Not with a Bang, but a Whimper
The Great North Trek Begins
Mercifully the weather has broken today, so it is now a reasonably comfortable 80 degrees and cloudy. This second part of my trip is far less intense than the first phase - a long distance to drive but fewer fixed points - so I can take a more relaxed approach and just enjoy the journey.
The next place that I definitely want to visit is Shoshone Falls. That is a bit of a stretch for a single day, so I look for somewhere to break the journey. I don’t really enjoy driving into US cities so I was going to skip the obvious mid-way point of Salt Lake City. I was vaguely tempted just to go to Temple Square, but I saw on the news that the Temple was completely covered in scaffolding, so will give that a miss.
Looking at hotels, it is interesting that the chain hotels in the suburbs of SLC get terrible reviews whereas other instances of the same chains I have stayed in were fine. That said, this sort of matches my experience : the hotels are better in smaller towns or even in the middle of nowhere. I you really want to stay in a big city, its probably worth splashing some cash.
Anyway, I settle for somewhere just south of SLC and so am heading to Orem / Provo.
I have a quick scan for potential treats en route and so find myself bouncing down a rough track, billowing dust cloud in my wake, through a Martian landscape. My destination? The Crystal Geyser. This is an unusual geyser in that it is not powered by geothermal energy creating steam, but by subterranean carbon dioxide. Sounds like it is worth a visit.
Now I hadn’t been able to find any information online about how often the geyser erupted, so was unsure on how long to wait around. On the basis that it might only go once a week, I decide to move on. I mean its not as though there was not activity at all…
Come on geyser, you can do it …
The drive through Utah is fairly spectacular (what were the odds?). It has a stark sort of beauty (at least until some greenery appears in the mountains), but then I have always been partial to bit of bleak.
I did have another couple of options involving petroglyph sites, but the first one was blocked off and the second started to seem like a bit of a stretch after some time stuck at roadworks. Also, the message that popped up on my phone (this is always a surprise when travelling and a geofenced alert goes out) warning of potential flash floods and to prepare accordingly (whatever that means!) was not encouraging. As the second site that I was thinking of visiting was down a dirt track in a canyon, it didn’t seem like the best place to be should a sudden torrential downpour occur.
Onwards.
Driving out of from the Geyser, I notice that the Nav says I am on New Area 51 road. Has there been some surreptitious move from Nevada to Utah I wonder. Hardly the best way to keep a secret if you name a road after it! We’re on to you!
Now as I approach Orem, I see that it also has an impressive temple - albeit an SLC Temple Lite. I will take a look at that later. As I recall from my last visit to Utah, everyone seems very friendly. Not sure whether this is a Mormon thing (and presumably not everyone is a Mormon) but Utah just seems fairly chilled. I think they have now banned polygamy, so I imagine that keeps things more relaxed :-)
That said, they clearly hate bourbon drinkers. Utah has a very strictly controlled alcohol policy - anything over about 5% can only be sold through state run liquor stores, all with very dystopian numbered names. In addition to one of the highest taxes in the States, Utah also insists on charging cost + 88%. Ouch. I can’t even bring myself to look at the costs. Still, will be in Idaho tomorrow…
Just back at the hotel, and looking at Google Maps for my journey tomorrow, I notice that the local shopping mall has something called the DreamWalk, which looks quite fun. Obviously I will have to check it out. You are supposed to complete various quests but I was just there to have a nosey really. Also, I couldn’t bring myself to see what the prize would be if I had only completed the kiddies quest.
