The scenery along highway 93 from Ely to Wendover, Nv. was like no other we have seen. You thread your way between two mountain ranges, some still with snowcaps, along this high desert floor at about 5000'. It is so desolate, but peaceful, you can drive for 30 minutes or more and never see a car, a person, a house, or any signs of civilization.
From Wendover into Salt Lake City you go through the Bonneville Salt Flats, where most of the land speed records have been set. I've never seen miles of white like this this that isn't snow (have great pics caught in the camera - which is dead again).
Salt Lake City is, (to borrow a phrase from Cathy Bowles), like a city "with its hair on fire"! Every road is torn up, signs make little sense, every block is under construction, and the locals are very weary of the confusion -- and it is a year and a half til the Olympics. We are lucky to be here on a holiday weekend, as they have patched things up a bit for the celebration - we hear chaos reigns during the week.
We toured Temple Square with the aid of two young "sisters" on their Mormon mission. Phil was more interested in learning about them, than learning about the Square (no surprise). He, of course, unearthed a wonderful tidbit about "Sister Hurley". She is from Oahu, Hawaii, more specifically from the same town as our friend John Tejada -- and, yes, of course, she had gone to school with young son Mikie Tejada in the 7th grade! That ended all conversation about loftier thoughts -- and he was off with a barrage of questions and discussion with this young lady. The tour was interesting and the girls did a good job of telling us about everything. 18 months of doing this would get old.
What a day of contrasts Sunday has been -- the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in the morning, and a Biker Bar in Park City in the afternoon! I guess it just shows our flexibility. The choir was fantastic-over 200 voices. They sang with the Temple Orchestra, and the program was all Patriotic -- Battle Hymn, This is my Country, etc. A nice touch to our holiday weekend. Actually brought tears to your eyes.
Park City is the site of many of the Olympic events - and is also under major construction. We were able to see the Ski Jumping site, the Slalom site, and the start of the Luge construction. It is a beautiful little town - I don't think they really know what is in store for them in 2002.
Utah still has some of the strangest drinking laws. It ought to really confuse the Europeans for the Games! You can't order a drink unless you order food in a restaurant. If you only want a drink, you go to a private "Club" (think of it like a bar with a cover charge at all times!). But you can't order a pitcher of Margaritas in a restaurant. They bring a pitcher of the mix, and the shots of alcohol to go with it are served individually at a nominal fee ($1.00 where we were).
In spite of their Mormon inspired drinking laws, we both thought Salt Lake City had a definite air of civility about it. No one was rude, in fact everyone on the street acknowledged you. Their dress was classy compared to the average American City. If you saw a God-awful outfit, you knew immediately they were tourists. People actually wore dresses and suits to see the Choir perform on Sunday, and the Sunday stroll still exists in SLC. Phil was thrilled to see that shop keepers actually closed down on Sunday. We had to go to a hotel to get lunch today. Very few restaurants are even open. We understand it is very difficult to live there as a non-Mormon, but we thoroughly enjoyed our visit.
This area has two rather significant historical points. In Promontory, Ut, the golden spike was driven completing the transcontinental railroad in 1847, which led to the demise of the Pony Express. In Wendover, Ut. the last section of the Transcontinental Telephone line was spliced.
The weather here is great, but we are off to Sun Valley tomorrow - another long day of driving - about 5 hours. Going to get some of the $1.47 a gallon gas before we leave, though.
We only made Twin Falls before we gave out - plus we wanted to see Shoshone Falls, and the Snake River Gorge where Evil Kneviel jumped across in 1974. So we made our way to the KOA and settled in. Did we ever get an extra treat when we were at the Perrine Bridge (423' to the river - a beautiful arch span bridge) checking out Evil's jump. They were bunge jumping off the bridge! We had never seen that before - we can only say "you must be kidding"! Dangling on this cord by your feet, bouncing up and down hundreds of feet - NO WAY!
Sun Valley for the 4th of July! Did we ever stumble into a special surprise! Everyone warned us that we better have reservations somewhere, but, as is our style, we didn't. Driving up there, I could tell we would be fine - the cars were streaming out of there the entire 75 miles up there, and there were few cars going our direction.We had our choice of places to stay, and decided we needed a treat. We stepped up for the Sun Valley Lodge, and it is worth every cent!
Upon checking in, they asked if we wanted tickets to the Ice Show and Fireworks, so, of course we said yes. There was a nominal fee, but we thought it would be fun. Little did we know that this was no local gig! Katarina Witt, Jozef Sabovcik, and Sasha Cohen were skating! It was wonderful, followed by fireworks that were choreographed to "Stars and Stripes Forever".
Phil had stayed here 50 years ago - and little has changed. This place is a Norman Rockwell painting. The only thing missing are the Parasols and bustles. Well behaved children feeding the white Swans in the pond, families having picnics on the lawn, bicycles everywhere, and service that is gracious at every turn.
As we were casting about for what to do for dinner, we walked by the Rams Head Inn -- and spied the fresh Trout on the menu. I said we'll never get in there! It is 4 PM on July 4th, this place is busy -- but once again, Phil prevailed, and we had a lovely table on the patio with piano music, and a view of the pond. Tab for dinner with wine and tip: $55. Experience: priceless!
Since the Lodge is not full, Phil has negotiated a second night here for us for $100! We are off to ride bikes, play in the pool, and explore the little town of Ketchum!
And a treat it is! We went on a 10 mile bike ride -- I thought I would die on the first mile, but got my breath and bicycle legs - the path was beautiful--down by the paddle boat lake, up past Dollar Mountain Ski Resort, next to Elkhorn Golf Course, through wetlands, along the River, and finally through Ketchum before returning to the Lodge.
Before turning our bikes in, we peddled through the resort and stopped and had a bite of lunch by the Lake--we were part of the Rockwell painting! After a refreshing dip in the pool, we were off to try one of Ketchum's many restaurants. We picked the Coyote Grill which was fabulous. We also had to have a stop at Whiskey Jacques - a local haunt recommended by my friend Wendy. We could tell it would be a happening place later in the evening.
As wonderful an interlude as it is, we must push on -- Craters of the Moon National Monument and on in to Idaho Falls. The Monument was disappointing for those of us who live around Volcanoes. The scenery south of Bend or coming over the Santiam Pass is just as impressive.
Next stop, The Grand Teton National Park.