Editor: So, the Travel Slob, once
again there's a lull in your activity.
The Travel Slob: Hey, I write all the
time, stop complaining so much.Editor: Your last two articles were about comic books.
The Travel Slob: Well, I drove to the comic book store to get them.
Editor: That's not travel.
The Travel Slob: Sure it is. Just not very far.
Editor: I can't believe I'm paying for this.
The Travel Slob: Quality service! That's what I offer.
Editor: Well, I'm not paying for this. Make a real Travelogue or you're fired.
The Travel Slob: So will I get a travel expense account?
Editor: Use that money I can't believe I'm paying you.
Lucky for me, I had a great reason to
travel already, as lately I've been seeing a wonderful woman by the
name of Amanda, who is not in the same state as me, so I made
arrangements to visit and it was off to Salt Lake City Utah and its
surroundings! Amanda has joined my regular readers, bringing my
latest reader count all the way up to five!
To maximize travel time and minimize
travel costs (thanks to cheapskate Editors who don't give their
traveloguers expense accounts), I left very early in the morning to
leave from Oakland Airport. Since I don't go to the airport often, I
had to call upon my nemesis, Delores, my GPS. Yes, once again I
called on her for directions. Once again mid-trip she decided I was
off course and decided to recalculate right as I approached an
important fork fast. Much her dismay I picked the correct fork and
made it to the airport with time to spare. Her days are numbered.
Getting up at 3am to drive to Oakland
and take an airplane at 6am to get to Utah seemed a great idea, but I
spent a good portion of the day sleeping. Though I was excited to
see my lovely lady, I was very very tired. So much so that I
required the first stop to be a coffee shop. I ordered a large. It
was a 24oz cup. 24 ounces! I'm serious! I'm used to stores that
stop at 20 but not Utah! They go up to 24! It's the 11 of coffee
shops! I like that state already.
Much was not done this day. I met her
grandparents – a lovely couple by the way, with a lovely home they
graciously opened to me after I swore on a stack of Bibles that I
wasn't an ax murderer (I'm making that last part up.) We also
elected to see “Prometheus”. It's a terrible movie to watch for
story, but a great movie to take your girlfriend to as there's many
parts she has to hide from. Oh yeah... I won't review that film.
I'm not getting paid enough for these travelogues, so there's no way
anyone will expect me to tack on a film review for free.
Lehi is a lovely little town south of
Salt Lake City. Yes, for all my curious readers, Utah is Mormon.
The rumors are true! Lehi is the most Mormon of part of Utah, with
an LDS church as common as Starbucks are in Seattle but without the
coffee. There's a certain pride in the common history of the state,
of a like I haven't seen even in Oregon which loves to tout the
Oregon trail but has few connections otherwise. The common thread
ties many in the state together, it seems.
Thursday evening was ended with a walk
along one of Amanda's favorite trails. On the way back, the sun was
setting, and twilight (the time of day, not the book) hit in a cool
evening. A large form flew by to our surprise, silent and quick. We
looked about, and in a nearby field spotted four Barn Owls, hunting
for mice in the nearby field. Occasionally one would pass by and
gaze at us curiously. Sometimes we'd hear one cry in triumph as it
would snag its prey. They flew and hunted in perfect silence in the
stillness of the evening. One cannot easily capture such a moment in
words, and could never plan such a one.
We are a cute couple, and we decided to
be cute at Thanksgiving Point, which has many attractions. The ones
that attracted us that day were the gardens and the Paleontology
Museum. The former were quiet and serene, but the hot day wore us
out quickly. After a quick lunch we moved on to the museum, which
was so immensely cool. As an red-blooded American boy I thought
dinosaurs were the coolest thing ever. In first grade I got a stick
book of dinosaur stickers with explanations of the beasties. I was
hooked ever since. They had a whole museum for those things! Utah
is lousy with fossils!
24 oz coffee, fossil fields … Utah is
awesome.
Saturday was trip to the zoo day, which
seemed a great idea, save that it was Dori the elephant's birthday.
The crowds in the zoo were overwhelming. Worse, nowadays it seems
parents drive their children's strollers like snowplows, shoving
through crowds to get to where they want to go, pushing people out of
the way so their little
angels can see the animals and then not move from the spot and then
get insulted when the next snowplow tries to do the same. I've never
seen a larger group of people so completely oblivious to the presence
of other people. We didn't stay as long as we might have liked, but
it was for the best, perhaps.
The
evening ended with grilled buffalo steaks – a home cooked meal that
was delicious as anything could be. A meal with a loved one is
great, a meal made by or made for a loved one is even better.
Sunday
my lady love and I traveled to Big Cottonwood Canyon for church –
two small Protestant churches met in the amphitheater for a special
outdoor service there. We spent the morning surrounded by nature.
The afternoon we went just outside of Heber City to spend Father's
Day with her family, eating steak. I actually cannot eat steak for
while now. I have eaten it for several days in a row. I've found I
have a steak capacity, and I met that capacity. We arrived at her
Uncle's home just in time to miss seeing a moose and her calf.
Nature eludes me again. Fortunately, family decided to be
entertaining enough.
In
all, this was a great trip, made better in that I spent it with
someone for whom I love. We'll meet again, soon, and more times as
well. The future indeed looks bright.
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