It's Big Trip Time! Part 3 - SLC is Quiet on Sundays

Ooh, go read Part 2 first!  We did some cool stuff in Arches National Park and Moab, UT, and you don't want to miss it!

Despite the neighbors being pretty noisy, we slept well in Slickrock RV Resort on Saturday night, and we were up and moving around 7 the next morning.  We got our normal coffee/chai service underway, and Chris fired up the Camp Chef to make us some delicious breakfast sandwiches.

The chef (the Camp Chef!) at work.

Sorry for the glare, but this was taken through the camper window,

as I was still in my jammies.

We finished up breakfast and took showers, hitching up the rig and getting on the road around 10am.  Overall, we liked Slickrock, but for us, it was more of a safe, convenient place to stop for the night rather than a place to hang out for a few days at a time.  Our preferences tend to be quiet places - national parks and campgrounds with sites that are spread out from one another - where we can relax and drink beers without hearing our neighbors scream at their dog from close range.  The resort was rather pretty, and if we happened there again under different circumstances, we might look at booking sites 42-46 instead; they backed up to a set of red rocks and seemed quieter than our spot, which was in the middle of the action.

A few shots around the park,

including the surrounding scenery.

When the guy in the office showed me our space on their map,

I went, "okay, it's across from this grass patch."

He responded, "well, it's not really grass..."

He was right - that's it on the left.

See how close we are to our neighbors?

At least these guys (on the right) were quiet.

As you can see, the sun came out as we were leaving,

which became a theme for the first half of the trip...

Today, we'd be heading from Moab, UT to Salt Lake City, UT, on our shortest leg of the trip; we'd do around 230 miles in around 4.5 hours or so.  Our route took us past the entrance to Arches National Park again, and we enjoyed seeing the same red rock formations and mesas as we headed out of town.

Ooh, another blurry route map!

Eventually, the red rocks gave way to more granite-y looking mountains as we climbed in elevation (SLC is roughly the same altitude as Moab, but you cross a chunk of mountains to get there).

Attempting artsy shots while Chris drives.

After you've fed the driver, made sure the radio is playing good music,

and ensured he's not going to fall asleep en route,

you have time to play around with the camera.

We made a quick gas/bathroom break in Price, which advertised having a combo gas station/cafe/brewery (they were correct that there was indeed a gas station), and then stopped a bit further at the Tie Fork Rest Area for another pasta salad lunch.

Utah is apparently lousy with dinosaurs (as in, full of them),

and you see tons of signs for dinosaur museums

(me: "isn't that called a natural history museum?"),

dinosaur tracks, dinosaur digs, and so on.

These guys were advertising another museum

at our Price gas station exit,

and someone had gussied them all up

 (be sure to check out the little guy - he's got a purse!).

After a bit more driving, we started to see the Wasatch Mountains and knew we were getting close to SLC.

Of course, clouds are starting to roll in...

Good idea to put windmills here - 

it was breezy on our drive through.

We pulled into the Salt Lake City KOA Holiday around 3pm and after a friendly, but lengthy, check-in process (the lady working the counter stated the rate had changed, and we now owed $5 - if it had been more than that, I might have fussed, because, um, I paid in advance?  What did you mean the rate changed?  I asked to also buy a sticker I'd found in the ample time I had to wander their store while the lady on duty worked out the extra $5.  I started to pay and mentioned Chris was a veteran, which got us a discount, but I had to run back to the rig to get his ID.  This brought our total from 5 dollars to 38 cents, which the lady said she'd pay with the coins in their little change thing on the counter, as I had all of three pennies on me.  Then, another lady popped out of the back and mentioned another discount or cancelled out the extra $5 or something, and they ended up refunding us $4.27.  Chris had surfed the entire internet on his phone in the truck by the time I made it back and showed him our spot), we made it to spot #68, an end of lane, pull-through, full-hookup spot that also advertised a "firepit experience" (I made this reservation in early February, paid it in advance, and it cost around $75 before taxes - KOAs are good, but they're often pretty expensive).

Since rain was looming (good call on paying extra for the "firepit experience," self), we got Arlene all hooked up quickly.  We wanted to head into downtown SLC and wander around for the afternoon/evening, so we changed into warmer clothes (it would be about 55 or so during this time) and topped them with our raincoats.  The green line of the city's light rail system stopped just outside the KOA, so we purchased our tickets and hopped aboard for the short ride into downtown proper.

Riding the rails!

Sculptures of seagulls atop the Temple Square light rail stop.

The seagull is Utah's state bird, which,

as someone who grew up chasing them on the beach in FL,

seemed super bizarre to me.

However, there are tons of them in the state, due to the many lakes;

they're also considered heroes due to a story called, 

"The Miracle of the Gulls," where they saved a bunch of crops

(and thus, pioneers) from a cricket infestation.

They're still flying beach rats to me.

We exited at the Temple Square station and spent some time following a walking tour I'd found online, checking out the incredible buildings in the city, including many sites associated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (also known as the LDS or Mormons).  Salt Lake City is the home city of the LDS, including its main temple and tabernacle (on a work trip I mentioned in an earlier blog, one of Chris' travel companions was LDS, and he took his group into the tabernacle, where most non-LDS can't visit.  As someone who grew up seriously enjoying the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, particularly their Christmas concerts/recordings, this made me insanely jealous); while the temple is under construction right now (hey, everything is shut for COVID, might as well), we could still see some glimpses of its splendor.

The outside of Temple Square

The outside of the Church History Museum (above),

and a close up of some of the exterior stonework (below).

The temple, under construction

Zooming in on some of the temple's towers

SLC was really pretty, but the grey skies didn't allow it to shine.  It reminded me of when we were in Aberdeen, Scotland; because most of the buildings in Aberdeen are constructed of locally quarried gray granite, when it's rainy and overcast, the city can be somewhat gloomy.  SLC had the same feel to me, at least on this particular day.  As you might imagine, it was also pretty darn quiet on a Sunday in downtown; we had most of it to ourselves.

Although most of the city (and state of Utah, actually) focuses on the sacred, there are some neat secular buildings as well, including tons of architecture devoted to the arts.  The arts are MASSIVE in SLC, and every other stop on the walking tour was a theater or concert hall or whatnot.  

 I say the bit about the arts, and then immediately start

with a picture of the mall.  Ha!

Anywhoo, this is the building that originally housed

the Zion Co-operative Mercantile Institution (or ZCMI),

which Brigham Young founded in 1868.

It's commonly considered one of the two or three oldest

retail establishments in the country.

It's now a Macy's (one of the other potential "oldest" candidates),

but the building bears ZCMI's name and its dates of operation.

Downtown Main Street

The relief on the Capitol Theater

After driving all day and then doing a walking tour, we were getting a bit peckish and decided this was a good time to rest our weary legs.  We randomly wandered into a spot that looked good and was open, and we were greatly rewarded!  Welcome to Lake Effect:

Yes, this is just like five blocks from the temple.

My pink drink, the Apatosaurus.

It was delish.

(Did I order it solely because it was named after a dinosaur?

Yes, yes, I did)

In addition to our drinks, we enjoyed an order of Lake Effect's bruschetta (which was unexpectedly spicy thanks to its habanero jam) and fried pickles.  We continued wandering and ended up at Squatter's Pub Brewery, which was jam packed due to the imminent start of Game 1 of the NBA Playoffs between the Utah Jazz (playing at home) and some other team full of extremely tall people (I don't watch basketball, sue me).  Scoring a few seats at the bar, we had some pints as well as a hamburger and salad, all of which were just mediocre (how are you a brewpub that can't make a decent hamburger?).  Per our normal, we still enjoyed ourselves and finished things up around 6:30, so we could be sure to catch the last light rail train back to Arlene and the KOA.

Squatter's: Meh.

Although it had been sprinkling on and off while we strolled downtown SLC, when we stepped out of Squatter's, it started to rain in earnest.  While I wouldn't say it was pouring (says the kid from Florida - that's REAL rain), it was pretty steady and we were getting a bit wet.  Normally, when it's weathering in this way and your husband can't read the Google Maps app properly and you walk two blocks in the wrong direction, you might get a bit pissy.  However, our unexpected detour led us to one of the highlights of this part of the trip:

OMG YOU GUYS WE FOUND THE WEINERMOBILE

IN THE PARKING LOT AT THE SHERATON!

I can only assume the person who drives this thing

was sitting in their hotel room a few stories above the parking lot,

watching damp maniacs take selfies with it all night long.

I know I would.

Eventually, we got back on the right path and made it to the Gallivan Plaza light rail stop, but not before getting (gently) hailed on a bit.

Our (very wet) bag from Squatter's - 

see the little hailstones?

It's pretty wet out there!

When the light rail came, we hopped aboard and took the 15 minute ride back to the Power station, out in front of the KOA.  While the weather was starting to clear, everything was soaked (no fire pit for us tonight!), so we hung out inside Arlene and read books until bedtime.

Our setup with the Wasatch Mountains in the background

Sewie Pig!

On the next blog, we make it to two more states on our way toward Yellowstone National Park!

Later!

Amy