The hubster was on business out in Salt Lake City, Utah, so I decided that it was time for me to see Utah. He left here on Monday and I joined him there on Thursday.
The tail of an airplane + many pigeons at Hill Air Force Base Aerospace Museum.
On Thursday afternoon Zen-Den and I went into downtown Salt Lake City so that I could see what it was all about. SLC was just as clean and organized as I had heard that it would be. I didn’t take any photos of the buildings or streets, but visually it was inviting. And clean. I mentioned that, right? With people walking within designated painted lines on the streets in accordance with the timing of the traffic lights. Who knew?
The Wasatch Mountains.
We have friends who live just north of Salt Lake City and on Friday they took a day off from work to drive us around the area. It was generous of them to do this, can’t thank them enough. First we went to Hill Air Force Base Aerospace Museum and looked at their wonderful collection of airplanes and memorabilia– which, of course, I liked. Then we went to lunch at Taggart’s Grill, a restaurant and bakery nestled in the Wasatch Mountains, with camera-shy pet peacocks who live in the garden around the restaurant. The food was delicious. Coolness.
The Great Salt Lake.
After that we drove up through the Wasatch Mountains and then down to the edge of the Great Salt Lake. Everywhere I turned I saw the most amazing sights– whether they were natural formations, or unique small towns, or a herd of bison living free on Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake. Amazing.
A herd of bison on Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake.
On Saturday Zen-Den and I drove up to the mountain resort town of Park City, Utah, to go to an art show. Park City is home to Sundance Film Festival— and many wealthy people from the looks of it. The community was perfect. Like Disney perfect. Like so planned that I worried that we’d be thrown off the set for not adhering to the director’s vision of what the town’s residents should look like. Oh well.
Wild sunflowers that grow as weeds along the highways in northern Utah.
That evening in Park City we had tickets to the outdoor Deer Valley Music Festival with the Utah Symphony featuring Mandy Patinkin. He was amazing and professional with an astounding vocal range, charming personal stories and a quiet sense of humor. Delightful.
Starlings [I think] in a nest under the eaves.
Utah daylilies in an unusual shade of orange that I’ve never seen before.
We enjoyed Utah and would like to go back there someday. Maybe take a week and drive up into Wyoming and Idaho while we’re in the area. Maybe take more photos of the cities– and the buildings– and the unfailingly polite people who waited on us. That part I really, really liked. Worth the price of the vacation alone.
THE SPECTACLED BEAN 
The pictures turned out great! Well done. I really do want to go back sometime.
LikeLike
Me too. It was fun and fascinating. Lots more to see and do.
LikeLike
Really enjoyed your “take” on Utah. Very interesting and I love the pix.
LikeLike
Hi Becky, SLC was fun to visit. Very pretty. Very clean. With more blondes per square block than I’ve ever seen anywhere before. I fit right in, for once.
LikeLike
Lots to see in Utah–if you go back again, try to get to Bryce Canyon and Zion. They are amazing. My only complaints about Utah were 1-difficult for a coffee addict to get a decent mocha 2-the unpleasant smell of the Great Salt Lake 3-the HEAT, omg. 4. Lots of CRAZY drivers in mini-vans which surprised me. Wish I could have spent more time in downtown SLC but we were on our way to Provo. 🙂
LikeLike
Margaret, I’ve heard about Zion [national park and heaven] my whole life, so I’d like to see them both… eventually! 😉 We must have hit the Great Salt Lake on a good day because there was no icky smell & it was so amazingly serene that I could have sat there staring at it for hours. What was Provo like?
LikeLike
A college town, but I liked it. Lots of energy. BYU to visit. Part of my impression of SLC is negative because I chose the wrong hotel(near to the airport) and should have looked for one downtown.
LikeLike
Provo is a college town, huh? I always think of it in terms of American history– not academics. There was an outdoor/recreational stuff show going on in downtown SLC so we stayed north of the city– which was perfect for us.
LikeLike
Oh, Utah! I’ve driven through a few times (when moving from the east to the west and back again) and it was one of my favorite states! So pretty – the scenery and the people! The Great Salt Lake was my favorite and I have fond memories of the way that Salt Lake City is kind of nestled off the highway amongst mountains. Very majestic. And I’m so jealous you got to see Mandy Patinkin!! I’ve seen almost everything he has ever been in and only recently (as part of a cool series in the city close to where I live that shows vintage movies in a historical old theater) I got to see The Princess Bride (what most everyone knows him from). It was quite good and I recommend it wholeheartedly! Thanks for taking us along with you to Utah – it was fun! 🙂
LikeLike
Kristen, majestic is a good description of what I saw of Utah. And so large– the scale of fields and mountains and roads was much different than around here.
Good idea about seeing The Princess Bride again. I had forgotten all about it until I saw Mandy Patinkin in concert. I always think of him in the cult TV series Dead Like Me– which I enjoyed very much.
LikeLike
I loved Dead Like Me!!! (Although I think you and I are the only two people who ever watched it, ha.) Have you seen him in Homeland? So fantastic. He was great in Criminal Minds too, but the show creeped me out a little too much to keep watching. 😦
LikeLike
Kristen, you’re the first person I know who watched that show! I loved it.
I’ve not seen Homeland, but I need to. Everyone recommends it to me, so it’s on the list. Soon. Soon I will see it.
LikeLike
Lovely photos, as usual. When I lived in Wyoming, I never made it into Utah. I always planned to do more exploring but never got around to it. But your comment, ” and the unfailingly polite people who waited on us.” Ah, that’s one of the things I miss about that area most. Beautiful country and really nice people.
Do you know what people in Wyoming do when another driver wants to pass? They slow down and pull over toward the side of the road to make it easier. What do they do in Missouri? They speed up. I once got stuck in the middle on a two lane road and even though there was oncoming traffic, the person I was passing wouldn’t let me in and the person behind him wouldn’t let me in. We all could have died, but what the hell?
LikeLike
Zazzy, we never made it to Wyoming! Of course, with only a long weekend in the area I don’t suppose that we really had the chance. 😉
SLC and environs was pretty in a way that I’d never seen before. I don’t know how much it differs from Wyoming so to you it might be more of the same. Still, worth a look-see, I’d suggest.
What a nightmare of a drive you had. I’ve similar tales from driving around here in the ‘Nati so your scary experience doesn’t entirely surprise me. Kindness on the roads is a dying concept.
LikeLike
Utah sounds like Stepford Country. LOL. I’ve never been, but I have been to Wyoming, which I loved, and Idaho, which I was not at all enamored of. Wyoming was gorgeous and had such beautiful scenery and variety. Idaho–the part we were in–was nothing but bleak desert.
LikeLike
nance, there was a bit of Stepford to SLC. I thought of that, too. From the sounds of it, Wyoming is the place to be. Maybe someday we’ll get back that way. It could happen.
LikeLike
I haven’t been to Utah in a long time, but it is lovely (You must see Zion and Bryce – cool places). I remember piling rock on my floating brother trying to get him to sink.
Thanks for taking us along
LikeLike
philosophermouse, I’d like to see both of those places sometime– but Utah is a long way away from here so who knows when.
[And I have to ask: did you succeed in sinking your brother?]
LikeLike
No – and I even sat on him – it was crazy
LikeLike