tour guides

Just two months into our new Utahn lives and we’ve already hosted our first houseguests from back east: H’s parents, L and P. They flew in last Friday, coasting down into sunshine and blue skies here in the Salt Lake Valley. Of course, those blue skies weren't to last:  although the weather has been clear and dry for the last several weeks, once our guests arrived so did the snow, which ended up curtailing some of our planned activities.  And by "planned" I mean "H created a spreadsheet itinerary complete with drop-down menus that can be customized for every visitor."  I know no one who knows him thinks I'm kidding.

Before the weather changed over on Saturday morning, we all jumped in the car for tours of Little and Big Cottonwood Canyons where, as expected, the dramatic canyon walls elicited many oohs and aahs from the out-of-towners. We also learned from a friendly parking attendant at Snowbird that “no dogs allowed” in these two canyons means “no dogs at all – even in your car” and he warned us that if the sheriff saw us with Becky – who was very much enjoying her car ride – we’d get a ticket. So for the ride down LCC and both the up and the down trip in BCC, we had to keep the poor dog shoved down and out of sight … and it’s a good thing we were warned, because we saw three separate sheriff-mobiles in BCC.

The next item on the itinerary was supposed to be a tour of downtown SLC but H thought we’d go off-book and drive west on I-80, out towards the Saltair (a seedy concert venue raised over the ruins of a gorgeous wooden Victorian spa/hotel on the shore of the lake), so L and P could see the Great Salt Lake. Of course, it started sleeting and snowing just as we reached the freeway, so not only could we not see the lake at all, but it was also terribly treacherous driving (see previous post).

Once we got safely back to town we drove through downtown, the U, the library and the Sugarhouse neighborhood, looping around to end at Trolley Square for a beer at the Desert Edge brewpub. The friendly young bartender, a Midwestern transplant, offered up his favorite ski areas when asked: Snowbird, Snowbasin and, for much back-country fun and no crowds, Powder Mountain. After that refreshment, we walked through a very crowded and cold Temple Square which was just spectacular with all the Christmas lights. 

Sunday morning we got to Ruth’s Diner by 8:00 a.m. in order to avoid the crowds; it was snowing a bit as we drove up there and the weather must have kept the folks in bed, because the diner wasn’t packed even as we left. (Ruth's was a big hit, of course.)  After breakfast we continued through Emigration Canyon, hoping to take a back road to Jeremy Ranch which traces a portion of the Mormon Trail but the back road was closed for the winter. So we took the highway to Park City and, by the time we got to the eastern side of the Wasatch Mountains, it had stopped snowing. We toured the Olympic Park and all three ski areas, and drove up and down Old Town in Park City. It was early enough that it wasn’t crowded with people at all, but it was too cold (5 degrees!) to comfortably walk. Next we toured Snowbasin, then continued down into Huntsville, hoping to stop in for a beer at the Shooting Star Saloon.  Note: the Shooting Star doesn’t open until 2:00 p.m. on Sundays. So on we went to Ogden and beers (rosemary porter - weird) and snacks at Rooster’s on Historic 25th Street.  After that we decided we'd logged enough hours in the car for one day and headed straight home for football, card games and H’s homemade chili.

I went back to work on Monday and H had some prior commitments in the morning, but the three of them (and Becky) made it out to Antelope Island in the afternoon.  The bison were there, by the hundreds, swarming the road and surrounding the truck.  This got B a little agitated, I am told.  After work, I met them all at the Hog Wallow - which P proclaimed as his favorite watering hole out of the many we visited.  On Tuesday, the three of them had breakfast at the Other Place, ran some errands and did some shopping so L could take home a memento.  They swung by Porcupine in the afternoon to take advantage of the $2.50 pints, then we dined at Hopper's (good beer, less than good food) to celebrate the last night.

Even with the storm raging its way across the country, L and P managed to snag an earlier flight out of SLC and an earlier flight out of Chicago for home.  When they called that evening, they told H that they talked about their trip the whole flight back.  I hope that means they had fun, because we're already planning to go to southern Utah the next time they come out.