Road Warrior Momma: Salt Lake City

Day 14 – July 12 2016

Park City, UT – Salt Lake City, UT – Provo, UT

117 miles – 2 hours

Temp – 93!

I was sad to bid adieu to Park City – as was Camden. At breakfast he asked me if we could come back and stay for more than one night. I said, “Of course.” His reply, “I’m so glad, because they have Lucky Charms here!” It’s the little things…

We headed into Salt Lake City to see the Mormon Tabernacle, the capitol building, and the Family Heritage Center. The Tabernacle was out of town, so it was just some dude playing the organ. I had to watch from an observation room, because you’re not allowed in the church if you’re not Mormon. Talk about exclusionary. The Capitol is gorgeous, inside and out. We did the self-guided tour and ran into a group of Chinese tourists who were on a guided tour – and they were ra-hude! And people say Americans are rude. One woman elbowed Audrey and nearly knocked her over to get her picture of the Utah’s House of Representatives. Good Golly – it’s not Independence Hall!

I wanted to get to the Family History Center and look up a few ancestors, but it’s located in Temple Square. Parking in downtown Salt Lake City is a problem and eventually, I just gave up.

Next we headed northwest to The Great Salt Lake. This is where the day took a weird turn.

I always imagined the Great Salt Lake as being in Salt Lake City and a center of recreational activity – ala Lake Michigan for Chicago. The lake, however, is located 20 miles northwest of the capitol city. Still, being the largest salt water lake in the western hemisphere, I was curious. We made the drive. From the highway I could see the lake and it’s a beautiful bright shade of blue. It also appeared that there was a huge beach, yet very few people where on the shore. This should have been a warning, like in the horror films - TURN BACK! It was hot, and I actually said out loud, “I wonder why no one is at the beach?” We parked at the Great Saltair (a creepy looking building that is billed as a concert venue), and headed to the beach.

The smell was weird and the sand was not sand. It was hard and crusty and we surmised that it must have once been the bottom of the lake and the water had receded and the sun dried it up. The closer we got to the water (about a mile away), the muddier (& yuckier) it got. Audrey was barefoot (?!?!?!?!?), so you can imagine her commentary. We also discovered that about every ten feet, there was a bird carcass encrusted in the mud. Disgusting. Barrett and Audrey made it to the lake first, and of course, Barrett took his shoes off and headed in. I had to yell for him to stop – I was afraid he’d jump in. Not to be out-done, Audrey headed in. By the time I reached the shore, there was a scream. All of us were under attack by these strange bugs. They were like locusts – it was so gross. Hunter never even made it to the shore, he saw the chaos and turned around. I grabbed Camden and yelled, “Let’s go!” The bugs followed us for about half a mile, before we got some relief. I have no idea what they were and I don’t care. We escaped relatively unscathed (they didn’t bite, thank God).

We spent the night in Provo, Utah. We once again ended up eating in the hotel, because there were very few options for dinner.

Quote of the day:

Cammy:

“These bugs are really attracted to me.” Then he groaned and continued, “I just want it all to end!”