Jackson, WY to Provo, UT 8/28 - 9/3

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THE BASICS
On Friday, our last night in Jackson, we had a gorgeous full rainbow toward the east, and the next morning, we had pea-sized hail. Huge skies which could contain ominous dark clouds in one direction, and white puffy clouds on robin's egg blue in another, have enchanted us in this West.
On Saturday we traveled on to Montpelier, Idaho, through the Grand Canyon of the Snake and heavy winds. A very comfortable campground so we stayed two nights, and only left to visit the California/Oregon Trail Center, where we enjoyed sitting in a "covered wagon" and listening to costumed "pioneers" recount their travails but their fun as well.
As we drove south on Monday, we spotted a nice RV park in Brigham City, Utah, with a shopping center across the highway, so stayed there.
Tuesday and Wednesday nights we spent at an RV service center north of Salt Lake City - water and electric hookups, and free! And our steps have been replaced with ones that work! We spent some of Tuesday in Ogden, then Wednesday in Salt Lake City, and visited Temple Square and the State Capitol.
Thursday we drove the RV to a campground in Provo, then drove the car to Sundance and Park City. We liked the park and decided to stay an extra day, delaying because of the hot weather predictions and the Labor Day weekend busyness concerns.
Tomorrow we head toward Moab and the parks in Southeast Utah. There are so many national parks here that I worry about being able to distinguish them and remember each separately!

FLUFF
We have had so many sunny days! The rain in Jackson was quite a surprise. But out here if it rains, it could be bright sun within minutes. Our second night in Jackson, we walked through the fine hotel where John and Marcia spent their honeymoon. Hmmm...
During our part of a day in downtown Ogden, we toured the Railroad Museum; lots to learn there. And we walked on "Historic 25th Street" across from the station/museum. It used to have many, many saloons, hotels, houses of ill repute, because Ogden was a major railroad stop. Now about half the buildings are unoccupied, but some other businesses are operating - restaurants, coffee shops, yoga studios. It is always sadly interesting to see downtowns that have been damaged by the flight of stores to suburban malls.
Temple Square in Salt Lake City is very beautiful. We enjoyed a guided tour of the extensive gardens on the roof of the Conference Center, and an organ concert in the Tabernacle at noon. The flower beds were absolutely in their prime, and they were many and manicured. We did not enjoy being engaged in one-sided conversations by very persistent pairs of young women "sisters" who wanted us to become Mormons. We were on "their turf", I guess, but apparently they have been taught to be heavy-handed.
Driving into Salt Lake City twice during morning rush hour times, we were struck by how smoothly traffic moved. Maybe the commuter trains and buses are being well-utilized. This does appear to be quite a prosperous area. We saw many, many large, new homes. Nearly the entire highway between Ogden and Provo is lined with businesses and industries.
The Utah State Capitol building in SLC is immense, white, perched on a hill overlooking the city. Our tour guide was a charming, funny young woman. One of the most interesting stories was that several years ago, they became worried that the building could collapse if an unusually strong earthquake struck along a fault there. So they lifted the entire building and installed hundreds of "shock isolators", large metal cylinders about two feet high and maybe six feet in diameter with rubber pieces inside, so that the building could "wobble but not fall down". (remember Weebles???) It was a massive engineering undertaking.
As we drove north from Provo to Park City, we noticed a turnoff marked Sundance. I wasn't sure if it was related to the Sundance Film Festival, so we decided to drive the two miles up to Sundance to investigate. It is a beautiful, elegant ski resort, and indeed associated with the Film Festival, in January. There are photos of Robert Redford in a gallery near some restrooms, but sadly, we did not see him... We did buy coffee and a chocolate croissant, which had what seemed like an entire chocolate bar inside! Imagine sitting in bright sun at the bottom of a ski slope, watching the chair lifts and all the other visitors, and feasting. One man engaged us in conversation because he spotted the (Red Sox) B on my hat, and he wanted to tell us he had to leave today to go to Portland, Maine, to secure his sailboat so Hurricane Earl would not destroy it. He seemed, as we all so often do, more excited and energized than worried by dire weather forecasts.
In Park City, John kept remarking that it would be so cozy to spend a day at one of the several nearby ski areas and then go to Park City's wonderful Main Street for a meal and a drink. Park City is quite huge, so focusing on Main Street contains its best charms.
Back in Provo, we drove past a trio of young men riding bicycles, dressed in white shirts and ties. Mormons, for sure. We saw a store that advertised "Missionary clothes." I just learned that Brigham Young University, here, is the largest private university in the country (circa 33,000 students).
It is quiet now that the sun has gone down, but earlier, ducks and geese on the water edging this RV park were mightly honky and quacky. So many charming things seem to happen in our travels! Whoops, I spoke too soon - now I think I am hearing fireworks...
On our "extra day" in Provo, the highlight was visiting the BYU Art Museum. There was a great variety of artwork in a handsome building, and we toured it slowly.
One of the deep joys of this expedition of ours is the ability to decide to stay somewhere for an extra day, to not push ourselves. Believe me, we appreciate the privilege.

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Comments

[Bill]

Keep them coming Linda, I enjoy reading them.
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