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Smoker Friendly Gas Station
Kev pumping gas at the "Smoker Friendly Gas Station" in Wyoming. Nancy’s Entry:
The best laid plans…when we originally talked about taking this trip, we had decided to drive toward California taking the Southern route from Chicago, going through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, etc. But life and work got in the way. Kevin ended up having to be in Dallas on the day we originally planned to leave. Not wanting to delay the trip, we decided to take the Western route and have me drive his Porsche (uh-oh!) with our Yorkie, Bentley, to my mom’s house in Fort Collins, Colorado, and meet there. When I arrived I searched the internet for pet friendly hotels and made a reservation at the Hotel Monaco for the next night, 2 blocks from Temple Square in Salt Lake City. Kevin flew from Dallas to Denver and took a car service to my mom’s house.
Of course,when Kevin arrived he was curious to know how the trip went in his car. I hadn’t ever driven the Porsche before. As a result I was quite nervous during the trip, but I have to admit it was a lot of fun. Then he asked how fast I had gotten it up to…”Well, the speed limit was 75,
Entering Utah
Entering Utah, the mountains are grand so I went about 80, 81 max,” I said. “You know it’s recorded in the trip’s memory,” he responded. “Oh…maybe it was a little faster when I passed someone.”
We had a restless night’s sleep on Friday, then headed out at 6:00 a.m. today (Saturday) for Salt Lake City. As we started on the journey, Kevin tapped on the speed history for the last trip. No…it couldn’t possibly have said…93. That computer has got to be wrong!
The journey on route 80 through Wyoming to Utah was gorgeous. There was a cloud cover most of the way but no rain, making the drive pleasant. We drove through snow-capped mountains, and stopped in the small town of Laramie, Wyoming for breakfast. We drove past the continental divide and skipped lunch, deciding instead to save our calories for dinner. At one point we stopped for gas...at the "Smoker Friendly" gas station. Scary!
We arrived in Salt Lake City at 2:00. The Hotel Monaco is pretty and indeed pet friendly. A big dog shaped welcome sign in the lobby lists all the pets names that are checking in-that day, with a community water bowl below it. When we entered our room, there was
Bentleys Hotel Welcome
Bentley's name is listed in the upper right hand corner of the welcome sign in the lobby of Hotel Monaco a giant fluffy dog bed and silver food and water bowl on the floor, and two milkbone dog bones at the foot of the bed. It’s a beautiful room for people too, complete with a flat screen TV, honor bar and beautiful décor, so all three of us couldn’t be more pleased with our accommodations tonight.
After we got settled we walked to Temple Square and through the grounds of the Mormon church. Three brides were standing in different areas on the grounds having their photographs taken. We had Bentley with us. Pets aren’t allowed on the grounds, so I wrapped him in a blue baby blanket and carried him around like a baby. He stayed pretty calm in there but at one moment decided to peek his head out, much to the astonishment of an older man in a suit that was attending one of the weddings. I quickly covered him up again and scurried out of there!
A light mist suddenly turned into a downpour. Our hotel was only a couple of blocks from Temple Square, but I was having a hard time hurrying and carrying Bentley, so I took shelter near a bank and Kevin ran back
Temple Square
Nancy and Bentley in Temple Square to the hotel, picked up the car, and drove me back to the hotel. He was soaking wet so we changed clothes and headed out for dinner.
We decided to try a place we saw featured on the Food Network Show “Diner’s, Drive-Ins and Dives.” We stopped at “Pat’s Barbeque,” (www.patsbbq.com) a local dive in an industrial area that serves killer beef brisket, pulled pork, ribs and chicken. We got a combo plate of all of it…I don’t usually eat much meat, but I had a little of it all. It was a fun regional experience. After all, what’s the point of going on vacation to eat at the same chains you have in your own hometown?
Afterward we took a drive around Salt Lake City, past the LDS church, around the State Capitol building, and through the downtown streets. We stopped along the way and took some nice pics. It’s a beautiful city, though it appears there are primarily two classes of people living here – the very wealthy and the very poor. Given the Mormon taboo of caffeine, Kevin was surprised to see many Starbucks throughout the city. Why do I have a feeling we will forget about
Temple Square 2
A beautiful view of Temple Square the whole“chains in our hometown” thing and pay a visit to one tomorrow morning?!?
It has cleared up and turned into a beautiful evening. We will have a leisurely breakfast in the morning and then make our way further West, stopping in Lake Tahoe. I’m not sure whether we will be staying on the Nevada side or the California side, but we are looking forward to seeing it. We’ll continue this tomorrow night!
Nancy
Kevin's Entry
Well the trip has begun for me. I flew up from Dallas yesterday and met Nancy and Bentley in Fort Collins, CO. We got on the road this morning right at 7A local time. Going thru Wyoming was eerie with the dense fog as we climbed and climbed to around 7,000 feet. Eventually we cleared the fog and the sun burned through for a good day of driving. The car performed terrific averaging 70 mph with stops and still getting around 30 mpg. The new rubber felt good and the new wipers came in handy as we entered Salt Lake City in the rain. I can now check Utah off my list of remaining states to visit. The list continues to dwindle with
Utah State Capitol
The Utah State Capitol is gorgeous and right in the center of Salt Lake City just a few remaining like North Dakota, Oregon, Main and Alaska. I was very impressed with the natural beauty of Utah. Wyoming looked as though we were driving on the sea floor—yes, I know that at some point it really was, so it hasn’t changed a bit. Utah had soaring canyons and bright green vistas with snow-topped mountains for as far as we could see.
Nancy wrangled us a pet-friendly hotel in SLC, the Hotel Monaco. Bentley absolutely loves it. They do a nice job of including pet accessories such as a dog bed—as if. The giant dog bowls were a bit beyond Bentley’s abilities, but it’s the thought that counts. The three of us walked the couple of blocks over to Temple Square to see the sites just as a thunder storm blew in. That didn’t deter us from wandering in with Bentley to take a look around. They certainly have some massive buildings with beautiful flowers. The rain continued and we got soaked. I ran back to the hotel and got the car and came and picked up Nan and Bentley. After that adventure, we‘d worked up an appetite and decided to head over to a restaurant from
Dinner at Pat's
Kevin enjoying a beer at Pat's BBQ, featured on the Food Network's Show "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives." one of our favorite TV shows, Diners Drive-ins and Dives. We checked out our options and decided to try out Pat’s BBQ. The restaurant’s location is ‘industrial’ at best and certainly shows its former gas station roots. But the food was great.
So tomorrow is the next test. While it looks like good weather most of the way they are predicting snow in Tahoe where we intend to spend a couple of days.
Check back soon for further progress.
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Andrew
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Travel commentary
Utah sounds like it would be worth a visit someday to view the landscape and a visit to Pat's BBQ definitely sounds like a good time. Looking forward to your next blog entry!