Holy Long Car Ride, Batman! or Welcome to Salt Lake City, Baby!

So, this post is a day late. Please forgive my tardiness. It's not because I didn't want to tell you about the TEN HOURS we spent in the car yesterday. But when we finally got OUT of the car, the last thing I wanted to do was sit around and type.  Now that I have the energy and desire, I'll fill you in on our adventure!

Bright Lights A Welcomed Sight!

We've totaled 1800 miles in the car since we got to SLC last Thursday, so I was more than a little excited to reach the semi-end of the long journey.  Even though Vegas is around the corner (we drive out to LV tomorrow morning and back Thursday night), Reaching SLC felt a little like heaven.  Shocking, perhaps, but it's true.

Yesterday morning we loaded the car and started our journey.  In order to maximize what we saw of this part of the country, we decided to drive through Yellowstone one more time and head towards Jackson Hole, WY.  Having heard about Jackson Hole for years, I was pretty excited to see what this trendy ski town was all about.  Plus, there was a cool brewery there so we would both have things to explore.  The southern part of Yellowstone is less traveled but still insanely beautiful. Unlike the other days we spent in the park, all of our stops were short. There was very little wandering, just us checking out the landscapes one more time.

Yellowstone blurs right into Teton National Park in the south, so we had a chance to explore this beautiful park as well.  Hours into the trip, we finally reached Jackson Hole.  Nestled right in between ridiculously impressive mountains, the views were amazing. We found the brewery and had a decent lunch. The trendy restaurant featured all sorts of bearded folks and a promising menu. But unfortunately, bad service and food that didn’t live up to its description left us less than inspired.  As evidence of how mediocre the place was, my counterpart didn’t argue with me when I said we couldn’t tip 20% to a waitress who neither asked how things were nor apologized for the fact that my soda was flat and I didn’t want it.  The point isn’t that I’m fussy (and yes, I can be) but that the most unflappable and forgiving person I know agreed that it was less than good.  And worry not, we still tipped but not as generously as usual.  Anyway, I can see why people spend their winters in this town.  However, the summer is a different story.  Still cute and somewhat charming, the town was a veritable tourist trap!  Cheesy tee shirt stores with moose-based puns and limericks comparing women with mountains abound.  Despite the natural charms of this city, the “culture” left much to be desired.

Jackson Hole Antler Art.

After lunch and as much exploring as we could endure, we hopped back in the car and started on the strangest leg of our journey.  When we headed north to Big Sky, we went through Idaho.  Because of the desire to see Jackson Hole, our route back to SLC was very different. More long and winding roads but this time they were squished in between gigantic mountains.  These roads are so potentially dangerous that the road signs warn people not to pull over because of the possibility of landslides and avalanches. About an hour outside of Jackson Hole, we started entering small towns.  And by “small” I mean we saw a town with the population of 100 people.  They still had a mega church, but only 100 people.  Uneventful and utterly boring, this was the most painful drive I’ve ever taken—and that includes when I moved to Texas and had to drive through Tennessee and Arkansas and feared the roadside help from the men in pointy white hats. 

But we survived.  And before we killed each other, we found ourselves in Utah!  Woohoo!  Another 100 miles and we were in SLC!  We stopped to Costco to pick up something and discovered that even Costco is different out here.  There were barefoot children running around and rolling on the floor.  Seriously.  I actually walked by a young boy rolling around on the floor.  I wondered what he would hear if he heard his mother’s voice during such a moment and what she would be saying.  It certainly was a different message than what my mother would say!  Especially since his mom was right next to him and seemed unbothered by the floor cleaning her son was doing? And there was a barefoot girl playing between cars in the parking lot…. It’s a whole new world, I guess.

The Jack Mormon?

After a long day in the car, we decided that we should test the SLC waters.  We’ve been wondering whether this is truly a dry town.  It isn’t.  Between Costco and our hotel we saw a jumbo wine store and a brewery supply compound.  And then the bars… they’re plenty of them.  And we’ve already seen a couple of coffee places, so I think the myths are just that, myths!  Once checked in and cleaned up, we decided to go to one of the bars right down the street.  Somehow it turned out to be a local brewpub. A nice place (and full of all sorts of silver foxes), we had a few drinks (including the JACK MORMON I had to try) and appetizers before heading back to our very comfy Hilton Hotel room! I thought that I was a simple girl, but turns out I like comfort. I like plush pillows and flat screen TVs.  I like sinking into a hotel bed and not having to disinfect things before I touch them (and yes, there's a small can of lysol in one of my three bags of necessities!). The rugged style of our hotel in Big Sky was nice, but I simply like the good life.


So far, so good in SLC.  It’s nice to be back in a city, even if it’s smaller than NYC or Boston.  In fact, the picture below is from the SLC website so I think it’s going to be OK.

The NEW SLC Family?!

In a minute, I’m going to enjoy the snazzy workout room in the hotel and when my counterpart returns from his scout-the- city run, we’re going to continue the adventure.  This evening we’re going to a Triple-A baseball game and we’re totally excited for what this looks like in Utah!