Salt Lake City (but not really)

I spent today in the vicinity of Salt Lake City . I say vicinity because I never really did anything in the city. I’m staying in Cottonwood Heights, which is a small suburb on the Eastern border of SLC. It turns out that this Marriott Courtyard is a favorite with the winter sports crowd. More on that later. I was amused that the splash photo on the Visit Salt Lake City page is two people toasting in a bar. The 2002 Olympics changed SLC forever. The power of capitalism.

The first order of business this morning was to get my car washed. Not only had it accumulated an impressive layer of grime, the salt used on the road to minimize ice formation is extremely corrosive. On my drive in yesterday I tried to clean my windshield at a gas station. I only managed to smear the dirt around. Oh, and the windshield fluid that they put in my car in CA is useless at temperatures below freezing. I stopped at a Shell station where I hoped to find a drive-through car wash. They did not have one, but Calvin who was working behind the counter explained to me where to find one. He also gave me some great tips for sunset locations. More on that later.

A relatively clean Lucy II and I spent the morning out at Antelope Island State Park . This park is not actually an island, rather it is a spur of land that juts out into The Great Salt Lake . The landscape is surreal, especially so when it is difficult to tell where the salt ends and the snow begins. While the Park is home to a number of ungulates, predators, bird and other critters, the Bison are the most famous residents. Twelve animals were brought to the island in 1893 and became the foundation for the current herd of 550 – 700. I was able to photograph the bison - from the safety of my vehicle. I did watch at least one person get out and approach. While nothing happened - this time - I had my phone ready to record the anticipated disaster.

There was little that interested me in the actual city. I had hoped to visit The Chase Home Museum of Utah Folk Arts , but unfortunately it was closed today. I took a short walk through Liberty Park , but it was pretty quiet. So I took the opportunity to stock up at the local Whole Foods and headed back to my room to review, edit and blog. I had hoped to venture back out to photograph sunset, but I was, once again, clouded out. I will have to be satisfied with my mental image of yesterday’s glorious sunset, seen from IS 15.

I did, yet again, take advantage of the hot tub. This evening’s crowd, and it was a crowd, was the skiers and snowboarders. As always, I got great tips for places to visit in other states.

Tomorrow I drive back down to Moab.

Additional images can be found in the gallery