Salt Lake City

Salt Lake City was on the original agenda, because M was supposed to run a trail race just north of there. But then we had to change our plans due to some work obligations and ended up leaving later. He decided not to run that race and we figured we would take a northerly route. Northerly is a gamble in September/October, but it's a gamble you sometimes win. We didn't win this time. It was 90 degrees when we set out. But after a few shivery days in Rapid City and a winter storm blanketing everything to the north and west of us, we decided to head south and spend a few days in Salt Lake City. We had been there 2 years ago with the kids and my parents, and a year ago just M and I. Those trips were both for trail races and it felt a little different this time to not have that focus. We didn't do much except warm up, wash our extremely dirty car and camper and visit two places we had already been. First, the Aviary, which always seems to have baby flamingos when we visit. And second, the King's English Bookstore, possibly my favorite book store on the planet. It's not a huge space, but they have so many good books. The staff are friendly and helpful, especially to the kids. We
promised everybody could pick out 2 new books and it took us a good hour to do that. We also made a quick visit to my friend Elaina's house and watched her chickens run around for a couple of hours.

From there, we headed to California, but took a detour up around the northern end of the Great Salt Lake to see the Golden Spike and the Spiral Jetty. The Golden Spike is where the railroads came together to link the transcontinental line. There were some really epic details to the completion of this passage. Chiseling through the Sierra Nevada mountains by hand, for one. And then completing 10 miles of track in a single day as part of the final push. The place where the two rail companies came together is out in the middle of nowhere. About 15 miles from the Golden Spike Visitor Center, there is a piece of art worth checking out. The Spiral Jetty, according to Marko, "was very swirly, and very lizardy. I liked the scenery. We walked down a big volcano stone path and then walked around and around the Spiral Jetty to the middle and felt positive energy. The sand had a crust of salt on it."

There really isn't much to in the way of tourist attractions after this. Services are 100+ miles apart. Occasionally you pass a fenced off defense contractor site, or a mine or something. No trespassing. We were eager for some warm temperatures so we drove almost 700 miles in a day and a half, pausing to sleep in a Walmart parking lot. We got in very late, and when I woke up in the morning I was amazed at the surrounding scenery. Prettiest parking lot I've ever been. It was only 24 degrees, though. By the time we got up and over the mountains and into the agricultural part of California near Sacramento it was 89 degrees! The locals thought we were crazy, but we took the kids swimming.