As we last left off, we were in Vail, Colorado. We only stayed for the night, but we had a great little dinner at a local café, walked the streets a bit, and headed back for a good night’s sleep.
I stood on our porch while Jessica was getting ready and tried to imagine Vail in the high season.
There was some snow scatted about, but, as you can see, it wasn’t much yet. I used to be an avid skier, sometimes hitting the slopes two or three times a week. Vail was one of those places I’d wanted to go, but I also knew it was pretty crowded during the ski season. At least I can say I stayed there once.
But back on the road! Our destination was Salt Lake City, Utah. Not for any particular reason except that it was in the right place in the right direction.
I’d last been to Salt Lake City for a couple of Conventions a few years ago. In fact, the first time Jessica and I had ever had any interaction was for one of those conventions as she was working with Wordfire Publishing to set up my appearance there. It was only on the phone as I made my usual demands for my room (blue M&Ms in the bowl with all the M&M logos facing up, large stuffed llama plushy on bed, velvet painting of William Shatner on the northern-most wall; the usual). Little did I know my destiny was to be intertwined with the extremely tense and patient voice on the other end of the phone.
So, what was there to see on the way to Salt Lake City? Not much… and everything. Sometimes the best part of a trip are the connective parts, the in-betweens from one point to another. We traveled through mountains, down to the plains, stopping at a few rest stops, and (the best part) just chatting with each other as we shared the vistas.
At one point, we stopped at an overlook to… well, over look. We parked in the small lot and walked to the top of the hill. When I turned around to go back, I discovered our little Jeep had attracted company. It’s a Jeep thing, we do tend to congregate. I chatted with them a bit. They had impressive rigs, but they were fascinated with the fact that ours was a hybrid.
Oh, and sheep. Sheep rule. At least, when they need to cross the main road, they rule. Lots of sheep. I mean, whattya going to do? Sheep.
Once arriving at Salt Lake City, we had a nice dinner downtown at Squatters. Back to the hotel and ready for the final stop along our way home….
