lot before the writing began. It was fun to see how creative the plays were, although we didn't understand them all. The audience was mostly 20-30s but we saw a few our age, and the troupe had gotten permission to serve kegs from the brewery across the street in honor of their fifth year ,so the audience was pretty happy even if sometimes clueless about a play.

All five plays took less than an hour and a half to perform (about 10 min each with a little time between), so after the Slam was done, Wayne and I walked a few more blocks back to the Festival to listen to the last performers of the night, an Irish band of three instrumentalists. The crowd had filled the chairs and were standing all over the lawn on the North side of the stage. Before Buille was done performing, a group of happy listeners started snaking their way to the front of the stage where they stayed and danced to the music. It was fun to watch. The band ended by 10:15 and we walked home, enjoying watching all the people out on the town. Beth, Emily, and Katie had all called during the day to sing for Wayne their Happy Birthday wishes. Ellen and Scott had sent him a package containing their favorite tea and an artsy rope handle to use with his beer bottles to keep the beer from getting warm, which he tried and enjoyed!

Sunday morning found us back at Mt. Tabor Lutheran church, sharing with our new friends our adventures at Arches and Canyonlands NPs. It is nice to be missed by our church community.

After lunch we headed out to the Kennecott Mine in Bingham Canyon, UT., the largest man-made excavation on earth. It is an open-pit copper mine, more than three quarters of a mile deep and two and three quarter miles wide, and can be seen by astronauts in space. There is a visitor center which gives a history of the mine, explains the mining process and has many displays on mining, and the use of metals in our everyday lives. There is also a short film that follows the copper from a low grade ore to 99.9% pure in their refinery. Outside the visitor's center, the overlook gives visitors a view point to watch the giant trucks deliver the ore to the in-pit crusher. Through the viewing scopes you can also see the shovels dig out the ore and drop it into trucks. The mine has produced more than 18 million tons of copper since it opened in 1906.

From the mine we hurried home to drop off the car and then walk back to the Festival where we were meeting our friend Carol and her colleague Christie, who were in town for a conference. We enjoyed a beer while we each chose a different ethnic group to provide us with supper. We visited at the picnic tables, finished our food, and then wandered through the craft areas and watched performers on the stages. Carol and Christie came back with us to our place via the TRAX and we showed them the Gateway and had some water before they had to return to the convention hall for an evening program at 8. Wayne and I enjoyed a competitive game of Carcasonne that the girls had brought out as a gift for Wayne when they visited. It was a great end to a wonderful weekend.

Canyonlands and Arches National Parks

2008-05-21T13:16:00.000-07:00

Wayne and I enjoyed a weekend visit to Canyonlands, (Island In the Sky district) and to Arches National Parks the weekend of May 2-4, 2008. Wayne took a vacation day on Friday and we left SLC by 8:30 AM and arrived at Arches NP about 1PM. Unfortunately the campground was full and as I later discovered, most of the sites are reserved, and the open ones always fill by 9 AM.

We headed back up the highway to the first entrance to Canyonlands and about an hour later were able to set up in the last site in Willow Flat Campground, all unreserved but only 12 sites. Maybe the reason it was open is that there is no water available in the Island In the Sky part of Canyonlands. I don't mean no showers, I mean no water. There are two vault toilets in the campground with antiseptic gel dispensers. There are no pumps, no pipes, no water at all.

You can see water 1500 feet below in the Green and Colorado Rivers which carve the canyons and made the island plateau where we are now camped. Luckily we came with water jugs full for hiking and biking, but it never occurred to us that there would be no water for cooking or clean-up. This camping experience really gave us a taste of the difficulties of living in a high desert!

After setting up camp and eating lunch, including wiping our dishes clean with paper napkins, we set out to explore our island in the sky. We drove to the Grand View Point overlook to look down 1000 feet to the white rim (a step down on our plateau) and another 500 feet to the rivers.

From the lookout we followed a trail, the White Rim trail(2miles one way,elevation change 25 feet) to the very SW point of our plateau with gorgeous views of the Green River canyons. The trails on the "island" are interesting. Although some of the area is grazing land with wild grasses, most of the trails cross vast areas of rock, called slickrock, and the trails are denoted by cairns, man made piles of rock 1- 2 feet tall. So when following the trail, you approach a cairn and then search the rock for the next one, maybe 40 feet away.

On the Rim trail, the Cairns were made of neatly cut rocks so they were easy to distinguish from the natural land. Besides rock and some grasses, there was lots of prickly pear cactus growing out of breaks in the rock. This surprised me as the Island is at an elevation above 7000 ft. and I didn't realize that cacti could grow in that high elevation.

From the southern overlooks we drove to the northern part of our Island to an area called the upheaval dome. Scientists are uncertain what caused this unique landscape, originally thinking it was caused by salt pushing rock up from under layers although a new theory involves a meteorite. We parked and walked to both lookouts. The first was relatively easy, just under a mile with a climb of 100 ft and a clear gravel and rock lined trail the whole way. The second overlook continued on another almost 2 miles with a 150 foot climb.

Some of the time there was a gravel trail, but most of it crossed slick rock with cairns as guides. I had picked up a brochure about the site and there was a warning not to build your own cairns as it could be dangerous for other hikers. Wayne and I got off the real trail following false cairns and ended up on a rock spine with a great but somewhat dangerous view of the upheaval dome. We knew we were off as our trail ended in a drop-off and the real trail was to end at a fence. Looking around we saw the real trail several hundred feet below us and soon found where we had been lured off the trail and took the real one to the end. We ended up climbing several hundred feet more than the trail advertised but the false trail views were well worth it.

We drove back to our camp and were able to listen to the Twins on XM radio while preparing supper. The temperature was diving fast and we ate bundled up in our winter coats and devoured our beef stew and bread. After supper to warm up we hiked down our road to the Green River Overlook hoping to see the sunset. From our island most of the view is 1000 feet down to the White Rim. The Rivers are another 500 feet down and off in the distance.

Gazing at the White Rim we could make out a trail and even something moving on it. This turned out to be the White Rim road, a 100 mile loop traveling near the edge of the white rim. It was for 4-wheel drive vehicles, motorbikes, and hikers. There are 10 primitive campgrounds along this trail that you register for at the visitor center. It was fun to watch for any sign of life along this road. You could also see the remains of roads made by the trucks that hauled out uranium when it was mined here in the 1960s before becoming a NP. Rangers say the high desert land is so fragile that it will take many more years before the roads made by the trucks disappear in the wilderness. For that reason hikers are asked to stay on trails or on slickrock.

On our way out to the viewpoint, we passed a Ranger in the parking lot who was setting up his telescope for viewing after dark. The temperature was close to freezing with a breeze from the North when we rejoined him. A total of 7 brave souls took a quick class with him on the night sky and enjoyed great views of Saturn through the telescope as well as stars and constellations. The cold drove us back to our tent and our warm sleeping bags.

On Saturday after a hot breakfast which tasted wonderful in the still chilly morning air, we hopped on our bikes and rode to the visitor's center about 7 miles away. The road was mostly gently rolling with views of grasslands and only a few challenging hills.

We stopped to catch my breath at the Shafer Trail overlook. This is a 5 1/2 mile trail that drops 1000 feet to the White Rim by a series of switchbacks and is the entrance to the White Rim Road. We watched one 4-wheel drive vehicle inch its way along the single lane cliff hugging road and about 10 motorcycles zoom by him. The road is narrow and rough and you need high clearance or maneuverability to miss the many rocks. Most people take it only one way and exit on the Potash road that leads to Moab. It might have been fun to try with our bikes if we didn't have to come back up! We found out that the visitor center sold water in gallon jugs and planned to come back with the car for water and postcards.

On the way back to camp we stopped at the Mesa Arch turnout, locked up our bikes and hiked to the arch. By this time the weather had turned gorgeous and we enjoyed snacks and water near the arch before heading back to camp. Back at camp we sat in our folding chairs, drank some orange juice and read our books while we rested and enjoyed the rest of the morning.

After lunch we stopped again at the visitor center and got 2 jugs of water and the cards. From there we drove to the Murphy's Point trail head. This trail started out crossing grassland and we could even see the remains of corrals used by ranchers. Eventually we got to the slickrock and enjoyed following the cairn trail to the cliff edge and gorgeous views of the white rim and green river valley below.

It was a 7 mile trek round trip but with only 100 feet of elevation change. The afternoon sun got hot and we had stripped down to our bottom layers including zipping off pant legs before we were back at the car. It was only about 3 miles back to our camp and we enjoyed a beer and hard lemonade as we finished our books in the setting light. The evening was milder and we could keep our heavy coats open as we ate spaghetti and later walked to the lookout. The Ranger was setting up his star show again, but we only stayed for a bit and then took a starlit walk for a couple of miles til the spreading clouds covered our sky and convinced us it was time for bed.

Sunday morning we were up and breaking camp so we could visit Arches NP on our way home. The Park has a scenic drive that traverses the area from the southern entrance to almost the northern tip and from the west to the east. If you have seen a UT license plate in recent years you have probably seen the Delicate Arch, the most famous of the arches in the Park. It is on the Wolf Point turn-off, about 12 miles from the Park entrance. We enjoyed the scenery along the road but did not stop (after our stop at the visitor center for water, restrooms, and souvenirs) until we reached the Delicate Arch trail head at Wolf Point. We had hoped to get to the trail head parking area early enough to find a spot but were disappointed. The designated parking area was full as were all the overflow onto the nearby road.

We decided instead to drive to the overlook and take the trail to the upper viewpoint and then use our time to visit other, less popular trails. This was a great decision which I highly recommend to anyone contemplating a visit to Arches NP.

The trail to the viewpoint is only 1/2 mile vs. 3 miles to the arch itself. Although it is a steep climb over 400 feet, most climbers stop at the top of the regular trail where there is a nice view of the arch across the canyon. However if you enjoy climbing on slickrock, you can follow cairns up another 100 feet to the very edge of a cliff directly across from the arch. We only saw 2 people on the upper slickrock portion of the trail and were alone for 15 minutes while we rested, snacked and took pictures( a rarity in the popular Arches NP.)

We used the time and energy saved from not walking to Delicate Arch itself, to explore the Devil's Garden Trail. This area is right by the campground and a picnic area and is at the northern end of the park, another 8 miles from Delicate Arch. We stopped at the picnic area but just missed getting the last table in the shade. Arches NP is definitely desert country and in the summer is often over 100 degrees. In early May it was much cooler, 70s, but sitting for any length of time in that direct sun can wipe out your energy. Luckily the young couple who beat us to the shaded table offered to share it with us, and we had a nice visit over lunch.

Although we didn't get into the parking lot for Devil's Garden, we found a nice spot on the shoulder of the road not too far from the trail head. It is the longest of the trails in the park, 7.2 miles if you complete all the spur trails to the points of interest. It is listed as strenuous although it doesn't have an extended uphill climb, but does cross narrow ledges (fins) with lots of ups and downs over rocky surfaces and scrambling across slickrock. We ran out of time before we were able to do the primitive loop of the trail, but really enjoyed being on the slickrock.

The trail starts as a popular gravel road that has short spurs to see Tunnel and Pine Tree arch. The trail begins to change as you approach Landscape arch and can see Partition arch up above. Here most of the tourists turn around as the trail turns to sand, or crossing and climbing up sections of slickrock.

There used to be a trail to Landscape arch which was closed in 1996 when a huge under section of the arch fell making the remaining arch very fragile. A huge sign asked hikers to stay clear for their safety and we only saw a few cross the chain to get closer.

We passed the spurs to Partition and Navajo Arches and decided to go for the Double O arch, near the end of the trail. It was a great hike. We scrambled up slick rock and crossed 100 foot long fins with drop offs on both sides and a gusty wind blowing.

But the fin was about 8 feet wide and the rock wasn't slippery so we didn't feel unsafe and had gorgeous views of the surrounding area. We stopped on a rock ledge for a snack with a great view of the Double O arch below us, and also the dark angel rock formation.

The trail climbed down to the base of the arch, about 100 feet below us and we decided we didn't have the time or the energy to go to the end of the trail.

So instead we ate orange slices and fruit leathers, drank water, and thoroughly enjoyed an awe-inspiring view of the northernmost canyons in Arches NP from our perch on a rock ledge of the fin.

The hike back to the car went quickly, mostly downhill and not a lot of other hikers to wait for, and we were back to the car and heading home by a little after 4. Of course I had forgotten that we still had to take the scenic drive back out of the park, 15 miles at 30 miles an hour, so it was almost 5 by the time we were back on the highways heading home. We took the shortcut through the mountains, and stopped at a small brewpub/restaurant near Helper for a late supper. (Thanks Beth for looking up directions on-line for us when our AAA book just got us lost!)

We were back in SLC before 10 after trying to visit with Wayne's folks and having the mountain passes cut off our reception. We had the best reception at 10,000 feet when we were crossing a huge valley in between two great mountains. We brought our clothing and food up to the condo, but left most of the camping gear to be unpacked and put into storage the next day.

There is something so uplifting about walking through the natural wonders preserved in our National Parks. It is something I urge everyone to do in your lifetime. If you don't like to camp, all the NPs have small towns just outside with accommodations from tent camping to luxury resorts. Some of the larger Parks have lodges within the Park itself. Try it and I'm sure you will like it!

Salt lake City with Our Girls May 8-12

2008-05-21T13:13:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful, though short, weekend with our girls; Beth, Emily, and Katie. They arrived around midnight on Thursday, May 8th, and settling in quickly, were probably asleep before 2AM.

We were going to let them sleep in, but Em and Beth were still on work schedule time and the commotion got Katie up and going early too. Friday morning after a big breakfast we went out and explored the Gateway complex. There were crowds of people, even school-age kids, which surprised us. It turned out that we were in time to see David Archuleta from American Idol drive down Rio Grande Dr standing up and waving in the back of a limo with hundreds of screaming fans to cheer him on. He was in town to sing the National Anthem at the Jazz game, and had given a concert the night before at his high school (where he is only a junior in Murray, a southern suburb of SLC.) The girls didn't really know him but thought it was fun to be part of the experience.

From our mall, we walked through Temple Square (the headquarters of the Mormon church) and admired the still gorgeous blooming bulbs, buildings, and fountains. There were a few brides there getting pictures taken in front of the Temple which added to the fun.

(I had learned from a tour guide that couples come from all over the world to be married in the SLC Temple, and that these ceremonies are performed Tuesday through Saturday, one right after another. So it is almost unusual not to see a Bride in Temple Square. The grooms are harder to pick out!)

We walked back to our condo through downtown Salt Lake City, admiring the architecture, street art, and warm atmosphere of this metropolis. Once back at the Gateway, we picked up our car and drove through the neighborhoods surrounding the Capitol, eventually making our way to the trail head for Ensign Peak. We climbed Ensign Peak for a view of the city and then took biking/hiking trails on the hills behind and above Ensign, that really gave us great views of the whole valley to the south all the way to Provo and also looked down into City Creek Canyon to the East and the Wasatch Mountains beyond.

We ate mid-afternoon at the Red Iguana, claimed to have the best Mexican food in the city. We only had to wait about 10 minutes for a seat which was really unusual as it is a small restaurant and is crowded even at that time of day. The Mexican food was delicious and we were so glad we had finally made it inside to enjoy it's delicacies.

Then we headed to the SLC Bees Baseball game where we enjoyed a beautiful evening of outdoor baseball, another Bees win, hot dogs, peanuts, fries and Wasatch beers to wash it all down.

The girls loved watching the game and enjoying the views of snow-capped mountains over the outfield fence. We even stayed to watch kids run the bases after the game. At home we watched the animated "Bee Movie" to end our day with popcorn and drinks.

Saturday we started the day listening to noises coming from the Olympic Legacy Plaza, outside our windows, and going out to look from our plaza, saw tents set up with a stage and chairs and the street lined with boxes of oranges, bananas and water.

As we watched we saw runners arriving so we walked down to the upper walkway of the mall and heading towards the theater plaza, we saw trickles and then hundreds of runners and walkers cross the finish line in the Race For The Cure. We stood and cheered them on, especially the survivors, and it made a great start to our day.

We had wanted to ski at Snowbird but when I called, the beginner runs were all closed and they weren't recommending even intermediate skiers on the runs still open, so instead we drove to Provo and took a scenic drive along the Wasatch mountains with stops at the Sundance Resort, Heber City, Park City and the Olympic Park. Returning to SLC through Emigration Canyon just like the Mormons!

Our first stop was at Bridal Falls, the largest waterfall in the state

Next we stopped at Sundance Resort, famous for the Sundance Film festival in January. It is a small resort that hosts conferences all year, with a special emphasis on Nature and the Arts. There was a photographers conference at Sundance so some of the buildings were closed to the public, but we enjoyed climbing the steps past cabins and wandering the paths throughout the resort, listening to the rushing water in tumbling streams and enjoying views of the mountains.

Our stop in Heber City was just to pick up lunch at a Subway and some allergy medicine for Katie. The drive into the city included some great views along the reservoir with mountains behind.

We drove to Park City and ate our lunch at the city park at the north end of the old town. It was a beautiful sunny day, although a little chilly up in the mountains, and we played Frisbee to warm up after lunch. Then we drove up through old town and found a place to park on a side street. We walked over to Main street which was blocked off for the bottom 2 blocks in order to hold car races. The cars were like boyscout carved wooden cars only big enough for kids to ride in down the hill ending in a wall of hay bales. They also had adults riding down luge-like sleds on wheels. Just above the starting line a band was providing music for the event. It looked like a family band with the lead singer a girl just in high school. We walked up the street past the races, and music, and then on up past lots of charming stores and restaurants. At the top of the street and hill, we crossed over and walked down the other side, enjoying all the other visitors, locals and pets out enjoying the day. There was a commotion by the top of the racing area (we think someone must have gotten hurt) so we turned aside and bought some delicious desserts to share at an outdoor table in a nearby plaza. Newly fortified, we continued down hill to our car and on to the Olympic Park.

The day had gotten a way with us a little time-wise, so we didn't go into the museum at the Olympic Park, but enjoyed looking at the ski jumps and luge and bobsled runs. Just as we were getting ready to head for home we noticed someone was coming down the bobsled run. Beth and Emily ran across the empty parking lot to get a closer look and were rewarded with another bobsled run. They wanted to take a few other pictures so we drove the car to meet them on the ski jump side of the museum. Then we headed back to I-80 and Salt Lake City.

A friend had told us of the Emigration Canyon turn-off which took only about 20 minutes more than the freeway so we turned off and took winding canyon roads back into the city, coming out on the hills where Brigham Young and the earliest Mormon pioneers first saw the Salt Lake valley, near the present day University of Utah.

Streetlights cooperated and we were down the hill and into the Parc condo in plenty of time for showers and getting ready for a fun evening out on the town. We drove back up to the University and parked near the Pioneer Theater and walked a few blocks to our restaurant. We ate at a fun Greek Restaurant, Aristos, in their outdoor patio. It was a little chilly by the time we were finished but we were dressed warm enough and enjoyed eating outside. We then walked back to the Pioneer Theater on the U campus, where we saw "The Producers". We all enjoyed the show as well as the short walk around campus that we were able take before the show began.

(This is a picture I took of the Tabernacle back in February- notice the snow instead of flowers)

Sunday morning we got the girls up to go hear the taping of "Music and The Spoken Word" by the Mormon Tabernacle choir and orchestra. It was a beautiful special Mother's Day show. The girls had bought me a bouquet of flowers at a grocery store after the show Saturday night and had made me a corsage from the flowers which I wore all day. After the taping, we hustled through Temple Square, still enjoying all the flowers, and exited by the Lion House (Brigham Young's wives home) where we had parked our car. From there we drove to Mt Tabor for a regular worship service that turned out to be celebrating Pentecost, Confirmation, Mother's Day and saying good-bye to a member. It was a full service that took 1 and 1/2 hours.

We drove to Eccles stadium at the U of UT campus

(where the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2002 winter Olympics were held), and walked around the Olympic torch

and glass panel arch before heading back to the Gateway where we had lunch outside at Rumbi's Grill, enjoying the lovely warm weather and the bustle of visitors to the mall.

We hustled home, changed, and drove up to Ogden for an afternoon of bouldering, climbing rocks that had fallen off the mountain. We started on trails and then following Katie, tried to climb up the last 50 feet to the boulder field but kept running into Green Scrub Oak blocking our way. We finally found a trail that came to the bottom of a pile of boulders and then just started climbing up. I stayed with Beth, who is afraid of heights, and we proceeded at a more cautious pace. Katie was in the lead with Wayne trying to see who could get to the top the quickest and Emily was in-between. Beth and I eventually caught up with Emily and found a large boulder where the 3 of us could sit and enjoy the views of the valley about 700 feet below us. Kate and Wayne had made it to the sheer rock wall, "the cliffs of insanity", from which all of the rock we had been climbing on had fallen.

It took us all afternoon and everyone was sore, hungry and thirsty by the time we made it back down to our car (despite the snacks and water we had carried with us and enjoyed from our seat on the large boulder). The girls all napped on the 40 minute drive back home while Wayne and I listened to the Twins on XM radio.

We were able to watch the end of the Twins game on our computer when we got home and visited with Wayne's parents (as well as Ellie and Scott in the car on the way to bouldering). We walked to Squatters, our favorite brew pub, for dinner and came home to watch "An American President" while Katie studied for her last final that was coming up the following Tuesday. A nice quiet way to end a full Mother's Day!

Monday Katie slept in while the rest of us had tea, breakfast, and played games. Then some opened birthday gifts, and we shopped in the Gateway for last minute gifts and souvenirs for the girl's friends.

They got all packed up and we walked to Jason's deli and Ben's Cookies where we got picnic lunch to go. We drove to the Great Salt Lake Marina Park and had our lunch, played Frisbee

and climbed the boulders of the sea wall as well as skipped rocks and waded in the lake. Then it was time to take them to the airport and say goodbye. It was a busy and wonderful weekend. We only wished that there had been more time to do all the other things we had wanted to share with them, and we wished that Ellen and Scott could have been here, too. But now we have a great excuse to return to UT again with the whole family!

A Three B Weekend :Bees, Ballet and Bouldering

2008-05-16T11:31:00.000-07:00

The weekend of April 25-27, we did a little of everything. Friday night started with our first tickets to a Salt Lake City Bees game. As I wrote a whole blog on just the Bees, I won't say more about that here. We warmed up at home and watched 3:10 to Yuma before heading to bed.

On Saturday night we went to our second Ballet in SLC. This one was entitled 9 Sinatra Songs, and was actually 4 separate ballets with intermissions. All 4 pieces were dance set to music previously written but which inspired the choreographer to create the dance.

The first was Serenade set to Tchaikovsky's Serenade to Strings. It was a traditional style ballet which showcased the women of the cast and had solos for 2 men. The costumes were the traditional longer ballet skirts for the women and tights and shirts for the men. It was fun to watch the change in expertise of the dancers, with group dances by the youngest members and solos by the principles.

The second was a pas de deux, Hamlet and Ophelia, featuring my favorite of the men as Hamlet, and another of the principles as Ophelia. It was initially performed in 1985 set to Martinu's first symphony. Their dancing was wonderful, with costuming and staging that reflected the Shakespeare play. Wayne thought it was a little crazy and I reminded him that they were going mad in the scene.

The third piece, Continuo, set to Torelli's Trumpet Concertos was first performed in 1981 and was written to show off the athleticism of the men. It was all the men of the company, and it was easy to pick out the principles and the rising stars. The costumes were flamboyant coppery color and added to the festivity.

The last piece was 9 Sinatra Songs and was the only piece that didn't use the Utah Symphony. Instead they danced to recordings of Frank singing his songs. It was choreographed by Twyla Tharpe and first performed in 1982. It featured 7 couples dancing ballet's version of ballroom dance in Oscar de la Renta dresses and tuxes. In the first 3 songs, just one couple danced at a time, and then they all came out and danced to My Way in their own style. Then 4 more songs with a different couple for each and another version of My Way that first had the 4 couples dancing and finally all 7. Each couple had their own character including 2 comical couples and one battling couple. It was amazing to watch and enjoy. The Ballet evening lasted about 2 hours and 15 minutes so by the time we walked home we were ready for bed.

On Sunday we drove up to Ogden to investigate the boulder fields on the east edge of town. There is a section of the mountain, maybe a mile long, where the rock face cracked off the mountain and fell to the hillside below. This left a climbing training ground that brings climbers from all over to practice. Some of the rocks are as tall as 20 feet and others are the size of your fist. They lay all jumbled together where they fell on the side of the hill about 100 feet above the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. We saw climbers carrying mattresses on their backs on the trail, heading up to practice on rock face and over hangs. Once climbers become accomplished on the boulders, they graduate to climbing up the rock face from which the boulders broke off. It is a place where climbers do bouldering, climbing without the use of ropes or other paraphernalia.

We struggled up the desert hillside until we found a trail that brought us to the bottom edge of the boulders. We climbed on a few moving up the mountain maybe 40 feet before deciding that it would be a fun place to bring the girls. Sitting on one of the larger boulders, we spotted the Shoreline Trail below us and climbed down and then hiked along it for a few miles to waterfall canyon and then back to the boulder field and our car. We were tired and thirsty after walking/climbing on the western face of the mountain, always in the sun, and were ready for cool drinks, dinner and a movie, Atonement, by the time we got back to SLC. A great way to end a great weekend!

Salt Lake Bees AAA baseball in SLC

2008-05-14T18:49:00.000-07:00

Since arriving in SLC we have been to many artistic/cultural events but only a few sporting events, the Jazz basketball game against our Timberwolves (a disastrous loss by the Wolves of 30 points) and 2 SLC Bees baseball games. The baseball games were our favorite by far.

The first game we saw was the weekend after Zion/Bryce on a Friday night. It was a beautiful night if a little chilly. The giveaway that night was a SLC Bees fleece blanket. We saw a few but didn't get there early enough to receive one. By the time the game was over we wished we did have one, as the temps were in the low 40s.

The Bees won their game 8-0 and were off to a great start with a record of 19 wins and only 1 loss. They are the AAA team for the LA Angels of Anaheim who have a lot of good prospects here in SLC.Some of the things that make baseball in SLC special:

1) gorgeous views of the Wasatch Mountain Range over the center field fence

2) general admission seats are on a grassy knoll beyond the outfield fence-you bring the blanket

3) a train that runs back and forth beyond the outfield fence giving rides to the littlest fans

4) entertainment between innings-most to win souvenirs

5) kids running the bases after the games

...and best of all-seats close to the field in an intimate outdoor stadium

The second game we saw was the Friday night the girls (Beth, Emily, and Katie) were here in SLC (5/9/08). We had milder weather which added to the fun of outdoor baseball. Once again the Bees won their game (4-2) which always makes the games fun.

We were all attired in our MN Twins hats and shirts. Some fans sitting behind us shared that their best AAA team was back in the mid-90s when they were the Twins minor league team. That team stayed together for a few years and then almost the whole team graduated to the big leagues. That team's records remain the best in AAA.

It was really fun to see a baseball game again with the girls who enjoyed every moment. We didn't have kettlecorn like at the dome, but we did enjoy hot dogs, fries, peanuts and Wasatch beers! It was a great way to end their first full day in SLC. If only Ellen and Scott could have joined us!

Zion and Bryce National Parks

2008-04-30T13:34:00.000-07:00

On Thursday April 16 we loaded our vehicles and took off South on I-15 for Zion National Park. it is about a five hour drive so we stopped for a picnic lunch at a wayside rest and didn't arrive in Zion until almost 3 PM. We waited in line to enter the Park, and when it was our turn to talk to the Ranger she thought there were only 10 camping sites left and wished us luck in getting one. It turned out that we did get the last electrical site in the Watchman Campground. (For some reason they wouldn't let us stay in the tenting area, no electricity, even when Jon told them he didn't need to have electricity for their camper). But we could only stay there Thursday night, as the sites were all reserved for the weekend.

We set up our camp which means we put up our tent, blew up our mattress, laid out our sleeping bags and moved our suitcase into the tent. Jon and Linda took only minutes to settle their camper so they put their tablecloth on the table to add to the occupied look of our site.

When we were ready we walked to the Visitor Center and caught one of the Park shuttles which drive up the canyon and drop visitors off at various sights along the way. (The shuttles run from March 21-Nov 2, and on weekends in Nov. When they are running no private vehicles are allowed in the canyon). We rode to the end of the line and took the Riverside Walk which was pretty flat along the bank of the Virgin river. It climbed 57 feet in 2 miles. We were not able to hike into the narrows as the river was high, filling the gorge, and there was a danger of flash flooding. On the way back down the canyon we got off the shuttle to hike to the lower Emerald pools,1.2 miles 69 feet ascent. Both trails had many hikers enjoying the beautiful day. By the time we got back to the shuttle, we could feel the day cooling down and were glad to get back to our campsite before dark. We were cleaning up supper as the sun set and enjoyed a small campfire before L&J retired. It was almost a full moon, so Wayne and I took a hike along the river a bit before bed. It was a cool night and we were glad we had our new sleeping bags to keep us warm.

The next morning, Jon and Linda broke camp and hurried to the South campground, which was first-come first-served sites, where they picked a nice place for us. We took down our camp, packed-up, and moved down the road to South and were set-up again by 10 AM. We decided on a morning hike just outside our campground up Watchman. It was a beautiful climb, 2.7 miles long and 368 feet ascent. There were warnings that it could get hot in the afternoon, and we did get a little warm, but the flowers were blooming all along the trail and we had great views of the Park entrance and campgrounds.

By the time we got back we were hungry for lunch and enjoyed a picnic at our campsite. Then we were ready to take on the most challenging hike of our weekend, Angel's Landing. It is a 5 mile hike climbing 1,488 feet and is expected to take 4 hours (Wayne and I did it in 4hrs,10 min with a long rest at the top). We had been walking the trails in about half the time listed so we thought we could do Angel's Landing in at least 3 hours. The first 2 miles were like most other trails except that we climbed constantly. Then we hit Walter's Wiggles which is a steep ascent of 21 switchbacks that end on Scout's point. We stopped there for a snack break (We stopped for water all the way up) and enjoyed the gorgeous view of the canyon. The last half mile of the Trail follows a steep narrow ridge connecting Angels Landing to Scout's Point with the end climbing up rock walls with a chain to guide and help you stay on narrow trail. The worst part was trying to pass hikers going in the other direction. J&L started out with us but after a particularly treacherous section of narrow slanted trail with sand and gravel adding to the danger, they decided they had had enough and eventually decided to meet us back at camp. It took Wayne and I an hour to do that last 1/2 mile and back with steep dropoffs down to the canyon floor, but the views from Angel's Landing and the adrenaline rush from successfully reaching the end of the trail made it well worth the shaky knees and thumping heart. I thought we would get down in about half the time as usual on these uphill climbs, but my legs were so sore from the last 1/2 mile of climbing both up and down, that when we reached the regular trail I found it hurt as much to brake going down as it had to push going up and so our descent was as slow as if we were still climbing. We had a nice visit with a UT man who visits the Park annually but couldn't talk his wife into doing Angel's Landing again. He shared with us other sites around the state which we should try to visit and kept us going, distracting me from how much I hurt. When we got back to the road I didn't know if I could climb the steps into the shuttle, but I surprised myself and got in and out without trouble.

Jon and Linda were waiting back at the camp. They had gotten back an hour ahead of us. We had a nice hot supper finished in the dark and then Wayne and I hiked the Pa'rus trail along the river in the moonlight before heading to bed and a little warmer night, but still grateful for warm sleeping bags.

Saturday we had a hearty hot breakfast, and then drove 85 miles to Bryce National Park. The topography of this part of UT is like a staircase from Bryce to Zion to the Grand Canyon. The rock formations at the top of Zion are the bottom layers in Bryce, and the bottom layers of Zion are the same as the top of the Grand Canyon. Bryce and Zion are basically sandstone cliffs, what used to be giant several thousand feet sanddunes which cemented together over eons as the prehistoric lake covered this area, and then were carved by wind and water into the canyons we admire today.

Bryce seems to have the softest stone so it is carved into fantastic shapes called hoodoos that look like castle spires of white and pink and red Unlike Zion, the park entrance is on the top of the canyons above 10,000 feet so it was much cooler here. We started by walking the Queen's Garden/Navajo combination loop that was almost 3 miles and descended 580 feet. It was good to begin by going down, as I was able to start slow and gradually work the kinks out and get back to normal before climbing back out of the canyon. The colors of the sandstone carved walls as we descended and the gorgeous blue sky above were postcard perfect and enjoyed by all.

We had a picnic lunch by the general store and in the afternoon hiked the rim trail from Inspiration Point to Bryce Point, about 3 miles with many small ups and downs but probably less than 100 feet. The challenging part of this trail was the wind which tried to blow us off the narrow ridge near Bryce Point, and the snow which covered parts of the trail and made some slow going. The views all along the rim were breathtaking. We enjoyed visiting with fellow hikers going in the other direction, with accents from all over the world.

After our rim trail hike we got in the car and drove to the South end of the Park where we got out and took short hikes to Rainbow and Yovimpa Points. We saw mule deer and pronghorns on our drive as well as many predator birds, maybe golden eagles. We drove back to Zion as the sunset, stopping just outside to buy firewood from a house with a guarddog who reminded Wayne to leave money for the wood he was taking! It was a beautiful night for a fire and we enjoyed it before during and after dinner as the camp grew dark. L&J went to bed and Wayne and I once again took a beautiful full-moon walk along the Virgin river. When we got back to camp Jon was worried that we had not put the fire completely out and had gone to bed. He was relieved that we were back and could stir the coals and add water to make sure the fire was out before heading to bed.

Sunday morning was our last time to enjoy the park. We got up,ate, and took down camp and moved our vehicles to the Visitor Center parking lot before it filled at 10 AM. We climbed into the shuttle bus for one last drive and hike up Zion canyon. This time we took the Kayenta Trail, a mile long and climb of 150feet from the Grotto to the Emerald pools. It was a beautiful fairly level walk (once we climbed up the 150 feet) with many wild flowers and prickly-pear cacti alng the trail. Then we decided to climb up to the highest of the emerald pools. It was only .3 mile from the middle trail, but climbed another 200 feet and we were hot and dusty when we suddenly found ourselves going down to a beautiful little pool of water, getting sprayed by mist from the waterfalls feading our pool from the canyon rim, and feelin suddenly chilled as the temperature dropped 20 degrees. It felt wonderful to sit and enjoy this little piece of paradise hidden from the rest of the hot dusty canyon. We hiked back down to the middle emerald pool,(not nearly as nice) and took that trail a mile further down the canyon and descended the 150 feet back to the canyon floor.

We all got on the shuttlebus and Wayne and I got off at the museum. Jon and Linda left us there and they headed back to their van to continue on their journey through the Southwestern states. Wayne and I went through the museum, watched the short film and bought postcards before heading back to our car and leaving Zion by the SW entrance.

We only traveled on I-15 a short time before getting off and entering Zion at the NE Kolab Canyon entrance. We wound up through the canyon and ate a picnic lunch at the picnic grounds, then got back on the road to Salt Lake City and home

Salt lake City with Linda and Jon

2008-04-29T16:19:00.000-07:00

I had a wonderful time showing Linda and Jon around Salt Lake City. We had them as our guests for three days, and then we traveled with them to National Parks in Southern Utah.

Our first day was spent exploring our neighborhood, the Gateway complex, the TRAX system, and the downtown area. We had a gorgeous day with temperatures reaching 80 so our outer layers were shed, and despite lotion, we got a little sunburn in our trek around town. We ended our day with a climb up Ensign Peak to see the valley at sunset. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate and a cold North wind almost blew us off the mountain top. This wind was blowing dirt everywhere so our views were hazy at best. It was impressive to see the grid of streets as lights came on and the sun set, but the cold hurried us down off the mountain.

The next day we spent exploring Temple Square, taking the main tour as well as one of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building (the old Hotel Utah), and enjoying all of the gorgeous flowers and water displays that decorate the square. We enjoyed the acoustic demonstrations of the Tabernacle and got to hear the organist warm-up for the noon concert. We enjoyed our young tour guides who enthusiastically shared their knowledge of this special place with interesting tid-bits of the history of their church as well as insights into their faith.

The Church of the Latter Day Saints has made a huge impact on the state of Utah, and visiting their church headquarters at Temple Square is a glimpse into the history of this religion as well as the birth and growth of the state of Utah itself. The Mormon people who work there are welcoming and eager to share their beautiful square and their faith with guests from around the world. We had a perfect day to enjoy the outdoor gardens (one of my favorite places in SLC) and the views of the city from the 10th floor of the old hotel.

We ended our day with dinner at Crown Burgers, a Greek fast food-like restaurant, and a stroll through the neighborhoods of Capitol Hill. Wayne joined us late and he ate while we enjoyed a few games of Farkle and and then we watched a movie to end our day.

The last day we visited two new places to me; the Hogle Zoo, and This Is th e Place, Heritage Park. The cold winds had continued and brought freezing temperatures and a little freezing rain/snow as we toured. We visited the zoo first and got in free with our reciprocal memberships to the MN Zoo. The cold weather kept most of the animals indoors, where we could see them but in much more confined spaces than their outdoor habitats. We did see the elephants outside which surprised us. They were fun to watch.

I also enjoyed the wild turkeys who were all puffed up and strutting around the place. A middle school group was there with us and it made me want to scold some of the kids who came to the zoo without jackets, and some even in sandals! The tropics building held a large group who were just trying to warm up but succeeded in blocking many of the walkways.

The history park was just across the street, so we headed there for lunch and to walk around. Although the park opened April 1, they wouldn't have actors on site until the 15 of May so we couldn't go into most of the buildings. There was a school group there so they had a few places open and we were invited in to see one of the homes that was getting a new paint job in preparation for the new season. We had fun hiking around and reading the plaques outside of the buildings. Most of the buildings were original, and moved to this sight from pioneer Mormon villages all over Utah. A few were replicas of buildings still standing at the original building site.
Together they told a story of the earliest Mormon pioneers who came to the Great Salt Lake valley and built thriving communities out of the desert. It was interesting to walk around the 50+ buildings, peeking in windows and imagining what pioneer life had been like for them. We were disappointed that we didn't get to go in more and listen to the actors tell about their life.

We enjoyed the little play village they made for children and took some pictures for Brynn and Charlotte of these special kid houses.

We ended the day with a hike up city creek canyon and by the Capitol building, and then back to our condo where we met up with Wayne.

We ended the day with a take-out Mexican meal from Rancheritos. We had hoped to eat at The Red Iguana (supposed to have the best Mexican food in SLC) but the line was long outside the building both before and after grocery shopping for our camping trip, so we ate at home instead and made plans for our camping adventure to the National Parks which will be the subject of my next post!

Golden Spike National Historic Site

2008-04-21T17:02:00.000-07:00

On Saturday April 12, Wayne and I headed North on I-15 to visit the Golden Spike National Historic Site on the North end of the Great Salt Lake. Wayne had heard from a co-worker that we could ride our bikes on the old rail beds so we packed our bikes on top of our car and headed out to learn a little history and enjoy a beautiful sunny day on our bikes.

At the visitor center we ate a picnic lunch and then followed the ranger in a car caravan to the engine house where they keep the replicas of the 2 steam engines that met at this sight on May 10, 1869 completing the trans-continental railroad. They are called the Jupiter and #119

In the summer season, from May to October, these engines are driven out on the track each day to be photographed and admired by tourists. In April they are still kept in the engine house where dedicated volunteers clean and prep them for a new season. Our tour guide escorted us inside and gave us a few facts about the engines, the tracks, the workers who made the rail lines, and the two rival companies who worked hard to complete the rail system across the country.

While he talked, volunteers worked on varnishing cars that will be pulled by the engines in May.

Their families flitted around the engines while we tourists stayed safely behind the ropes, taking pictures and asking questions. We learned that this rail route was changed during WWII and now trains cross the Great Salt Lake at a causeway over Promontory Point. The rails that were on these northern rail beds were dismantled and re-used as part of the war effort.

Wayne and I returned to the Visitor Center, toured the museum, saw a short film, looked at the remaining tracks where they run the two engines in summer, and then drove our car with bikes to a parking lot for the 1.5 mile walking trail called the Big Fill Walk.

Instead of walking we took our bikes off the roof and headed back out on the road and up and down a big hill to reach the start of the North Auto Tour one-way road that drives on the old rail bed. It was great riding our bikes along the rail bed, stopping at markers along the way to observe the last cut, blasting sites, and a natural arch used as a rest stop by workers and so called "Chinaman's Arch". The road made a gradual turn and then descended a little faster than usual. This section of track was the sight of derailments when trains tried to take the hill too fast.

We then crossed the road and after a snack, took the walking trail (on our bikes) to the big fill and beyond. The two companies, Central Pacific from the west and Union Pacific from the East were both trying to go the farthest before meeting in Utah. The gov't was encouraging the laying of track by advancing money to prepare the grade. The advance crews were sometimes 200 miles out in front of the rail laying crews, choosing routes and preparing the grade. Because the exact spot to join was not chosen until close to the time of meeting, the advance teams prepared beds right along side of each other.

Unfortunately we didn't think to bring our camera on our bikes so this is the end of the pictures.

On the Big Fill Trail, we rode on the Central Pacific's rail bed which was eventually chosen for this part of the route, and could see what was left of the Union Pacific rail bed that was used for only 6 months before dismantling. We rode gradually down hill for a long ways, way beyond the informative sign posts of the walking trail. We saw a group of mule deer, hunting birds, and the largest rabbits I have ever seen. These Jack Rabbits were 2 feet tall sitting down and their ears added another foot above their heads. It was fun to watch them bound over the hills.

When we felt we had used half of our time, we turned around and began the big ascent. The nice thing about riding on a rail bed is that we could hardly tell that we were going uphill instead of down. As we rode across the Big Fill, a giant ridge of earth hauled in to support the rails between two plateaus, we could see that the Union Pacific rail bed beneath us just stopped at both ends of the canyon. They had built a temporary trestle bridge over the same gorge which was later torn down.

The walking trail had us switch to the Union Pacific bed after seeing the big fill, so we took our bikes down a steep rocky trail to follow the UP trail back. One of the informative plaques pointed out how much the UP rail bed had deteriorated in the 140 years since it was built. It was obvious walking, but even more obvious on a bike, as the trail changed from about a 5 foot wide trail on a 10 foot wide trail bed, to a one foot wide trail on the top of a ridge with steep drop-offs on both sides of the narrow trail.

Too bad we didn't have the camera for this part!

Wayne kept reminding me to keep up some speed as it is easier to travel straight, but it was un-nerving to be able to look down over both sides at the same time, knowing if I hit a rock in the trail it might send me over the edge. The narrow ridge lasted only for a few hundred feet and then I could relax and notice the scenery once again.

It was interesting to learn how the first trans-continental railroad was made, and fun to ride the rail beds on such a beautiful day. But by the time we got back to our car, I was ready to get off my bike and head for home and supper!

Ogden Canyon

2008-04-09T14:12:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, April 5, Wayne and I took advantage of a beautiful day, and after managing our chores, we set out in the Prius to visit Ogden and hike along the Ogden river.

The trip to Ogden was uneventful and traffic flowed smoothly on I-15. We found our turn easily. It was the last of 4 exits for Ogden. I had been searching out my window for something to distinguish this city from any of the other northern suburb/cities of Salt Lake City.

But there was no difference that I could see from the freeway. Just houses, businesses and strip malls running parallel to the mountain range on the east, the Wasatch mountains that define the valley. (There is an old main street that has been restored for tourists but we couldn't see it on this trip.)

As we drove east, I could see large homes built above the city, clinging to the side of the mountain, and could imagine the gorgeous view of the city and the Great Salt Lake beyond which those owners had built for themselves. All the cities in the valley north of SLC are hemmed in by the Wasatch mountains to the east and the Great Salt lake to the west.

We were looking for a 3 mile long paved trail along the Ogden river, but when we found it, it was more like a city park than the hike we were hoping for, so we traveled further up the canyon. As we were driving, Wayne commented that we had been here before. Sure enough this was the road we took from our camping site on the Great Salt lake to the Heinrich family reunion in Huntsville Ut in 2002.

We stopped at one of the many National Forest campgrounds along the highway (that was still closed for winter) and hiked around a little taking a few pictures of the creek and the snow.

When we reached Huntsville, we decided to go on as signs were posted that the road closed in 15 miles. We had driven over that pass on our way home 6 years ago and we were curious to see it in winter.

The drive up through the mountains was gorgeous, the road climbing and turning up through the canyon. We passed turn-offs for Wolf Mountain and Snowbasin ski resorts. The road was narrow with snow still piled high on either side and fewer and fewer homes. (Although we did pass a number of new buildings, not yet completed. It seemed as though people were converting vacation cabins into year-round retirement homes)

Just before the road ended abruptly in a pile of snow, we came out onto a large plateau. The deep snow was carved with snowmobile tracks. Two large parking lot areas had been plowed on either side of the highway. Here were parked a few pick-up trucks pulling snowmobile trailers. (We had passed many such vehicles on our ride up the canyon.)

Signs told that the highway was closed for the next 65 miles. Another large parking area was on the east side of the pass. In between were listed more than 15 destinations that snowmobilers could travel to with posted mileage. Or you could stay close and just create your own trails up and down the mountain ridges surrounding this plateau as the many tracks proved. (Wayne's favorite was this machine- some kind of homemade snowmobile!)

We backed the Prius around, staying on the plowed road, and headed west, back down the canyon. We could feel the temperature warm up as we drove, and by the time we passed the Pineview Reservoir at Huntsville, most of the snow along the highway was gone.

We stopped to look at a waterfall of melting snow and found a trail along the river which we followed until it ended at private property.

We retraced our steps, enjoying the noise of the tumbling river and appreciating our walking sticks which gave us one more balancing point as we crossed the uneven terrain.

We stopped to take pictures of the imprompto waterfall at the end of our hike.

By the time we climbed back into our car, we felt comfortably tired and ready to return home, so we skipped the paved trail in town and just headed home to a nice dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant and a movie.

Moving Day, Sunday March 30

2008-04-04T12:42:00.000-07:00

In the hopes that we would have guests visiting us in Utah, we moved from our one bed-room to a two-bedroom, one floor below in the same building. Besides the second bedroom and bath, there are some nice differences about our new place:

The living room has a bay window and a corner gas fireplace that add a nice touch to the room. This room also has a stereo which Wayne was able to hook up to our computer so we have much better sound when we listen to MPR or our music.

The door to the deck is between the living and dining room, and it leads to a small fenced patio with a gate out onto the larger patio space shared by the complex. Now we can leave and return to our condo this way instead of taking an elevator.

The owner has several green plants that give the place a touch of home instead of a hotel. He also has a few games in the closet and magazines on end tables. There are also more dishes so we can use the dishwasher, bake things, and entertain at home.

The next door neighbors are very nice and have already brought us flowers to enjoy, (as the owner had explained to them that we were moving in).

We put the flowers on the kitchen counter, and still have 10 feet of free counter space. It is in the shape of a v with 4 stools against it.

But nothing is perfect and there are some things that we will miss:

The view is non-existent from our new place, as all our windows look out at 6 foot walls, giving the patio privacy from the complex. We do have a view of our old balcony(if we stand in the bay window and look up), as well as the very top of buildings and just a peak at the tops of mountains over the roofs.

The old place had cannister lights in the kitchen that shone on the counters. This new place has just a center light and we seem to be always standing in our shadow. (We did turn 2 spot lights that had been shining on a hall mirror to light up the counter.)

The old place had fewer square footage but more useable space.

It's bathrom cabinet had six drawers where we stored our personal things.

The bedroom closet had built in drawers and shelves as well as 5 hanging areas.

It also had a linen closet. Our new place has none of these things.

The appliances in our old place were also top of the line (although I won't miss cleaning the stainless steel finishes). I enjoyed using the front loading clothes washer but now am back to a regular top-loader stacked under a dryer.

There is a lot more furniture now with more seating and sleeping space for guests, but it is all older (except the 4 bar stools) from the owner's mother's home. The dining chairs are wobbly, and the living room furniture is soft but homey, reminding me a lot of my parent's place. The carpeting is off white and has many dirty spots that the owner has not been able to successfully clean. He has placed 2 rugs over spots in front of the coach and by the rear entrance to the patio.

But mostly we are happy to be here and looking forward to our first guests, Jon and Linda, who will arrive in mid-April. We will have to find a new place for our bikes when they move into the guest room.

There is a storage space on the 2nd floor of the complex but the owner has it filled with more furniture, etc. He was able to make a small space where we put our camping gear so it no longer sits in our bedroom.! Instead we have a small organ in our room which we are welcome to play.

As you can see our new place is a little old-fashioned but sunny, warm, and welcoming if any of you wish to come visit!

Holy Week Part 4 Easter Sunday

2008-04-02T16:31:00.000-07:00

We woke up to a beautiful day here in Utah. Getting dressed up in our Easter finery, we headed to Mt. Tabor Lutheran Church for an Easter breakfast sponsored by their youth. We arrived about 9:45 and were the last to eat. As we walked up to the building we saw older youth hiding Easter eggs around the property. The dining area was pretty empty as we entered their basement hall, as many families had gone up to watch the egg hunt.

We visited with a Mom who was grabbing a quick breakfast before choir rehearsal. She needed to gather the youth who were joining the regular choir for this festive day. After breakfast of eggs, sausage, fruit and pancakes, we moved upstairs. We went outside for a bit but the egg hunt was over and the morning was a little chilly without a coat.

Inside again we entered the sanctuary and heard the end of the choir rehearsal. The sanctuary was decorated with donated lilies around the alter, about 15 plants. Silk flowers had also been added to the green plants that regularly hung in the Sanctuary, and along with a beautiful Easter banner, added to the festivity.

The Easter service had additional special music besides the larger choir. The young man who had played Jesus on Palm Sunday was back with his trumpet and another brass horn which he played, accompanying several songs during the service. It was a perfect celebratory sound for our small sanctuary.

One of my favorite moments was when the Pastor reminded the children of that first Sunday in Lent when they had helped her put the word Alleluia in a fancy gold box. At this service she opened the box with a flourish and encouraged the congregation to join her in shouting, "Alleluia" as she pulled out the word. We had each been given a small bell on a ribbon and throughout the service, whenever the word Alleluia was sung or spoken, we all rang our bells, rejoicing in this special day.

It wasn't as grand an Easter celebration as we are used to at home, but the church was full, maybe 100 people all dressed in their Easter best, and the mood was exuberant. The Alleluias were echoing around the room and the joy was apparent on the faces as we greeted each person, wishing them God's Peace and stating, "Christ is risen" "He is risen indeed". It was a beautiful Easter morning. The service lasted 90 minutes and was a wonderful beginning to the Easter Season.

After the service we went home and had a little snack and nap before heading back outside to enjoy the sunny 50 degree weather. We were also able to visit with Ellen who was enjoying warm weather in TX. When we hung up, we drove to Liberty Park, a larger park in the city that reminds me a bit of Como Park. It was full of families picnicking and enjoying the lovely weather. We walked around the park, thinking of our families so far away, and enjoying all the activity, blooming bulbs, and warm sun.

Just before 3 we left the Park for a suburb just to the south of the city where we had been invited for Easter dinner by two elderly friends we had met at Mt Tabor. Marge and Barry did not want us to bring any food, but we did bring an azalea plant and card, explaining that we always ordered one to decorate our church at home for Easter.

We had a fun time over wine and beer, cheese and crackers, and pretzels and nuts as we shared our stories of how we came to be in Utah. They have three daughters, all married and out-of -state now, and seemed to genuinely enjoy being with us on Easter. Our daughters Beth Emily and Katie called to wish us a Happy Easter from Wayne's sister's home, and Wayne excused himself for just a few minutes to visit with them.

Marge had made a wonderful dinner. We moved from our stools at the kitchen bar into the dining room to enjoy it, with coffee, tea and pie for dessert. During dinner and afterwards, we had stimulating conversations on what we thought would become of the traditional church, sharing some differences between Mt. Tabor and Woodlake, and learning about their experiences living in a community dominated by the LDS church. Barry was intrigued by our answers and wanted to share with us a favorite author and book, The Heart of Christianity by Marcus Borg. We stayed until 8 PM when we excused ourselves as we still wanted to call Wayne's parents and wish them a Happy Easter.

We ended this special day with a nice visit with Ray and Fran Schmieg. How lucky we are to have friends and family with whom to share special days!

Holy Week Part 3 "Sad Saturday"

2008-04-02T16:20:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning there was noise and excitement just outside our condo. The Gateway complex was hosting an Easter bonnet decoration party and parade.

It began at 10:30 with the marching band from Provo HS marching down Rio Grade Dr( the curving road down the center of the complex) to Olympic Legacy Plaza, outside our windows, where long tables had been set-up with bonnets and decorating supplies.

Wayne and I didn't venture outside until just after noon, as we had been working on preparing our taxes, but we could hear the noise and excitement right through our closed windows.

We decided to go down and watch and Wayne took pictures. Whole families were decorating hats and enjoying a live band (like the Teddy Bear Band in MN) who were entertaining those who had finished the hats.

At 12:30 PM the marching band returned and led the families in a grand parade. Wayne and I did not decorate hats as they were low on supplies when we arrived and families were just arriving. Some chose to wear just paper bunny ears which we also left for the kids.

We followed the marching band and enjoyed all the marchers with their creations. Others lined the street to watch and wave. The band marched and stopped to play and twirl, working it's way to the far plaza and half way back to their waiting bus and trailer.

Families followed the band right to their bus before realizing that the parade was over! The families in their fancy headgear then dispersed all over the complex, as Wayne and I headed home.

After completing our work for the day, we decided to spend the rest of Holy Saturday (or sad Saturday as some call it) climbing to the top of Ensign Peak which overlooks the Salt Lake Valley.

It is said that Brigham Young was told by Joseph Smith in a vision that he would know when he had journeyed to the right place, when a valley opened out before him with a sentinel mountain overlooking it.

Ensign Peak is that mountain, and Brigham Young, with 8 other men, climbed it 2 days after reaching this valley and from there made plans for their new community. These plans included the very wide streets, large enough to turn around a team of horses pulling a wagon, for which Salt Lake City is famous.

We began our hike from the capital and so probably ascended on foot over 600 feet to the peak. The trail to the peak is a 382 foot ascent in 4 tenths of a mile from the trail head. There were several stopping places along the way, with historical plaques and gorgeous views of the valley. It starts as a cement walkway, and quickly changes to dirt trail. It was free of snow and ice and already hard as rock.

We stopped at all the plaques to read the history and mainly to catch our breath and enjoy the amazing views.

When we got to the top of the mountain, there was a large extended family of Mormons who were gathering for Easter and had climbed up there as part of their celebrations. The Patriarch of the family was giving a little history lesson and we listened in. Wayne took pictures for them with several cameras.

The walk down was much quicker but still had stunning views. We walked down through the Capitol Hill neighborhood to our car and then hurried home to call the girls and talk about their upcoming trip to UT, as they were gathering at Beth's. After a nice visit we walked to the Dodo for supper and came home to watch the movie, The Secret Life of Words, very good but disturbing.

Hoyl Week Part 2 Good Friday

2008-04-02T16:17:00.000-07:00

We missed the Maundy Thursday night service, but were able to participate in the Good Friday Procession of the Cross along with several hundred people from 9 different Christian churches in the city of Salt Lake. These churches have been doing this together for the last 15 years. Only the church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints did not participate. (Discussing this with members of our Lutheran church, their thought was that the LDS church does not make a big deal out of church holidays-Christmas, Easter, etc, but instead expects its members to faithfully worship together each week.)

Station 1: The Cathedral of the Madeline

The procession began at the Catholic Cathedral with a welcome, gathering hymn, scripture reading, verse 1 of Were You There When They Crucified My Lord, a prayer and then an invitation asking who would carry the cross?

A volunteer came forward and the procession walked a block to the Presbyterian Church where these steps were repeated. A different gathering hymn was chosen representing the church of the station, the scripture was Luke 22:1- 23:56 with about 20 verses read at each of the 6 stations, and a verse of Were You There was sung at each stop.

Station 2: The First Presbyterian Church

We walked about 2.5 miles through the downtown area. For the first time in 15 years, the police did not show up so we did not have their assistance crossing streets. It took up to 4 lights to cross all the people in the procession and at one stage, when we had walked 4 blocks, the stragglers missed the gathering hymn and welcome.

Station 3: Crossroads Urban Center

As there were 9 congregations and only 6 stations, clergy shared duties at the stations. Our Lutheran pastor did the welcome and prayer at the Central Christian Church, as our church was 3 blocks outside the circle of the procession.

Station 4: Central Cristian Church

A few points struck me during the procession:

When requested "to walk in silence and contemplate such a Savior", most of the procession could not remain silent past the church property. (We did better when asked to walk in quiet conversation and prayer;).

The crowd enjoyed sharing this worship with others not of their church and even with passing cars.

The pastor of the Urdu worshipping community read the scripture in Urdu before a quiet, respectful crowd who for the most part couldn't understand him.

The volunteers chosen to carry the cross to the last station were 2 boys, maybe 10 years old, who carried it together for two long blocks.

Station 5: First United Methodist Church

The last station was at the Episcopal Cathedral where for the first time we entered the church and worshipped in the sanctuary. The crowd filled the church. We still sang a capella led by the cantor from the Catholic church. An offering was taken, as it has been for the last 15 years, for Crossroads Urban Center, one of the 9 participating communities of faith.

Station 6: St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral

When the last station was finished; we had shared the peace, finished the last verse of Were You There, and the Priest had said the benediction, the crowd just melted away into the growing darkness, and Wayne and I walked to a restaurant to enjoy a good dinner.

(The photos of churches at the different stations I took yesterday and today. It took me over an hour to walk the route again, taking photos at each site. I ran out of battery power so had to complete the photos today, 4/3/08)

Holy Week Part 1 Palm Sunday

2008-03-28T15:18:00.000-07:00

Holy Week began with a moving service at Mt Tabor Lutheran Church celebrating both Palm Sunday, with waving palms, shouts of Hosanna, and a parade into the sanctuary, and Passion Sunday with a very moving reading of the Passion according to St Matthew. The readers were all adults with the exception of Jesus who was acted by a HS student, a last minute substitute. "Jesus" stood at the alter while the other readers were at the lectern and pulpit. It is gut-wrenching to watch the mood of the crowd change from excitement and shouts of Hosanna to shouts of Crucify Him. I, along with the rest of the congregation read the part of the crowd. The young man playing Jesus read well, and we were left with a feeling of what did we do?

Monday night we attended the performance by Garrison Keillor and were told the stories of what was happening in Lake Wobegone MN during Holy Week. It made us laugh and feel a little homesick.

Skiing at Alta Ski Resort

2008-03-26T14:41:00.000-07:00

Because Wayne has been observing tests at night, on Wednesday March 19th he decided to take the day off. He spent the morning and early afternoon skiing at Alta Ski Resort , about 45 minutes from home, before heading into work at 4 PM.

He wanted me to come along, and I was ready to go a little after nine, after eating a big breakfast. Before you get too excited for me, (for getting back on the chairlifts) I need to tell you that I did not ski. In my defence, my back was still aching from my biking/Depot day and I did not want to aggravate it.

We had a lovely drive up Little Cottonwood Canyon. Wayne rented gear, bought a lift card, and was on the slopes by 10:30 AM. It was a gorgeous day! In Salt Lake City the temperature got to 65 and even up on the mountain it felt wonderfully warm, maybe 50? The sun was shining and there was little wind, so I pulled out my book and plopped down on one of the Adirondack chairs outside the lodge and facing the runs.

I had only been outside about 30 minutes when I felt like my face was burning. Wayne had taken our tube of sunscreen with him, so I grabbed my back pack and moved inside. I found a small table for 3 along a window wall of the canteen, and settled down to read and watch the skiers.

Wayne found me about noon. He didn't want to stop skiing to eat, as we needed to leave about 2:30 PM, so he just sat for a few minutes and showed me on the trail map all the runs he had tried so far.

Alta is a beautiful resort set only about a mile from Snowbird Resort and with about 5 runs that connect the two resorts. You can buy a pass for just Alta or a combination pass to ski on both. Alta has 7 lifts(the highest goes to 10,500 ft. and unfortunately all are chairlifts!) and 116 runs. Eight are green for beginners, not including the ski school slopes at the bottom, thirty are blue intermediate runs, and the rest are black diamond for the most experienced skiers.

Wayne stayed mostly on the green and blue runs and had a wonderful time; but even skipping lunch he was unable to go on all of them. Meanwhile I greased myself up with sunscreen and headed back out to the chairs. I finished one book and started on another. The day was so lovely that even though I had money to buy myself a tall chai and a treat to stay warm, I stayed in my chair and just drank cold water from my bottle, soaking up the sun, and enjoying the day.

Besides reading, I was also able to enjoy the gorgeous view of the resort, and listen in on the excitement of the families who sat down around me. The children were eager to tell of all the runs they had conquered. The Moms reminded them to ski safely and keep an eye on siblings. The Dads pointed out new runs they should try, and how even the greens can give them a challenge if they keep up speed and try to jump the hills just in front of us! Tourists new to the area shared with each other their opinions of nearby ski resorts, and places to see on "rest days" if they want to take a day off from skiing. I learned about a canyon a few hours North of us that sounded like a "must see" place. Everyone was friendly, happy, and enjoying the beautiful day. An older gentleman next to me made a phone call and said that the day was awful, windy, sleety and that his daughter was bitchy. His friend was lucky he hadn't made the trip. After hanging up, with all of us looking at him in surprise, he explained. His friend had recently injured himself and had to cancel his trip. He didn't want his friend to feel bad. He introduced us to his daughter when she skied up and told us how wonderful she was and winked!

So you see, even though I didn't get to swoosh down the slopes, or take in the views from the tops of the mountains, I did have a wonderful time at Alta!

Wayne got back just after 2:30 and was bushed. He decided next time he would be sure to eat lunch, even if it did take a little time, so he could get more nourishment and give his legs a break. I drove back down Little Cottonwood Canyon and we had the road almost to ourselves. The Prius got at least 100 mpg(the highest it shows) for the first 30 minutes of the ride home, making a nice ending to a perfect day in the mountains.

Celebrating St Patrick's Day

2008-03-24T20:45:00.000-07:00

The Gateway, the complex where our condo is located, holds celebration events free of charge for the community. On Saturday March 15, they hosted the local St. Patrick's Day Parade. Unfortunately, Wayne needed to be at work, but at about 10:15 AM I left my condo and went out on the roof courtyard of our building (on the 5th floor which is one floor below our condo). With my camera in hand I found a good location against the courtyard wall and looked down on Rio Grande Dr. lined with people bundled up in blankets while sitting on chairs or the curb. The watchers were dressed in all sorts of crazy green attire and were cheerfully waiting the start of the parade even though the temperature hovered near 30 degrees (cold for SLC) and there was a bit of a wind from the NW.

We didn't have to wait long before police on motorcycles opened the parade at 10:30. Unfortunately that's when my camera flashed that my memory card was full so no more pictures for me. I thought about running back upstairs, down-loading the pictures, and then deleting, but I knew Wayne liked to back them up somewhere else and that I didn't know how to do. Besides that would mean I would miss the parade! So I stayed where I was and enjoyed every moment of the 2 hour long parade.

There were the usual things you expect in a parade: local high school marching bands, politicians running for office, Police and firemen in their vehicles, floats made by local businesses and organizations, cars holding important people and a few horse-drawn carriages. (One horse left a mess right below me and I was entertained the rest of the parade watching marchers try to avoid stepping in it.) There were stilt-walkers, Shriner's in little cars, Scouting groups and lots and lots of candy thrown by everybody passing by.

There were a few things unique to St.Paddy's Day parades: family clans marching behind banners, Irish dog breeders walking their dogs, representatives from every local Roman Catholic school marching with their banners, bagpipers and Scottish clubs (I guess they don't get their own parade.)

And then there were things new to me in parades: a Civil War re-enactment group with foot soldiers from both sides marching and carrying their respective flags, followed by their women in period costumes, and finally their officers on horseback; what looked like a mini-car driving in circles that was actually a bright green coffin with a giant shamrock on the cover, followed by a 1950' s hearse and then a modern hearse with signs saying they were sponsored by a local mortuary; and a stuck float (the very first float tried to fit under a pedestrian bridge over the road and got stuck. It had tried to go under the tallest part of the bridge which luckily was way to the west side, and there it sat for the rest of the parade with the riders waving at other floats who squeezed past. Some of the floats were pulled by Semi-truck cabs and they really had to slow and squeeze over to fit in the space left free by the float.) I was going to go down after the parade finished to see the stuck float up close, but they backed it out before I had a chance just as the parade finished.

Because Wayne had missed all the excitement of the parade, we decided to go out for an Irish supper to celebrate. The day had rapidly deteriorated after the parade and it was sleeting pretty hard when we left to go to Murphy's Bar and Grill. So instead of walking we hopped on the TRAX and only had to walk a few blocks through the sleet and hail.

We had to buy a 3 week membership in order to enter the pub, but didn't have to wait to be seated. Another thing about private clubs; they all seem to be smokey. We were seated where we could watch a TV that had on basketball. They didn't have a regular menu, just a card sitting on the table with 3 choices of Irish fare. Wayne had Corn Beef and Cabbage with an Irish Stout and I had Irish Stew in a bread bowl with a Killian's. The place was crowded with 20-30 year olds, most of whom were smoking so we didn't stick around after our food and beers were gone.

The sleet had changed to giant snowflakes but we still took the TRAX home where we watched the movie, My Dog Skip, and then an episode of the Irish RM before heading to bed.

Wayne had a test on the night of the 17th, but was able to leave early, after the intro, as I had bought tickets to see Garrison Keiller at Abravanel Hall and the show started at 7:30 PM. Wayne picked up Mexican take-out on his way home, which wasn't exactly Irish but we could eat it fast and still get to the Hall on time. The Hall was designed by the same architect who designed Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis so when we entered the performance hall it felt like coming home. We had good seats on the main floor and enjoyed one and a half hours of his humorous stories, poems and songs. He was dressed as he does for his radio show, in black suit with red tie, red socks and red high-top tennis shoes. The stage held only a stool and microphone and the only action was watching as he changed from standing to sitting to standing again. We enjoyed it very much but noted that although he had many references to Holy Week, he never mentioned that it was St. Patrick's Day! This seemed odd to me as most of the audience were dressed in green.

After the performance we walked home in a round-about way so we could go by Lumpy's, another club that was having live music, special Irish drinks and karaoke. We peeked in but decided it wasn't what we were interested in tonight, and instead headed home where we made mint tea and added Bailey's Mint Irish Creme to warm us up while we did a crossword puzzle. It was a very nice ending for our celebration of St. Patrick's Day!

The Depot after biking City Canyon

2008-03-20T12:18:00.000-07:00

There is a nightclub just across the street from our condo called the Depot. It has a few bands performing there each week. Wayne and I noticed that the Young Dubliners were performing the week before St. Patricks Day and after listening to a few of their songs on Rhapsody we decided to go.

It was Saturday, March 8, a day threatening rain but not too cold, so after biking to the barber and missing a little misty rainfall while inside, we got on our bikes and headed N up the mountain neighborhood known as The Avenues.

A few times I had to get off my bike and push as the road was just too steep, but eventually we got up to 11th Ave and B Street where we got onto N Bonneville Dr., a scenic downhill ride into City Canyon. We switched to the City Canyon Rd/trail (all uphill) and managed to get to rest stop #17 before I just couldn't go uphill anymore. But what a beautiful place to rest!

We finally got back on our bikes and braked and coasted downhill all the way back to our condo. The sun was setting and my hands were frozen by the time we were back home. I took a shower to clean up and warm up while Wayne did some computer work, and then we dressed in nice casual clothes and headed out to check out the Depot.

We stopped in at a restaurant that shares the space on the north end of the old Union Pacific Depot but decided it was too fancy for our dress. We noticed a line forming outside the nightclub so we decided to get tickets before eating. We bought tickets from a young man who couldn't make the show, and after hearing that the Depot served food, decided to stand in line until 8 so we could get in and get a seat.

About 15 minutes to 8 people started going in. Apparently they knew the band or had a special pass, as the rest of us just waited. Bouncers came down the line and had one member of each party sign a form to "join the club", and after checking IDs, stamped our hands. (One of the interesting things about SLC, which is slowly being phased out, is that alcohol can only be served in private clubs where one must first pay a membership fee. Now, many restaurants may also serve alcohol as long as one buys food.)

We finally began to go in and after giving our tickets and showing our stamps we headed up the stairs to the 2nd floor. There were tables on platforms around the edge of the large dance floor but they all seemed to be reserved. Tall stools around the outside edge of these platforms were already taken by the early arrivals so we headed up to the third floor which was a U shaped balcony looking down on the stage and main floor. Again the tables on the edge of the balcony were all reserved, and the first row of tall stools were also claimed, but Wayne and I found 2 stools on the East wall. The Depot had 2 giant screens mounted on our level near the stage area and we had a clear view of them, but couldn't really see the stage.

We noticed only one other couple near our age, most of the audience seemed to be in their 20s & 30s. Wayne got us beers and we settled onto our stools and were entertained by watching our neighbors, the end of the Jazz game (which was broadcast on the large screens), and the bouncers who were keeping people out of the reserved table area (you needed a wrist band to prove you were part of the party that reserved the tables). I think some money may have passed hands too, as I saw a Bouncer get chairs from a back area and place them along the front rail behind the tables for a few patrons.

At 9 PM the warm-up band began and they were a local Irish music band. We enjoyed their music but had to stand on tip-toes to see anything other than what was on the big screens. Nobody was running the cameras for this band as sometimes the soloist wasn't even on the screen! I had to use the restroom and it was a pleasant surprise. I left early enough, expecting a long wait in line, but found a new spacious facility with more stalls than the Metrodome, and no waiting! On the way back to our stools I stopped on the steps where I had a great view of the stage, until the bouncers moved me along.

The early band had warmed the crowd up and the Young Dubliners began a little after 10:30PM. Wayne had gone down one level to the main bar and brought back a giant pretzel and more beer which was our supper. The crowd was very rowdy, singing along and dancing and jumping to the music. Sometimes it was hard to even see the screens! Instead I listened to the music and watched all the commotion going on around me.

One table particularly interested me. It was center front of the balcony, and remained empty until just before the main act. A waitress who had been waiting on all the reserved tables, brought to this empty table 4 brandy snifter sized wine glasses and a large bottle of red wine. This intrigued me as everyone else in the place was drinking out of kegger-style plastic cups (a good decision by management with all the jumping around!) About 15 minutes before the main act, the waitress came back to the table and opened the bottle to breathe. Then, with about 10 minutes to spare, the party arrived led by a woman close to my age with short, neon-pink hair. She was well known to the staff and received hugs from a few. She had with her a few hunky looking young men and another older woman. I didn't recognise her but assumed she was someone famous. Watching their table was great entertainment for me when I couldn't see the stage or even much of the screens as our neighbors jumped and danced to the music.

The Young Dubliners played more Irish Rock than traditional music and my ears were ringing by midnight. It was a fun experience but I was feeling old and tired before they were done. We stayed through their encore and it was only when the lights all came up and I slid off my high stool for the last time, that I realized how stiff and sore I felt.

I blame my pulled lower back muscle on pushing my bike up the Avenues and later the City Canyon trail, but probably sitting on a tall stool for 4 hours and craning to see the stage, or at least the big screens, did not help. Ten days later I still have twinges in my back, especially when I have to sit too long. Maybe I am too old to be going to nightclubs to enjoy rock bands! I know if we plan to go to the Depot to see a band again, I will find out how to reserve one of the tables with normal chairs and a view of the stage!

Brighton Ski Resort

2008-03-14T16:50:00.000-07:00

It is said that Utah Resorts are blessed with dry, light and plentiful snow, maybe the most skiable snow in all the world. It is true that annually they get over 500 inches of dry fluffy snow. So when one moves to Salt Lake City, even only temporarily, it seems mandatory to experience skiing as only the montains of Utah can offer. At least that's what Wayne thought.

I had had a bad skiing experience almost 40 years before, when I had the unbelievable good luck to ride up a "mountain" in Northern MN with the best-looking boy in my grade. He had just explained how he had saved all his money to purchase his new skiis and this was his first chance to try them out. When the chairlift reached the top he stepped off and I suddenly realized I hadn't. What could a 16 year-old girl do, who was trying to impress this young man, but jump? I was only about a foot above the ramp but jumping made me lose all control and I found myself sliding right for him, and horror of horrors sliding right over the top of his new skis, leaving 2 long scratches. Needless to say, I avoided him the rest of the ski trip, and have tried to stay away from chair lifts ever since!

I have skiied since; I went with the girls on Family Day at Hyland Hills, (back when they were in grade school and learning to ski on a field trip with gym class), and we took the family to Keystone in Colorado 2 springs ago, but I stayed away from chairlifts whenever possible.

Now here we are in Utah on a beautiful Saturday in March, heading up Little Cottonwood Canyon to Brighton Ski Resort. Wayne decided on Brighton for our first attempt as a co-worker had said it was where her children learned to ski and she highly recommended it.

We decided to rent everything there and take lessons as they had a great deal; equipment lessons, and lift tickets for a reasonable price. We got tickets, were fitted with equipment and had a 1/2 hour before lesson time; enough time to grab a quick lunch-a sandwich and milk. Then I reported to the absolute beginners and Wayne to a group working on turning.

My class had 13 students and 2 instructors. Wayne's class had 2 students and 1 instructor. My class began at the very beginning, only putting on 1 ski until we had mastered moving on it. It didn't take long for the class to naturally divide into 2 groups- those who could stop and those who couldn't! I am proud to say I was in the advanced group and we soon moved off the bunny slope with the magic carpet and all the toddler classes. That's when I found myself in line for the chair lift.

I rode up for the first time with Billy, a 20 something who was eager to learn. We had a nice visit as the lift went up and up. Then it ended; Billy stood up and slid down the ramp, while I pushed myself off the chair, slipped back and landed on my behind (at least I didn't scrape Billy's skis!). My instructer, Kevin was in the chair behind me and he hauled me up and out of the way. He took us to the side of the lift and talked to us about getting down; use the snowplow, widen the back when you find yourself going too fast, turn to the side with skis parallel on the slope to rest.

I took off near the back of our group and made it down without falling or resting but my hips were killing me (Have you ever tried to snowplow straight down a mountain without stopping or turning?)

One of the benefits of being in a class is that you get to enter the lift line from the lesson queue so we had minimal waits. My second ride up was with Naomi, a young women from North Carolina who was on her third class; she just couldn't understand how to turn. She was in Utah with her fiance who loved skiing and really wanted her to enjoy it too. She had a great attitude. In too little time we were once again at the top. Naomi slipped off the seat and glided down the ramp. I did not and found myself on the ground again, once more picked up by Kevin.

This time Kevin had us follow him a short distance making frequent turns. He then sent us down the mountain at our own speed. This time I could slow down just by turning and I really enjoyed my trip down. Our group waited at the bottom trying to spot Kevin. Finally we saw him about half way down with Naomi, who still hadn't got the hang of turning without falling. My group decided to go back up rather than wait for Kevin and Naomi, but I waited hoping to get some help with the lift.

After about 15 minutes they joined me. Kevin had seen the others on the lift. He told me I didn't have to wait. I explained about the lift and so this time the 3 of us rode up together (it was a 3 person lift). Kevin told me I would do it this time and I did but I think he had my elbow! He told me I needed to stand up straighter as I got off, leaning forward like a ski-jumper. I lean forward bending at the middle so my weight in back makes me fall. :)

Our lesson had been going for over 2 hours so we were on our own once we got to the bottom. Instead of heading down to the lift I took a side path near the bottom and skiied to where our lessons started just as my phone rang.

It was Wayne sitting on the canteen's deck wondering where I was. He had started on green trails but quickly his teacher moved them to blue runs where they worked on parallel turns and faster speeds. He wanted to do another run but I was bushed so I told him to go ahead and I'd meet him on the deck when he was done.

It was then that I realized I couldn't get out of my skis! I knew there was a release somewhere but couldn't remember where. I tried poking things in front of my boots like my CC skis but nothing happened. Then I saw Kevin standing with other instructors writing on clipboards about 50 feet away. I poled myself over and admitted I couldn't remember how to get out. He said that was an important thing and that he should have remembered to remind me, and he showed me the release (behind my boot!). I took off my skis and climbed up steps to the deck. I found a spot to store my skis and sat at a picnic table. Around me many people were packing up for the day. Brighton has night skiing and the day passes were just about up. I wished I had brought my own money as I was suddenly cold and hungry.

Then Wayne slid up and said he wanted one more run; would I come? I told him no but I would take his money! He took off and I struggled inside (I didn't quite have the knack of walking in ski boots!) and bought myself a cup of hot cocoa and a giant cookie. It tasted so good but I decided to save 1/2 for Wayne. When I thought he should be back down, I stuffed the end of the cookie in my pocket, and balancing skis, poles and a 1/2 cup of cocoa I struggled down the slope to the entrance of the rental building.

I was never so glad to get out of those ski boots and back into my own hiking boots. We got our rentals back with minutes to spare, and headed out to catch a van back to our car. (We had arrived too late to park in the main lot and had to park at a secondary lot a mile down the road.) But we just missed the van so we walked back, enjoying the beautiful scenery. We had left our camera in the car, so we drove back to the main lot and took the picures posted here.

The drive back down Little Cottonwood Canyon was very slow with lots of skiiers leaving at once, from both Brighton and Solitude, another resort we had passed on the way up. But we had a nice visit with Emily on my cell phone until we lost cell coverage.

Then we saw a moose standing in the creek, as well as gorgeous views of the snow covered mountains with the setting sun making them sparkle.

All in all it was a wonderful day and now I can say I skiied in the mountains of Utah!

Broadway Across America-Utah

2008-03-13T15:33:00.000-07:00

Salt Lake City has some very nice theaters which offer various cultural events throughout the year. An organization called Broadway Across America-Utah brings touring Broadway shows to Salt Lake City and Wayne and I have been able to see 2 of their productions since our arrival.

The first, on Friday the 22 of February, was Menopause the Musical. We saw it at the Jeanne Wagner Theater, a modern theater in downtown SLC. The musical is listed as "the Hilarious Celebration of Women and the Change". It is the story of 4 women who keep running into each other while shopping a sale at Bloomingdales in NYC. The songs are parodies of familiar pop tunes from the 60's and 70's. The 4 actresses did a good job of sharing some of the symptoms commonly associated with menopause in a light-hearted manner. Our audience was 95% women ( as I think most audiences for this musical probably are). The playbills we received had inserts by local clinics with medical information on variouse menopause symptoms.

We were entertained by a large group of women, cancer survivors, who had attended a dinner in the banquet hall before the show and came into the theater dressed in feathery boas of bright pink or purple. These women came into the theater primed to have a great time and led the crowd in laughter for each new number. Their laughter was contagious and they made the event a fun place to be.

I couldn't help but feel that the musical could have said so much more. Many great musicals have mixed comedy in with a serious message for the audience to take away. I didn't feel anything for the actresses when the show was over other than being entertained. I didn't feel their loss, as an important part of their life was ending. I wish there had been more!

The second musical was The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. It was performed at Kingsbury Hall, an older theater on the campus of the University of Utah. On Saturday, March 1st, Wayne and I took the TRAX to the University and walked through the campus in a light snowfall to the theater. Not knowing how long it would take to get there we arrived more than 1/2 hour early. This turned out to be exciting as we were asked to audition to be participants of the spelling bee (each production includes 4 members of the audience). I declined, not being proud of my spelling, but Wayne filled out a form, was interviewed by a member of the production, and was chosen to be one of the 4!

He joined me in our seats 5 rows from the stage just before the musical started, having received his instructions. He was to go onstage when called, just be himself, and spell to the best of his ability after first asking for the definition of the word and to hear it used in a sentence.

He was able to spell 2 words; jihad which he spelled correctly, and kannikanik which he missed. He was onstage for the first 20 minutes of the show and got to participate in 2 of the musical numbers as well as watch a few others from his spot on the risers with the other contestants. One of the actors, who was doing "community service", gave Wayne a big hug and a juice box and escorted him off the stage when he missed his word.

This musical took a look at the lives of the 6 young people who were contestants as well as the adults who were at the bee. It made us think about the pressures we put on young people, the attitudes and behaviors that make good parenting, what happens to people when pressured to win at all cost, and choices we have. There was lots of comedy mixed in with the songs, but also some tradgedy and this time we left the theater with a lot to think and talk about.

I know that musical theater isn't for everyone, but it is one of the things I enjoy most in my life and I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't tried it!

Antelope Island

2008-03-12T11:07:00.000-07:00

Utah is an amazing place to sight-see.

Situated on the western side of the Rocky Mountains it has unbelievable landscapes that have been preserved in

5 National Parks, 6 National Monuments, 2 National Historic Sights, 9 National Forests, and 42 State Parks.

We spent our second Saturday in Utah visiting Antelope Island State Park; the largest island in the Great Salt Lake and just minutes from Salt Lake City.

Antelope Island has artifacts showing that people lived there as long as 6000 years ago. It also has the oldest permanent residence in Utah still standing-the Fielding Garr ranch home built in 1848.

The island is now the home to free-roaming herds of bison(remnants of a herd once ranched), bighorn sheep, mule deer, and proghorn antelope. It is also home to bobcats, coyotes, reptiles, shorebirds, waterfowl, raptors and chukars.

The Island is 15 miles long and 4.5 miles wide. The highest point is Frary Peak at 6,595 feet above sea level. Antelope Island is connected to the shore by a causeway found about halfway between Salt Lake City and Ogden UT. (20 minutes from our home)

We arrived in late afternoon after taking care of some weekly chores so we only had a few hours to explore the island before the causeway closed for dark.(winter hours)

We went first to the visitor center where we learned all the above information and a lot about the geology and about the Great Salt Lake itself. The lake is the largest natural lake west of the Mississippi-75 miles long and 28 miles wide. But it is only 33 feet deep at it's lowest and this varies with the seasons. It is fed by 4 rivers that carry tons of minerals into the lake each year and there is no natural outlet so water leaves by evaporation. This makes the lake very salty; between 4 and 28% in different parts of the lake (compare this to the ocean which is 3% salinity)

The lake was low on the day we visited as the snowmelt in the surrounding mountains had not yet begun.

From the Visitors Center on the North end of the island we drove to Buffalo Point, a peak of 4785 ft on the northern half of the island. We parked our car at the concession stand and followed the trail to the top of the peak, where we saw great views of the island and the Great Salt Lake.

On the drive up and the drive back we passed bison on the side of the road, which is probably why it is called Buffalo point

Walking along the top of Buffalo Point we were amazed to find hoofprints from the buffalo as well as buffalo pies indicating that the large animals wandered way up to the point and even wound their way among the many rock formations scattered all over the top of the point.

We stayed soaking up the sunshine and enjoying the views despite a brisk wind blowing off the snowy peaks and across the partially frozen lake.

From Buffalo Point we tried to drive the rest of the scenic roads around the island but the slow speed limit and the setting sun combined to force us to turn around before we had made it to the southern tip of the island and the historic ranch house.

We kept our eyes open but only saw bison grazing and a few birds.

Approaching dusk found us heading back out the causeway and saying good-bye to Antelope Island. Then off to our right we spotted coyotes moving across the frozen bay of the Great Salt Lake right next to our car. We were thrilled to get several pictures. A very nice way to end our visit to Antelope Island.

Cinderella, the perfect Valentine

2008-03-06T11:36:00.000-08:00

We had been in SLC one week and had settled into routines when Valentine's Day arrived; our first holiday in Utah. Both Wayne and I had shopped earlier in the week and we were able to have our presents on the table at breakfast.

I spent the day thinking about the ballet. When I was a little girl my dream was to be a ballerina. It never happened, but I did get to meet a few when Emily took ballet. Three years in a row she was chosen to play a mouse in Continental Ballet Company's production of "The Nutcracker". I was thrilled to be a backstage chaperone and even got to help with some quick costume changes in the wings for the principle performers.

Wayne has never been a big fan of ballet so we had only gone to productions that included Emily.

Then 2 years ago Emily and I went to see a production of "The Nutcracker" at Northrup. It was wonderful and I thought to myself I should go to the ballet more often.

When we arrived in SLC and I saw that Cinderella was opening on Valentine's Day, I asked Wayne if he'd like to go and he said sure.

So on Valentine's evening, after a wonderful dinner at McGrath's Fish House, I found myself in the 5th row watching Ballet West's production of "Cinderella" on opening night. The production reminded me of the one by our Children's Theater, for the 2 ugly step-sisters were played by men! One of these men played Prince Charming on other nights. Almost all of the roles were shared by 3 different dancers so you could go to the show on 3 different nights and see totally different people in the roles. During the intermission I imagined how different our Ugly Stepsister would look as Prince Charming!

I enjoyed every moment, totally engrossed in the story, the music and the dance. The settings and costumes were wonderful. The dancers leaped and twirled and lifted, making my heart soar with them! It was truly a magical evening. The audience included many young girls out with their Dads, and I wished that I could have shared it with my girls.

Wayne enjoyed the staging, which was wonderful, and appreciated the talent of the dancers and the music by a chamber-size orchestra in the pit. He said we can go to the ballet again if I would like, so maybe I will write about the ballet again.

There were no photographs allowed at the performance, and we didn't bring our camera anyway, but we took a picture when we got home.

Happy Valentine's Day

Sunday Worship

2008-03-03T17:02:00.000-08:00

We have spent 4 sundays in Salt Lake City. Our very first Sunday we found a small church that we can walk to (about a mile and 1/2) from home. It is called Mt Tabor Lutheran Church and it is celebrating it's 100th anniversary!

It is a very small church averaging between 60 and 75 attendees on the 3 Sundays we visited. The service is traditional and we found it very welcoming. It lasts about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

I think the services last that long for two reasons. The people of Utah seem to read at a noticably slower pace than we do in MN so the lessons and prayers take a longer time. Also at the time of the peace it seems that every person shakes the hand of every other person, adults and children in the whole congregation!

They have an educational time before the service and a fellowship time after. Wayne has had several members approach him about joining the choir! They currently have about 10 members.

We had an interesting experience our second week. Another visitor was quite outspoken during the service, shouting out comments all through the service until he left during the peace. The members welcomed this stranger despite his unusual dress and behavior. A member followed him out of the sanctuary and offered him a cup of coffee, encouraging him to stay. I was struck by how this small congregation truly was welcoming to all, even to one whose actions made me uncomfortable. It was a good lesson in how to really follow Jesus!

Last Sunday instead of attending Mt. Tabor, we went to the service of music and the spoken word at the Tabernacle in Temple Square. It was our first stop in Temple Square although we have walked through the square several times. Once again we were warmly welcomed. We arrived about 15 minutes before the broadcast began. The main floor was quite full so we climbed up and sat on the side in the balcony. The taping lasted for 1/2 hour. The choir sang 6 hymns and were accompanied by a full orchestra. The organ played one song solo and the narrator Lloyd Newell also gave a short thought for the day. It was amazing to listen to such wonderful music in a building with world renowned acoustics. We enjoyed it very much!

Although we have missed worshipping at Woodlake and seeing our church family each Sunday, we have been warmly welcomed and have had an inspirational experience with fellow Christians in Salt Lake City.

Hiking in the Wasatch Mountains

2008-03-03T15:48:00.000-08:00

Our first weekend in Utah we took a drive up Mill Creek Canyon Road It is a small road about 7 miles long that winds up into the Wasatch mountains just east of SLC. What once was mining claims has been given to the boy scouts for camps. There are many trails through the Nat'l. forest for hiking, biking, and cc skiing.

We drove the road until it was closed for winter. We stopped and turned around and then stopped at the first trail head that had room for our car to park. We started up a trail called church fork trail which seemed appropriate as it was a lovely Sunday afternoon. The snow on the ground seemed to be about 3 feet deep but the trail itself was hard-packed by snowshoers so we were able to climb for about 1 1/2 hours before giving up and heading back to our car as the sun sank behind the mountains. We spent the entire hike traveling beside a small creek that tumbled down our canyon. We never got to the magnificent summit with supposedly gorgeous views of the SLC valley. Oh well, maybe when we are better acclimated to the altitude, or there is less snow, or we start earlier, we will make it to the top! And we will bring a camera!

Closer to home we have hiked 2 trails that we can walk to the trailhead from our condo.

The first was the Jordan River Trail that follows the river from Provo almost all the way to the Great Salt Lake. We walked west from our condo, across the railroad tracks and under I-15 to the Jordan River. It has paved trails that we walked one evening before sundown.

This trail we usually visit on our bikes, as it is flat and we can go for many miles. It connects many neighborhood parks and some special ones like this Japanese garden we found.

The second neighborhood trail is one of our favorites. It is called the City Creek Canyon Trail and it can be accessed in a number of ways. We have started at City Creek park just east of Temple Square and also from the Capital building at the top of State Street. Either way it has been a beautiful walk.

We usually go about 10 miles including the city streets we follow to get to the canyon. From our home at the Gateway, we climb over 500 feet along this trail. (Wayne has verified this with his e-trex).

It is amazing to be walking city streets one minute and suddenly you find yourself in a wilderness area with warning signs for bear, moose, mountain lions and snakes. It reminds me of slipping into the river valley trails back home (although without the elevation!)

When Wayne gets home early on a weekday or when he doesn't need to go in to work on a weekend, we try to explore one of these close trails. When the weather warms we hope to head south to the National Parks where we will have more hiking news to share!

The Library

2008-03-03T14:53:00.000-08:00

I had only been In Salt Lake city 2 days when I made my first visit to The City Library.

Our condo had a TV but no reception. I had my laptop but had no internet service. We were supposed to have both, so during the week I waited to have these services installed, I visited the library often.

The Main library is about a mile from our condo. Somedays I would walk all the way there and back and some days I would take the TRAX.

This light rail system was built for the 2002 Olympics and runs through downtown SLC. I would hop on at the arena and ride free in the downtown free-zone, hopping off just a few blocks from the library.

The Main Library is a beautiful new building that won library of the year in 2006. The librarian was happy to give me a provisional card until I brought in mail with my name and address (not hand-written). I gratefully checked out books, cds and DVDs.

But my favorite part of visiting the library was to climb the spiral stairs up to the fifth floor, then cross the catwalk to the windowed-wall of desks set up for computer use. (These desks were on floors 2-5 but I liked best the view from the 5th floor, where I could gaze out the window across the downtown and had great views of the mountains as well.

Here I would hook up my laptop to power (the first time I forgot my power cord and could hardly read the words in the bright sunlight) and connect to their wireless network and before I knew it I was reading e-mails, blogs, and articles of home.

There is something wonderful about a downtown library. I would be surrounded by business people, college students, families and the homeless. The warm, bright space attracted many different people, all enjoying the comfortable leather chairs, views of the city, fireplaces, wi-fi, and of course the books; thousands of books.

As my church bookclub was reading a children's book for Feb., I went down to the lower level and explored the children's section. Besides all the books, there were wonderful play areas and displays sure to inspire a child's imagination.

Is there anywhere in the world as wonderful as a library on a blustery winter day?

I must visit the new downtown Minneapolis library when I get back to MN

Settling In

2008-03-03T11:06:00.000-08:00

I spent Feb. 7 just settling in to our new home in Salt Lake City.

The Parc is a 12 story condominium, and part of The Gateway, a shopping, dining, and entertainment complex on the eastern edge of downtown.

Our condo, 609, is in the center barely visible above the stores.

We often enter from this, the east side and go through a back corridor behind the stores to reach our building.

Otherwise if we are biking we go through the front entance on the west side and through the main lobby.

The garage door is to the right of the main entrance and our space is on P1, one floor below first.

This is a view from a balcony on the second floor.

We usually go straight through the lobby to the elevators and on up to the 6th floor.

Our building is very secure- you need a card to enter any of the exterior doors and to make the elevator go anywhere other than floor 1.

Most of the hallways in the Parc are identical. This is a view of our door. We go past one unit before reaching ours when we head N down our hallway. (Sorry I don't know how to rotate the picture!)

When you enter our place, you enter the great room which includes a small entry and closet, a kitchen with bar separating it from the dining/living room.

The kitchen has stainless steel appliances including a gas stove with a convection oven.

The living room has the corner wrap-around pull-out couch and TV stand.

The dining room has a table and 4 chairs.

Across from the wrap-around couch is a door to a balcony.

From this balcony we have a great view of the Parc's courtyard, off the fifth floor, the clock tower, stores on the north-east side, the old Union Pacific Depot, Energy Solutions Arena where the Utah Jazz play, and even the skyline of Temple Square.

Our unit is a one bedroom and so to the northside of the greatroom is a short hall connecting the bedroom and bath with a linen closet in between. Our bedroom has a bay window where we store our bicycles (as our unit does not have a storage unit). You can barely see my front wheel. We also store our camping equipment still in boxes on the south wall of this room.

The bathroom has a separate shower and tub as well as a giant mirror and long counter. You can see the shower door in the mirror. It has the red towels hanging on it. After a long day of exploring the town, I sometimes take a nice soak in the tub on the far right. It doesn't have jets, but it has armrests so I can relax and read a book (if I am very careful not to get it wet!)

On Thursday, February 7th, once our things were settled into the condo, I enjoyed exploring the rest of the Gateway, taking the elevator to level 5 and exiting our building onto the courtard, down the stairs and out a door onto the upper level of the shopping mall.

In our first month in Salt Lake City, we have eaten at 5 of the restaurants in the Gateway (and also gotten take out at 2 of the cafes in the Canyon Creek food court.)

We saw Juno at the Megaplex theaters and 2 IMAX movies; The Body and Deep Sea 3D at the Clark Planetarium, (where we also enjoyed the exhibits. )

It is easy to see that we have really enjoyed living in and exploring our Gateway complex.

The Journey to Utah

2008-02-26T11:43:00.000-08:00

We took 4 days to drive to Salt Lake City. Knowing our first night would only be as far as Des Moines IA, (so we could spend the first night with our daughter Emily), we were in no hurry to start. We enjoyed the Mardi Gras brunch at Woodlake Lutheran church and after going through the house one last time with Kevin and Charlotte, our renters, we had a great send-off from daughters Beth and Katie.

We broke our journey after only a short drive to visit Burgarts in Clear Lake IA. It was good to see our friends, get a tour of their remodel, catch-up on families, and have a pick-me-up snack of Jeanne's homemade cookies. (Thanks for the great cookies, Jeanne! The bag you gave us took us all the way to Utah!)

It was after dark when we reached Des Moines. We stopped at a Fuddrucker's restaurant for supper and to watch a bit of the last quarter of the Super Bowl. Emily was too tired to leave home and join us, but her directions to the Hawthorne home were perfect and we reached her in time to watch the end of the game. It was good to see Emily's new home and to meet Ann and Bill Hawthorne, her hosts in Des Moines. We heard a lot of the history of Wildwood Hills Ranch where Emily would start work in the morning.

Up the next morning to a good breakfast by Ann and then off following Emily to Wildwood. How could we forget to get out our camera? We have no pictures of Emily's new home in IA or of the Ranch where she will be working most days! Snow had been falling the day before and our first visit to the Ranch involved driving and then walking through fresh snowfall, about 6 inches. Emily's first duty in her new job was to give us a tour of the place. We met fellow workers, Mr. Lynn, Mary Lou and Matt. We saw a group of the horses walking in the pasture, and toured most of the buildings including the bunkhouses, art building, dining hall and the main house where Emily's office was to be. It was close to 11AM before we got back on the road.

Monday's drive was pretty uneventful with some blowing snow near Des Moines but pretty good driving on I-80 all the way to Ogallala NB where we stopped for our second night. We ate supper at a steakhouse called Front Street and then headed back to our hotel where we watched "Waitress" on my computer.

Tuesday morning we were back on the road after a good breakfast at the hotel. We reached downtown Denver before noon and were able to find Ellen and Scott at the historic synagogue where Up With People Cast A 2008 were rehearsing. They were able to get away for lunch so we walked downtown to the Paramount Cafe where we caught up on their news of life as staff for UWP Cast A, and about the last of their adventures with the fall cast B in Manilla. They had to hurry back to work, but we checked out the US Mint (closed for tours that day) and then toured the capital building before heading back to the synagogue. Scott's parents, Gene and Chris Enebo, were also in Denver to see the rehearsal so we had a nice visit with them in between songs by the cast.

You can follow Ellen and Scott's adventures with Cast A by checking out their blog: http://schmenebojourney.blogspot.com/ We left UWP Cast A 2008 and headed to our hotel where we checked in and rested before joining the Enebos at their host family's home, Julie and Jon Stone, who we hadn't seen since their wedding last Thanksgiving. Julie and Jon are good friends of Ellen and Scott, both being attendents in Ellen and Scott's wedding! It was good to see them again and to enjoy good food and conversation in their home in Denver. Once again our camera stayed in the car so we have no photos of the Stone's home to share. Chris and Gene had to leave first as they were also leaving Denver in the morning. We finally said our goodbyes and thank yous for a wonderful day in Denver!

We got up and on the road early the next morning after a good breakfast. The mountain scenery on I-70 was gorgeous until we reached the stretch near the ski resorts, and the snow began to fall and blow! One lane stayed open on I-70 but it was slow going all the way to the Utah border. This last day of driving took us 10 long hours, stopping only for rest breaks and lunch. (We were glad we didn't go N to I-80 as it was closed from the blowing snow!)

We reached Amy (our contact for the condo) by phone as we drove through Provo, and were in Salt Lake City in 1/2 hour, following her directions to the front door of 5 South 500 West, the Parc at Gateway, our new home in Salt Lake City, Utah! It took several trips to unload the car and a quick trip to The Thaifoon, a restaurant just across the coutyard from our condo, where we got take out spring rolls and Pad Thai for a late supper about 8 PM. It was so nice to be finally here! We studied the SLC map to decide how Wayne would get to work the next morning and then watched an episode of the Irish RM before heading to bed in our new home in Salt Lake City, Utah!