My Utah Experience
G and I drove down to the Salt Lake City area last month to see our friend graduate from Neumont University. He (and his family) did an amazing job of getting through a four year computer science degree in two years! We thought we should show him some support and let him know how proud we were that he had managed this by being there for the ceremony. Also, since the ceremony just happened to fall on our 16th anniversary I figured we should be at the same place at the same time! Sixteen years---that is a long time in gay years... :)
Let me say that the good thing about traveling around lets you know how much you appreciate where you live. I pretty much did not get Idaho or Utah...at all. I love western Washington more with each trip I take. So far, only San Francisco (our 15th anniversary trip) has been even close to a place I would like to live in (and that place is crazy expensive to live in!).
We met the family and spent some quality time with them. After the graduation, I wanted to tour the temple grounds to see if I would burst into flame, but we ran out of time before the celebratory dinner was to start. After a very nice dinner in downtown Salt Lake , we sped back to their home on what I began to refer to as "the street of sin". They had a topless dance bar! A Hooters! Tattoo and Piercing Parlors! A Burger King (oh wait, well that King thing on their commercials is pretty evil) and...a GAY Bar! I was very surprised.
The next morning we were off to travel back to Sunny Seattle...
I wanted to see the Great Salt Lake because there is nothing else like it in the world and I didn't ever plan on being back to Utah. G said that I should see it, even though he cared nothing about it--isn't that sweet!
We drove about 30 minutes out of our way to visit Antelope Island (a state park) and paid the 9 dollars to get in (!). Meanwhile I started to notice the smell...evidently the "sand" around the lake is made up of the bodies of the brine shrimp that inhabit the lake...that makes an interesting aroma. People were zipping by us on bikes like crazy and I was thinking that they were nuts for riding in such a smelly place. The area is somewhat otherworldly and because the air was very still, the lake was like a giant mirror. The plant life was odd and I didn't see much animal life (at least at first). We drove for a few minutes until G had just about had enough. "This sucks, let's leave!" was his comment. I agreed but wanted to get out of the car and take a "closer" look at the lake. He pulled over to a little peninsula-like area and I got out, camera in hand, to snap some shots.
I walked out about 40 feet from the car and noticed one of those neat signs that review the types of critters that one might see in the area....
Brine Shrimp, a bird of some kind and...
Sand Flies?
Sand Flies? buzz-buzz-buzz
SAND FLIES!!!
They were all around me! buzz-buzz-buzz!
I started waving my hands around my face trying to keep them out of my eyes/nose/mouth and rushed towards the car. G thought I was trying to wave the smell away. I opened the door and dropped to the seat, still brushing the flies away. They were everywhere! G was amazed and started swatting away. After a few seconds I started laughing and laughing. Talk about the perfect setup. I was really ready to go after that! I think a few of the flies were with us for the rest of the day.
So that was my Great Salt Lake experience...nine bucks to spend 10 minutes in a dead fish smelling, attack sand gnat filled waterhole.
As we came over the mountain pass into the gorgeous green and waterfall filled western Washington, I breathed a sigh of relief (really, I DID).
Home again.
Let me say that the good thing about traveling around lets you know how much you appreciate where you live. I pretty much did not get Idaho or Utah...at all. I love western Washington more with each trip I take. So far, only San Francisco (our 15th anniversary trip) has been even close to a place I would like to live in (and that place is crazy expensive to live in!).
We met the family and spent some quality time with them. After the graduation, I wanted to tour the temple grounds to see if I would burst into flame, but we ran out of time before the celebratory dinner was to start. After a very nice dinner in downtown Salt Lake , we sped back to their home on what I began to refer to as "the street of sin". They had a topless dance bar! A Hooters! Tattoo and Piercing Parlors! A Burger King (oh wait, well that King thing on their commercials is pretty evil) and...a GAY Bar! I was very surprised.
The next morning we were off to travel back to Sunny Seattle...
I wanted to see the Great Salt Lake because there is nothing else like it in the world and I didn't ever plan on being back to Utah. G said that I should see it, even though he cared nothing about it--isn't that sweet!
We drove about 30 minutes out of our way to visit Antelope Island (a state park) and paid the 9 dollars to get in (!). Meanwhile I started to notice the smell...evidently the "sand" around the lake is made up of the bodies of the brine shrimp that inhabit the lake...that makes an interesting aroma. People were zipping by us on bikes like crazy and I was thinking that they were nuts for riding in such a smelly place. The area is somewhat otherworldly and because the air was very still, the lake was like a giant mirror. The plant life was odd and I didn't see much animal life (at least at first). We drove for a few minutes until G had just about had enough. "This sucks, let's leave!" was his comment. I agreed but wanted to get out of the car and take a "closer" look at the lake. He pulled over to a little peninsula-like area and I got out, camera in hand, to snap some shots.
I walked out about 40 feet from the car and noticed one of those neat signs that review the types of critters that one might see in the area....
Brine Shrimp, a bird of some kind and...
Sand Flies?
Sand Flies? buzz-buzz-buzz
SAND FLIES!!!
They were all around me! buzz-buzz-buzz!
I started waving my hands around my face trying to keep them out of my eyes/nose/mouth and rushed towards the car. G thought I was trying to wave the smell away. I opened the door and dropped to the seat, still brushing the flies away. They were everywhere! G was amazed and started swatting away. After a few seconds I started laughing and laughing. Talk about the perfect setup. I was really ready to go after that! I think a few of the flies were with us for the rest of the day.
So that was my Great Salt Lake experience...nine bucks to spend 10 minutes in a dead fish smelling, attack sand gnat filled waterhole.
As we came over the mountain pass into the gorgeous green and waterfall filled western Washington, I breathed a sigh of relief (really, I DID).
Home again.