Moab + soon = Where?

[PHO2GR4]

I liked Idaho more than I expected. I was listening to an audiobook on my stereo...John Steinbeck's "Travels With Charley", which is his non-fiction account of a road trip he took across America with his dog, Charley. I thought that would be appropriate under the circumstances.

My first stop was in a town called Mountain Home. I liked the feel of it immediately. Here's a quick shot:



The dogs needed a walk, so I went to a large, grassy park and let them out for awhile. I was immediately surrounded by three lovely women, all of whom were in love with my dogs and my VX. Which left me wondering: what if I'd been at the park WITHOUT dogs or VXs? Any love left for me???

I'll never know.

After that nice break, we continued down to Twin Falls, which also impressed me with its beauty. I honestly had no idea that Idaho had so much pretty scenery! Here's the VX at sunset:



And here's a shot that reminded me of the Devil's Tower scenes in the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind":



Okay, that was a stretch. Anyway. Twin Falls ended up being a popular place for Russian and Bosnian refugees. There's probably a good reason why they ended up there, specifically. But it seemed like every other person I met was from Russia. That means that the women are all tall, slender and gorgeous, and the men are short and pissed-off-looking.

Here's one last glamour shot, just for fun. Don't look too closely or you'll see lots of bug guts:



If you ever visit Twin Falls, be sure to stop at a coffee house called "Java". It had GREAT espresso (which is a huge compliment, coming from a Seattleite). It also has incredible breakfasts. And to me, breakfast ranks up there as one of the top three meals of the day!

[PHO2GR4]

I left Twin Falls, Idaho this morning, after snapping one last photo of Shoshone Falls:


Pretty place.

Then I made the LONG drive into Utah. Unfortunately, there really wasn't any way for me to avoid passing Salt Lake City. I'm sure that the city itself is fine, but MAN the whole Salt Lake area is butt-ugly. (Now please understand, that is just my OPINION, based on the fact that I have eyes and can see that it is butt-ugly.)

And here's a surprising bit of trivia: did you know that the state of Utah has ANOTHER lake, which is not salty?

You did? Liar. No you didn't.

It's in the area south of Salt Lake City, in the creatively-named "Utah Valley" region. In another fit of creativity, they named this huge lake "Lake Utah". Here is proof that this non-salty lake exists:





After the post-apocalyptic barren wasteland that is the Great Salt Lake, this Utah Valley region is strikingly pretty. As the guidebook says, "Adventure Awaits!" I haven't found out which TYPE of adventure is awaiting me, but I'm staying here for a couple of days to find out! I'm in Provo, Utah tonight. I want to explore this city and the city of Orem, just a few miles north, tomorrow. "Orem: Gateway to Lehi!"

Oh...and speaking of Mormons, I found out that Brigham Young University...the alma mater of my hero, 49ers QB Steve Young...is right here in Provo! I guess I assumed it, like everything else in Utah, was in Salt Lake City. Wrong! It's right up the road from my hotel. Here's proof:





As I was taking these photos, the Dean of Admissions came up to me and asked if I was a student there. I said no, but would it be possible to admit my dogs? He looked thoughtfully at both of them and decided that it would be okay if my WHITE dog attended...

[Triathlete]

Utah Lake is where they had the first (and last) Ironman Utah. The lake is pretty shallow (by lake standards) and is easily churned into a washing machine spin cycle with a little wind. On race day we had 5-6 foot chop and shortly after the start all the course marker buey blew away. Then the unfortunate happened and they found the lifeless body of on of the competitors less than 25 yards from the start. The swim was canceled and they sent boats out to turn us around (but not give a ride). So we had to find our way back with no bueys to navigate by. That is my memory of Utah Lake .
There is some great scenery in the area. Shoot up over the mountains eastward and you have some great state parks go south and you have Glenn Canyon. I slept in the VX in the Glenn Canyon area and saw the most beautiful moonless star filled sky ever!

[biju]

Beautiful pix!!! Beautiful dogs!!!!!!

Can't wait to meet you/them in a few!

-biju.

[PHO2GR4]

Hey Triathlete and Biju!

Thanks for the comments. Lake Utah IS shallow and really windy. My guess is that the unfortunate competitor probably hit or was blown into a rock or log right at the start. That's a sad story.

This morning I'm headed to the Provo River, to look for trout!

Maybe more photos soon...

[nfpgasmask]

Yes! Very nice! I will be chronicaling our trip too! My wife just bought a nice macro for her D50 so we should have some rockin shots of the trip!

See you soon!

Bart

[PHO2GR4]

I'm really getting into the rhythm of this road trip. Tonight I'm sipping a glass of fine Port...Fonseca Bin No. 27, "Finest Reserve"...out of a paper cup in my hotel room. Ah, the ambience of the Provo Sleep Inn!

Today I got an early start, because I wanted to hit the free breakfast buffet at the hotel. (Yogurt, bananas and a toasted bagel with strawberry jam. Dude!)

Then it was out into the wilderness. There's a river that runs into Provo, cleverly named the Provo River. If you follow this river out of town you'll venture into a lovely valley, named...you guessed it...the Provo Valley. It's really pretty! Why doesn't Utah promote these places?!? I've never even heard of this region before now. Here's a peek:



In Seattle we only have two seasons: a brief summer and a long, dreary winter-ish mess. In the Utah Valley region, they have FOUR seasons. I can only imagine how lovely this same view would look in the fall and the winter!

After this stop, we cruised up to the Sundance Resort to have lunch with Robert Redford. Sadly, he wasn't there...must have missed my email. But here are my dogs waiting for the lift to the top of the ski run:



And here's me, with the Sundance Resort area behind me:



Past Sundance, further down the Provo Valley, you run into Deer Creek...or at least, what USED to be Deer Creek until they dammed it up. Now it's the Deer Creek Reservoir. It provides the areas below with hydroelectric power AND a cool place to go boating and fishing. Yuki stayed in the VX because the AC was on full-blast:



And then...past the reservoir...you reach sunny Heber City! Yes, THE Heber City! Home of Granny's Drive-In! I drove in and had the world's best BLT. The bread was toasted, the bacon was lean and crisp, the tomatoes were fresh...smack smack smack...they're so perky, I love that. Granny wasn't there, I guess because she was somewhere with Redford.



I also had a thick, cold, incredibly delicious 'Grasshopper Milkshake'. (That's a mint shake with crushed Oreo cookies.) (Perfect in 92 degree weather.) And you should have SEEN the girl making the milkshakes! Oh my GOD she was gorgeous! And here she is, working in a drive-in, in Heber City...population, like, 48...when she could be a supermodel anywhere else.

Sigh. I would have converted to Mormonism for her.

Last stop: Wasatch Mountain State Park. A relaxing drive before heading back to Provo and Orem:



BTW, tonight I ate dinner at a tiny Mexican restaurant (the restaurant was tiny; not the Mexicans) called Beto's. I had a 'machaca torta', which is shredded beef with eggs, vegetables and salsa. Tasty. I don't know why food always tastes better on road trips, but I've really been lucking into some great local diners. I promised myself I would NOT hit any national fast-food chains on this trip, and so far I've done a good job at finding small mom-and-pop (and granny) places.

More tomorrow!