Salt Lake City

To kick off the month of March we made the trek to Utah to elevate our lives. Our friend Janelle is studying at the University of Utah and had made us sufficiently jealous of the scenery near Salt Lake City that we had to visit her. Traci took Friday and Monday off so we could enjoy two full days of sightseeing. Of course, a trip to Salt Lake takes us about 10 hours so Ben played the important role of alarm clock and we got on the road by 5 am. We had an amazing drive down to Utah, Ben and Traci caught up on sleep and I caught up on my awake time. Utah was the 9th state for Ben to visit so we made sure to document the moment as he crossed the state line.

Traci has talked about Dunkin' Donuts each week since the day we got married. So a visit to the doughnut shop was the first thing on our agenda. We had originally planned on visiting Fort Bridger but found out that the Bonneville Salt Flats were further and more remote so it was unanimously voted to visit the Bonneville Speedway on Saturday. It turns out that we were a tad bit early for Speed Week in August but that didn't stop Ben from unleashing the throttle on Janelle's Mustang and give her a reason to buy a new set of tires. The area was covered with an even two inches of water and hence we were not able to drive on the salt flats. I somehow had my doubts of the salinity of the water but was quickly corrected after taking a taste test of the water. I suppose it seemed like a good idea at the time. Since we were just a couple of miles from Nevada, we decided to visit the small town of Bend Over Wendover, where a casino quickly notified us that we had cross the state line. It turns out that on June 17, 1914 the first transcontinental telephone line was completed at Wendover, something that we take for granted now in days.

On Sunday we visited Mecca and learned about the Latter-Day Saints although the architect of the temple caught more of our attention. Since we are not LDS VIP's we were unable to go inside, yet each person we came across was extremely helpful and friendly while we toured the area. We then proceeded to visit the old Union Pacific Depot in town and what was the Olympic Village for the 2002 Winter Olympics. We practically walked the whole day until our noodle legs could walk no more. The truth is that Salt Lake City is a great city with wide clean open roads and friendly people... and I'm not a city person. It is sandwiched between mountain scenery and the Great Salt Lake making it a ideal location for anyone with an adventurous attitude. Perhaps my next trip to Utah will include a trip to Moab.