NOW LET’S SEE WHAT’S UP ON THE WAY TO UTAH

It was a long drive in from California to Ogden, Utah. I think what I remember most, is the four of us, happy as little clams, jammed into our one year old Ford Mustang. The girls entertained us pretty much of the way. Ange had a routine which consisted mainly of sleeping, eating, crapping, and crying occasionally. But like most of our road trips together it was fun. Deysi always packed plenty of things to do for the kiddos and lots of food and snacks. I was like a demon, once behind the wheel. I struck out for our destination, with a vengeance and put the hammer down. The girls used to say that I went into a “zombie” like state and would neither stop for leg stretches or bathrooms. They said the only hope they had was, that I would run out of gas and be forced to stop. Not so says I, it seemed to me like the whole trip was stop and go. 

Our route took us straight east from Concord, CA. thru wine country (Napa Valley), past Sacramento, just north of the tip of Lake Tahoe, and finally into Reno for a sleep and look around. After what seemed like 15 hours, we were back on the road. Deysi said it was no more than a six hour stop. Now who you gonna believe. I never got away with anything like that. Geezus it took her six hours to get ready. Reno was very interesting for us. It was the first time we had ever been exposed to the glamour of organized gambling and to all of the glitter around it. It became a lifelong ritual of ours, to try and stay in Casinos, whenever we needed accommodations, anyplace in the world. We were attracted to the hustle and bustle, the constant action and the excitement, in the atmosphere, surrounding Casino Hotels. 

Once again on the road we headed due east thru Nevada and crossed a desert similar to that we had travelled thru in Peru (although not quite as  barren as the Atacama).  We had seen nothing yet! After we passed Wendover, NV, the last outpost in Nevada for lights and action, we crossed over into Utah and shortly thereafter encountered the Great Salt Lake. Although I considered myself well read by this point, nothing prepares you for the startling whiteness of the salt flats. It was like being in Alberta during the winter with the sun blazing down on fresh snow. It hurt the eyes! We stopped filmed, visited the welcome centre and hopped back in to confront Utah.

Then we forged on, not knowing what to expect. But knew we were passing into the headquarters of the Mormon religion. We did not know whether we would be accepted, rejected or expelled. I was travelling with a full on Catholic and her two trainees.  My thoughts were like “do we stick out?” “Will they know?” “Am I allowed another wife?” (then “don’t you have enough trouble already, you wanna double down?”). Ok don’t go crazy on me Deysi, I just making a joke! In any event we arrived and after an intense two days of travel we arrived in Salt Lake City. Wow everyone seemed quite normal and friendly. No shit you might say! Patience we were still learning the ways of the world. I might add here that the photos look much better on you big machine than on the cellular phone. It seems the captions on the cel block out the pictures. Just saying you know.