Today was my final full day here in Utah and I took a bit longer this morning to decide what to do. With a few searches on Google, I discovered that BYU had a Paleontology Museum that show cased many of the finds that James Jensen, aka “Dinosaur Jim”. Jim was a professor of paleontology at BYU and lead many expeditions to further our understanding of prehistoric Earth. Check out this YouTube video to learn more.
The museum is small, but you can get much closer to the displays than in a regular museum. There is also a windowed section where you can watch students from BYU preparing fossils from previous digs. Here is a small sample of what your can see. Some are casts and others are actual fossils.
By this time, it was a little past 10:30 AM and I decided to channel my inner hobbit and go in search of 2nd breakfast. I ended up at a place called Guru, were I had strawberry crapes with bacon and potatoes.
After finishing 2nd breakfast, I took a short walk around the Provo City Town Hall to catch a few pokemon and to settle breakfast.
I still wanted to see more nature, but I wasn’t up to a major hike. I had tried early that morning to hike up what is called the “Y – Trail”, but I only made it up 0.3 mile before I decided it was too steep for my liking. I don’t care if a family with children had already gone past me without issues and I saw others with dogs walking back down after completing the trail. Sometimes you need to know your limits. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Back to the walk I ended up taking. Using google I found a nice trail that paralleled the Provo River as it made it’s way down to Lake Utah. It was a very wide trail, very popular with other hikers. There was a father and his 2 children, a few runners, and few bikers. I think you can see from the pictures how lovely the trail is.
A strange thing was happening along the trail. It looked like the ground was covered with snow or cotton. The truth was that one of the trees was shedding it’s seeds. I hope you can see the “flakes” in this slow motion video.
After a nice walk one gets thirsty.
I sampled 1 rum and 4 whiskeys. All of them were good, but I only risked bringing one home with me in my checked bags.
I headed back to my hotel and debated if I wanted to go for another walk or just relax. I chose to relax. The weather is wonderful but the sun is still hot and burns. Looking back I should have shortened this trip by one day.
Tomorrow I’m going to explore the Salt Lake City airport before heading back home.
After 2 days of extreme effort for me at least. I normally average 5 miles a day on my Fitbit, but two days in a row with over 12 miles per day has proven to be a bit much for my back. So, today we will be doing a bus tour of Salt Lake City.
The tour by CitySites, was led by Jim, a retired teacher from the area.
The State of Utah was founded by the Church of the Later Day Saints, needless to say much of the tour included stories of their struggles to find a place where they could practice their faith in God.
With all of the stories I’ve heard about this faith, I was surprised to learn the first woman to vote was in Utah, even though Wyoming was the first state to give women the right to vote. Utah was second but was the first state to actually have a vote. Seraph Young, a niece of Brigham Young, was the first woman to legally vote in the United States.
The tour took us by the stadium used in the 2002 Winter Olympics. You can see the Olympic Torch in front of the stadium. The event raised millions of dollars for Salt Lake City and Utah, because many of the vendor workers were volunteers.
The tour also stopped at The Cathedral of the Madelenie. I really do love stain glassed windows and vaulted ceilings.
We were able to get into the building where the Mormon Tabernacle Choir performs. We did get asked to leave shortly after because they were closing for a practice session. Enjoy some photos.
One of our stops was the Utah Captial Building. The outside is faced with granite and the inside is all marble.
Utah State Captial
Here are some pictures inside the capital building.
And after any good adventure, an appetite is worked up. So I decide to try Ruth’s Dinner. I arrived just as the lunch hour rush was ending. This dinner started out as just a dinning car and as the dinner found success it expanded. I enjoyed a limited view outside while partaking of a very delicious chicken fried chicken sandwich.
And with lunch finished I decided to call it a day. I returned to my hotel and enjoyed the Harry Potter movies and a beer or three.
Tomorrow’s adventure is yet to be decided. I will ask the hotel staff tomorrow about mountain climbs I can make in my rental car.
I really tried to video the drive through the canyon, but the sun was shining right on the car windshield, and I couldn’t position the cellphone holder to eliminate that problem. I really wish I could have videoed the drive, because my focus was on keeping the car in my lane with all the twists and turns. I even missed the stop to get the waterfall, Bridal Veil Falls, that is viewable right from UT – 189. I was thinking of stopping on the return, but some emergency was happening, 3 fire trucks and 4 ambulances.
UPDATE 6-26
While watching the local morning news this morning I learned 2 teenagers fell from a hiking trail and had to be rescued. One was seriously injured. See the complete story here.
My drive through the canyon took me to Wasatch Mountain State Park. The trails I picked were not difficulty because I didn’t want to strain my back anymore. Enjoy the views, a bird, a dragon fly and flowers.
After a good hike, you are hungry. I headed into Midway, UT which was 2 miles from the state park. I picked a restaurant via my GPS in the rental car; however, when I reached my destination, the place was not in business anymore. I did pass a place, called Lola’s Street Kitchen. There was a line which means the place is good or they are slow. I took the chance, found a place to park and joined the line. I decided to go with the daily special, a Baja tuna melt.
After lunch, I walked down the street to a year round Christmas store, Kringles.
I just can’t pass up one of those shops. I bought and ornament and two pair of Christmas socks.
While returning to my vehicle, the clock above the town hall began to play a song.
My watch said it was 2 PM
I then drove back to the hotel. Upon arrival I realized that I am slightly sunburned. I really should have put on the long sleeve shirt. I will for tomorrow.
I’m now resting for my return to Evermore this evening. I’m going with a plan. Watch the shows and pick one quest line to work towards. I’m trying to decide if I help the lich I met last night, search for more information about the vampires or look for the fairies.
It’s June 23, 2023 and I’m starting my first full day of adventuring in Utah. Like any start to a day, your first quest is for breakfast. Luckly the hotel has breakfast included with your stay and it isn’t a continental breakfast of cereal, toast or muffins. The Hyatt House had scrambled eggs, bacon, fried potatoes and French toast along with cereal, toast, muffins… Sadly their coffee was terrible. This led me to try out Dutch Bros coffee. They are a competitor of Starbucks so I went with a caramel mocha. Man, it was hot. I left it in the car as I preped for my drive to Red Butte Gardens and the Natural History Museum.
Walk around Get a better view
I tried to capture the drive to Salt Lake City, but my phone was bouncing a lot in the holder I use to attach it to the windshield so I’m not going to share the video. I thought my truck road rough on the highway, but this Nissan transfers every bump and crack. My mustang was only slightly better. I think its just the nature of the beast.
Red Butte Garden
This is one of the coolest botanical gardens I’ve ever seen. There are two parts to it, the portion that is man made and the other portion is just managed natural trails that allow you to go up the face of the hill above the garden.
Here is a quick preview of the garden.
Here are some views along the more natural trails. Can you find the squirrel?
Utah Natural History Museum
So, I went to just see the dinosaurs, but there is more to the history museum. You learn about geology, types of rocks and the first people to inhabit the Americas.
Evermore
A couple things you need to know about Evermore if you choose to visit. It is very family friendly. There is a portion of the park that is undead themed so if you scare easily, just stay away from that section. Now for my tips…
First, it is cool. Second, you need to have a plan because there are shows to see, vendors to shop at and then the quests. Third, when you enter make sure you go to the left and find the bulletin board with the map and the person that will introduce you to the system of the park. Fourth, plan on a double visit. There are multiple quests and layers of quests. It would be very difficult to do everything in the 5 hours the park is open. Final tip before I share some pictures, Ride the train after checking out the bulletin board, it will give you a nice overview of the park. Oh, bring a notebook, you can stumble upon elements of quests just walking around. With that said here are some pictures to tease you.
The InnThe remains of a great beast.The Captain A warm blooded lizardLaundry View from the trainShowsBunnies and chickens run loose
Train pulling into the station.
Ok, I should have been asleep 2 hours ago. I’m not sure what the plan is tomorrow. I over did it today, walking a total of about 10 miles. Guess you will have to just check back. π
My day started very early so that I could make the first leg of my trip to Utah. I am very glad that I did 95% of my packing the previous night. But like most trips there are plenty of last-minute things that need to be done to secure your house before you leave. Like applying liquid toilet bowl cleaner and triple checking that the sink faucet is not dripping. Things went smoothly at the airport check in, but I was a bit annoyed that my bag was tagged “late check in” I was there 45 minutes before my flight was scheduled to take off and my local airport isn’t that large. Whatever?!? Check out the sunrise in the pic below. We are at cruising altitude, don’t ask how high, I’ve no clue and not sure how I could find out.
The sun is making an appearance.
Now I’ve arrived at Houston Hobby and what is the first thing I do once exiting the plane? Yep if you’ve followed me before I think I’ve hinted at my Pokemon Go addiction. Got to catch ’em all. !!
Pokemon Go, no I’m not addicted π€‘
The flight from Houston to Salt Lake City was completely full. So, I was not as lucky as my earlier flight and didn’t have an open seat next to me. I just zoned out to my tunes and the book I brought along. Yes, that’s right I brought a real book with pages and a book cover. And I’m glad I did because I thought the flight was only 2 hours. It was 3 hours. There is this thing called TIME ZONES and I crossed one. So, airline tickets reflect your departure time for the time zone you are in and the arrival’s time zone. Ok, leave me alone, I don’t travel much out of my CST. I should have known better from Canadian Train trip back in 2018. Check that out here if you enjoy my rambling ( Montreal 2018 ). Enough of that back to the trip…
I always try to get a window seat so I can get pictures from the plane and I’m glad I was able get a window seat on this trip. Check out these mountains and rivers. They maybe out of order. Sorry not sorry.
I made it to Utah!!! I was disappointed that there wasn’t an easy to spot, welcome to Utah in the airport. I did see a welcome to Utah sign as I was driving away from the airport. One of the down sides of traveling alone, there isn’t a copilot to take pictures as you drive past cool things. Oh, I forgot to mention the 1.5 hours I waited in line at Thrift Car Rental. My personal time at the counter was very quick and efficient, but the 25+ people ahead of me must not have pre-scheduled and had to take extra time picking a vehicle or whatever… The car I was given was full size Nissan with driving assistance which is cool and all, but I really just needed cruise control. Still haven’t found that setting, but I do like the warnings when cars are in your blind spot.
Oh, did you notice I’ve not mentioned breakfast or any food other than the snack pack from Southwest? Once I finally got on the road, I was starving. It was noon in Utah, but my stomach said it was 1 PM. I went in search of a place to eat, and a quick google search of restaurants, Archibaldβs Restaurant at Gardner Village popped out. I think it was just the name Archibald’s that made it “cool” in my mind. Off I went to the location. Now here is where it got very interesting. This was not just a normal mercado with restaurants and shops. Oh no, this place was themed. A fantasy theme. A fairy theme, with a fairy scavenger hunt. If you didn’t see my teaser for this trip, it’s my hand holding a larping sword. The hotel I picked was because it was next door to Evermore, a fantasy theme park. More about that tomorrow. Back to the Garden Village.
As I was driving in the parking lot trying to find a spot to park, I noticed lots of children with wings on their backs and plenty of moms chasing them as they ran around like cats chasing a laser pointer. There was a sign that said something like, “we believe in fairies” Ok, let me put the brakes on this line of thought, just for me. Sorry, not sorry. We will get back to the fairies, I promise. I spent too much money at this shopping center to ignore it. Back to the reason I was here…
Archibaldβs Restaurant … my closest example would be a Cracker Barrel without the “BUY OUR CRAP” as you walk to the hostess. Oh, speaking of the hostess, she was taller than me. I’m 6 foot tall, she was taller than that. I just had to mention something that is very, very rare in my life. That’s all I’m saying. Now on to the food, quickly…
Don’t get me wrong, the breaded chicken with the garlic butter was very good, but getting cooked, crisp carrots as a side… just wonderful. Two things they could have done to improve IMHO, less salt and more broccoli. Yes, more broccoli. I like broccoli. You don’t? well Sorry, not sorry.
Enough with my lunch. I know you want to know about the fairies.
Oh, my god… the fudge store… they even had a taffy pulling machine…
The last shop I visited was a bakery and deli. I was in need of a cookie. Sorry, not sorry I didn’t take a picture of the cookie, but it was good.
It is now time for me to get out of that village before I spent any more money. Down the road to the hotel. I found it hard to focus on driving and not looking at the mountains to the left, still covered in snow. Check out the view from the parking lot of a local grocery store.
Lunch was so filling that I’m not really hungry, so I’m just enjoying a lite snack. I saw a fried chicken place that looked interesting, but it is still under construction. Sorry, very sorry. I’ve got plenty of eateries to pick for tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow, I’m going to check out the Natual History Museum, art museum and distillery before Evermore. Not sure there will be a post tomorrow. It will be Saturday morning or I might do a Friday/Saturday post.
Thanks for reading and following my journey. I hope you are enjoying it.
For anyone following me I’m packing my bags for my next summer adventure. I’ve updated my WordPress account, bought some new clothes, purchased airline tickets and booked a hotel. Stay tuned to see where I’m headed this year.
Well, I woke up this morning still on NYC time. (4:45 AM local time) I was sort of sad that I didn’t have new neighborhoods to explore, but my feet were happy that they would have a day to rest. Here are some conclusions I have about NYC:
NYC subways are not as dirty has portrayed on TV (I still felt the need to wash my hands after getting off them.) (I did see a NYC rat)
NYC streets are too narrow for cars to be parked on both sides of the streets.
Cars should not be allowed near Time Square.
I thought the prices in Dallas were bad, but NYC wow. I couldn’t have a lunch that didn’t cost me at least $20, and I didn’t even buy any drinks.
I don’t know of another city where you can walk down the street and hear a dozen different languages before you clear a block.
Yes, there is a Starbuck everywhere, but there is also an independently owned coffee shop nearby.
Every city needs a “Central Park”. I saw a large variety of humanity doing a variety of human things, drinking wine with friends, playing sports, playing with their dogs, chasing their children and lots of people just reading a book.
Final thought… should I get a tattoo? 75% of the people I say in YC had tatoos.
Calzone
So, next time I go to NYC I need a partner in crime to go with me or someone that lives there to give me the courage to try NYC night life. I missed all the jazz and comedy clubs because I didn’t feel safe being out past dark.
Wow, time sure flies. The rain on Monday, day 4 of my trip changed my afternoon plans. I wanted to got to the Bronx Zoo. That will have to be for the next time. I think on future trips to NYC I’ll stay someplace other than Time Square. Someplace closer to Central Park so I can walk around in the evenings. Well, that is for next time but most likely no time soon.
New York from LaGuardia airport
Took my last subway ride this morning heading to the airport.
Checking at LaGuardia was pretty smooth. The security line moved quickly. I’m still annoyed at having to take out all my electronics, even though I purchased a TSA approved backpack that zips completely open. I swear the rules change every time I travel. Oh well enough complaining… Oh wait one more thing …
Entry to all the gates
If you didn’t notice, LaGuardia takes the exit via the gift shop to a new level. You have to walk past all these shops before you even get to your boarding gates. They almost got me with the Lego Optimus Prime, but I was strong. Really I just didn’t want to have carry it with me during my layover in Houston this afternoon. π€ͺ The duty free shop almost got me too, but paying NYC prices wouldn’t have really saved that much by avoiding sales tax.
Check out this cool water feature. I didn’t film it but they had it show something in writing with the falling water.
With that I’m going to call it the end. My plane should be boarding soon and I must return to the Texas heat. Going to miss the cooler weather here in NYC, but they are getting ready to heat up. The city officially opened most of the public pools today. (There is a nation wide lifeguard shortage)
Signing off for this NYC 2022 fun. I still need to edit day 2 and 3 with pictures from my camera so if you’ve been here for the trip updates daily, go back and check out the previous post. Until the next adventure. π€ππ₯°
Found another coffee shop that is open before 8 AM and it has some strange mixed coffee drinks.
I had their egg sandwich and the Blackbird. See below to learn what type of coffee drink I had.
Next stop was The Basilica of Saint Patrick’s Old Cathedral. This is not the one on 5th Ave. This is the oldest cathedral in the United States. This cathedral has two cemeteries and a catacomb crypt. Learned that graveyards are next to churches and cemeteries are out away from buildings. So what’s the deal with this cathedral? It was built in the middle of a cemetery. The last in ground burial was in 1855. Have enough money and your ashes can be laid to rest in above ground structures. Have more money, then your ashes can be placed under the cathedral in the catacombs. This happens to be the director Martin Scorsese’s church when he is in NYC and it is in The Godfather movie. Very interesting tour and history lesson.
Original entrance to the catacombs
It was noon when the tour finished so why not a pizza style meal from Lombardi’s the oldest pizza restaurant in the United States. I had a calzone. Remember to bring cash, they don’t accept credit.
LombardisCalzone
Glad I was inside and eating.
I’m getting good at wandering this time I found desert.
CupcakesAll the choices
Since I visited the first Saint Patrick’s, why not visit the new one on 5th Avenue?
Inside Saint Patrick’s
While inside the cathedral it got dark like someone turned off the lights. I looked up and noticed all the lights were still on; however, the stained glass windows were all dark. So I made good use of my umbrella.
More wandering around and there wasn’t really any more rain.
Park AveSynagogueAnother churchSo many Pokemon out in the cityStreet viewTower 57
Before calling it a day I stopped into Maggie’s for a relaxing drink.
Brooklyn Lager Kyiv Mule
So my trip to NYC is drawing to a close. The sun did come out just before setting but I’ve got a blister on a blister so once I got to my hotel, I was done for the day. Enjoyed the movie Jumanji 2. I’ll probably wander again tomorrow morning before packing up and heading home. I was just starting to understand the subways. I guess I will have to come back again to finish my lesson.
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