SLC or Bust Day 3 reflections

A Game anyone?

Day three started off on a pretty good note. We headed north out of Salt Lake City headed towards Brigham City and Logan, Utah. We got out late enough that trafic was uneventful for us in a metroplex.

Our first stop was Bountiful, Utah. The temple site is high on the side of the mountain so while the instructions were not that great it was VERY easy to find! The road is very curvy so be cautious. One interesting point about the temple is the parking area is actually a parking garage, though Philip had to point it out or I would have never known. Coming down I was glad we were well under the speed limit as three doe walked in front of us. Guess the doe where smarter than the hunters, figured if the hunters are out in force the girls were going to town?

Ogden was our 2nd to last stop on the temple photography tour. The instructions were way off but Philip is not a typical man and he will ask for instructions. I think my van has built in GPS becuase we had gotten turned around the right direction, we were just off about a mile. The Ogden temple is in the middle of town so pretty easy to find once you get off the freeway. Philip wanted to go back to Hill AFB museum which is on the south end of Ogden, but we did not get to do that.

Logan was our next stop. Now Logan is pretty rural but has many ammenities of a small city, big town. We came in to Logan via the freeway and once you turn off the freeway it is a straight shot to the temple. However, this is the long way in and does not show you much of Logan.

We returned to Brigham City and were greated by our friends. Unknown to us, they had gotten us tickets to the Utah State vs. BYU football game back in Logan. They turned us on to a much faster way to Logan via a state road. The road is great, 4 lanes everywhere but one small stretch where they are working on a bridge. This time we saw much of Logan and we were very suprised by how big it really is. Of course our return to Brigham City was an adventure as the previousley mentioned bridge work got us and we ended up driving through town. Fortunatley Philip is pretty good with directions once he's been some place and we just went through a bunch of stoplights.

Utah State's stadium is in a real nice location, just bring a pack mule or lama with you as it can be a pretty steep climb.

Pollie

SLC or Bust Day 2 reflections

The Arrival

Day two saw us climbing out of Green River, UT through Price and over Soldier Summit into Spanish Fork, UT. Until you are about 15 or so miles from Price the drive is pretty non-descript. Once you begin pulling out of Price you start along the side of a mountain for a bit. Philip with his bad eye and severe vertigo makes this a hard stretch for him. Me, I love the scenery and the river along side the road. Going up over the summit we saw the colors beginning to change but they color contrast would be much better on our way home. This is quite a beautiful drive and if you have a car capable of taking it, I would strongly suggest it!

Coming out of the canyon we had a surprise in store for us. Something white flashed high in the sky at the mouth of the canyon. Come to find out they've built a number of windmills at the mouth of the canyon. With the wind, probably a great place for them.

Our first mission was to put some fuel into us. Philip decided we would head towards Provo, Utah the home of Bringham Young University. We stoped at the first place we came to, even though Philip said no I stopped at a Village Inn restaurant, after all they can't all be bad can they? Well never discount Philip when it comes to food! Horrible food and flippant service. I'd stay away from all Village Inns, especially the one in Los Lunas and the one on South University in Provo.

With two days before conference we were now on a Philip mission. Philip wants enough LDS temples to produce a calendar. Provo temple was the next on our list. Though fairly easy to find, it was no thanks to the instructions off of the LDS website. On our way up to the temple we had to drive right buy LaVelle Edwards stadium. I've found my next must take adventure, a BYU Cougars football game. The temple like all temples is a beautiful site, but unlike many I've visited parking was at a premium. Believe it or not this was also the only temple on this trip were we didn't run into a wedding party. Getting out of Provo proved to be almost as much fun as getting into Provo. Next on the list Mount Timpanogos(?) ok so call it Mount 'T'.

Wow, talk about an adventure, finding Mount 'T' was it. Between horrible instructions and worse construction it was quite the time. Now I'm convinced we need a GPS device, though Philip says only for Utah. Philip is a master map user and can find his way just about anywhere (though he sometimes refers to it as the scenic route) but he became frustrated with the road numbering and construction. We will post better ways of finding the temples at a later date. From Mount 'T' it was a pretty easy shot to Salt Lake City were adventure took on a whole new meaning!

Downtown Salt Lake City is a MESS, construction has everything tore up. Some roads are barely passable is at all. Getting around takes a while and when we discuss day four we'll go into more detail. The Salt Lake City Temple makes it all worth it, it is rare you'll find such peace and tranquility in a downtown area being riped apart. It was truly a moment of special feelings in my life. We also went next door to the Joseph Smith building that use to be the old hotel Utah. Oh my, what else can be said! Gorgeous, nearly matching the sites of the land we had seen earlier in the trip. They say the 10th floor has an observation lounge that has killer views. After a good lunch at Olive Garden we were able to recover and go find the place were we where to stay that night.

The say that the Utah motto should be "Under Construction," amen to that! After fighting construction and weird street changes we found where we were headed. A shopping center/apartment complex. Nice apartments but not very handicapped friendly.

More later, but click on the title link and you can go visit some of the photos Philip took.

Pollie

SLC or Bust Day 1 reflections

On October 1st we pulled out of Los Lunas headed towards Salt Lake City. Our plan was to stop in Green River for the night then go on from there. As always Philip forgets 20,000 things so we didn't get out of Los Lunas until about 12:30pm. Oh well half an hour late is not so bad.

US Highway 6 from Los Lunas to Interstate 40 is only 2 lanes but is a fairly nice road. Set your speed at about 60mph and you really don't have much breaking to do. The drive along I-40 to Gallup was very uneventful and even the construction wasn't too bad. The contrast as you go along I-40 in New Mexico is awe inspiring. We stoped at the McDonalds in Gallup for a quick pit stop and a bite to eat while we where on the road.

From Gallup to Shiprock is quite the adventures route. The construction (re-paving) has the road pretty tore up north of Tohatchi. I'd use lots of caution! Again you will run into construction as they are adding more lanes south of Shiprock. I wish they would do this ALL the way to Gallup! The second set of construction isn't quite as bad though you must be careful for trucks coming on to the highway.

Shiprock became quite an adventure. I had heard that it was the fastest growing city on the Navajo reservation and one of the 5 fastest growing in New Mexico. Forty minutes in traffic waiting to turn to Cortez, I beleive it! Shiprock is a lot different than when I lived there as a kid or Philip played football there 20 some years ago.

Once we got out of Shiprock it was a pretty clean shot to Cortez for our first fuel break. We decided on stoping at the Maverick station that is on the north end of town on the highway. While it was jam packed we where in and out pretty easy. There where a few stations in town that where cheaper but only a penny or so. Cortez is a nice place to stop off if you need to and the gateway to Mesa Verde ruins and a lot of other cool places.

The road between Cortez and Green River is a very intresting drive. From the furtile farm fields around Montecellio, Utah to the high desert and archways between Montecellio and Moab, it assures you there must be a higher power. Out of Moab you start into what I think is one of the ugliest deserts in North America. Now I'm not talking the Canyonlands or Arches parks. Just the desert along the highway. I'll write more on Moab in another article.

We finally pulled into Green River just before 8pm at night. Like the poor folk we are we had decided to stay at the Rodeway Inn. Don't! Simple enough, the room was old and decrepate, smelled and was filthy! Sure other than that it had a roof over our head. We ate at the West Winds Restraunt next door the food was edible and that's about it. Though Philip is having issues with them because they mischarged his credit card almost $8.00. I'd stick with somewhere else to eat!

I'll cover Day two in a few hours. Hope you all had a great weekend!

Pollie Williams