Salty

June 19, 2007
Subject: Salty

The Salt Lake is really salty. I know because Nia made me taste it. Not in a "taste the lake and tell me how salty it is" sort of way, but in an "I tasted it, don't be such a wuss" sort of way. I objected because 1) I trusted Nia's judgement of "really salty" and just didn't feel a need to test it for myself, and 2) because the water is thick and there's lots of gross floaty-things in it. In an oh-so-patient voice she pointed out the obvious - that whatever the gross floaty-things were they wouldn't hurt me because because the lake is so salty that nothing could possibly be living in it. So basically she shamed me into it. I tasted it. And yes, it's very salty.

Happy now, Nia? ;)

We had a great day. We got a late start ... stop laughing ... but began our day by finding something to eat (lunch, because we slept through breakfast), and then went to Wild Oats to get food for dinner. We hit the salad bar and loaded up. Out in the parking lot we debated the ice situation. There were issues yesterday - leaking that got on my books and threatened both Nia's camera and computer. After tossing around some ideas - one of which would have required that I go into Rubio's and purchase 2 cups of ice ... not my favorite idea since I didn't want anyone looking at me like some sort of freak out of California ... buying two cups of ice? uh, no ... but in the end we used a combination of plastic bags, bagged ice, our thermal bag from Trader J's and a beach towel - no leakage! We're pretty smart chicks.

Fed, caffeinated and ready for the next meal, we left the strip mall parking lot and headed to the Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City. Let me start this by saying that Salt Lake City is a very pretty place - it's extraordinarily clean, well organized and not crammed full of people - even the 30,000 Rotary Convention people didn't do much for making the streets feel crowded. And I know this is a strange observation, but the Salt Lake City-ans ... Salt Lakens? ... whatever ... they're very attractive people. Fit and healthy, well-dressed and incredibly friendly. And it's sincere friendly, a real friendly, not that "I'm paid to be nice to you, so don't push it" friendly.

We wandered around the Temple grounds. We saw the Assembly Hall and the restrooms, the Tabernacle, the business offices, the restrooms and of course, the Temple. The Temple was the only thing we weren't allowed to go into. After that we went to the restrooms. Then we wandered down the street to the Lion House and the Beehive, where Brigham Young and his family lived. Apparently Young was mightily impressed by the work ethic of bees, so beehives in various forms can bee seen all over the city. We wanted to go through the Beehive House - it was allowed, and from what we understood full of period furnishings, but we got caught behind a 20 minute tour that included a good bit of Mormon history and Young's life, which we weren't so interested in, mainly because it was getting late and we did have plan, loose as it was. We couldn't see a way around the tour group, so we left, bereft of the sight of period furnishings.

Our next stop was the Great Salt Lake. It's really beautiful, the lake is huge, and the mountains impressive. Birds flew overhead, and seagulls snacked on something that they were finding under the crusty sand. We rolled up our jeans and went wading. The lake is shallow and we were able to wade quite a ways out. We both wished we could have just submerged ourselves - the water was so warm, and felt great on our legs - it beckoned, that giant salt bath. There was a guy who'd waded out even further than us and had crouched down and was scooping water over his shoulders - we watched in envy and splashed our feet around, delaying our eventual departure.

Around 5 we finally left - it was time to leave because we wanted to get to Green River for the night so that we can hit Arches National Park in the morning. The drive from Salt Lake to here was gorgeous - mountains peppered with trees and grasses, the slopes eroded into that beautiful landscape that blesses this part of the world. Along highway 6 we stopped and ate our Wild Oats salads and enjoyed the last bit of day, watching the ground squirrels and the chipmunks, as the sun began to set.

So here we are in Green River, about 45 miles from the Colorado border, and about an hour from Arches. We're snug in our hotel room, plotting out tomorrow, anxious to see the amazing landscape - the colors, the natural structures and the beauty that we know are there.

Until then!

Mileage: 183 Time: 4 hours Destination: Arches National Park