We thought about stopping off at Moab, but it was kind of out of our way and the scenery along the highway already had us so impressed. Getting towards SL, it all changes back into vast, snow-covered mountains once again.
Once in SL, we just had to stop off first thing at the Mormon Temple. Despite our skeptical nature, we were very respectful. There was a certain similarity to the Magic Kingdom. In truth, the most interesting part was to access the section for genealogical studies.
After our adventures at the Temple, used Yelp again (sorry, it just made such a difference to our trip - I can't help but mention it in nearly every post) to find a fabulous Mexican restaurant called the Red Iguana. It was packed and we were lucky to be able to get a table rather quickly (must have been a brief lull in the madness as every other table was full and after we sat down, a long line formed quickly - poor sods had to even wait outside as they make use of every square inch indoors for tables)
We ate ourselves silly and back at the hotel I discovered there was no treadmill - eeeeks! So, ran up and down the stairs until I felt like passing out (so guessing for about 3 minutes?)
On Monday, we decided to go and get the truck seen to. Figured that although not due for an oil change yet, it'd be good to have the wiper fluid working again, the fluids topped off and just a general look-over. They were super nice and gave us suggestions about things to see later on in the trip. After hanging around a while, they offered to drive us over to the nearby mall. I spent entirely too much dough on some leggings and a swimsuit...very satisfying:)
We chose to walk the mile or so back to the dealership. SL had had their first snow right a day or two before we arrived and it was all sunny & melted off the sidewalks, roads, etc. However, it was still thick on the grass and in the trees. Quite beautiful!
We picked up our car and let me tell you that we cannot look at our dealership at home for $11.41, let alone get all that stuff done. Add to that - we got out to the car and they had washed it!
From there, we moved on to the Sugarhouse neighborhood where we found the Gilgal sculpture park. So weird, but interesting.
Drove around a bit and headed back to the motel, so I could try out my new suit in a little septic tank they call the pool. For dinner we hit a really curious place called Adobo. They serve authentic Caribbean which is really tasty and so different from what I always had in mind. Yes, they offered plantains and jerk chicken, but there were some really interesting other options too. The lady who was running the floor was really nice and enthusiastic about describing the various dishes. We felt as though our food was something really special even though the place was just a little set-up in a strip mall and not fancy or expensive.
Drove around a bit and headed back to the motel, so I could try out my new suit in a little septic tank they call the pool. For dinner we hit a really curious place called Adobo. They serve authentic Caribbean which is really tasty and so different from what I always had in mind. Yes, they offered plantains and jerk chicken, but there were some really interesting other options too. The lady who was running the floor was really nice and enthusiastic about describing the various dishes. We felt as though our food was something really special even though the place was just a little set-up in a strip mall and not fancy or expensive.
SL has a really strange vibe. Someone told us that the city is now only about 50% Mormon. There seem to be a faction of really obviously observant types. Then there are the regular everyone elses, but also a lot more different ethnicitys represented than I ever would have guessed. In addition, there seems to be a revival of the old punk scene which makes Mr want to return and hit a few shows sometime.
We left on Tuesday to start on the way north towards Canada. As we worked our way towards Boise, ID the lay of the land changed again. This time we went from snowy mountains to a wide-open horizon. Soon, we're seeing cattle grazing on the stalk-stubs in harvested fields of corn. A little further on, it all turns to scrub and there are huge areas that are scorched as though terrible fires raged all through sometime recently.
Drove into town and settled in for a fancy dinner as recommended by Scott who Mr connected with on Craigslist. The staff were a lot of fun and Sonia put up with our goofiness well. I really liked the grilled artichoke (app) and prickly pear sorbet (dessert).
Although it was a not huge town, the downtown had a nice feeling to it. Even though it was somewhat cold out, we walked around for a good hour or two just looking in shops & at the state capitol building all lit up at night.
