Heading Home
Viviana has grown a lot since the last time I saw her
We had an excellent spring break trip to canyon country, splitting our time between Page Arizona and Escalante Utah. Now we were heading home. But on the way we planned to stop and visit our good friends Ivan and Norma in the Ogden area.
We enjoyed our breakfast at the Slot Canyon Inn before setting off. We were the only ones there, again. It was a beautiful day and it was a scenic drive from Escalante to Torrey, near Capital Reef National Park. Some time later we stopped in the small town of Loa to get gas and snacks at the General Store. It was interesting because Sandy and I had been reading The Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey this week. We were both just finishing it at this point in the trip and Loa is where the three captured members of the Gang stand trial at the end of the book. It was fun reading the novel as we passed through so many of the locations that were featured in the story.
Antelope Island - where the buffalo roam
It was still early as we got close to Salt Lake City so Sandy wanted to do a short detour to check out The Quilter's Lodge in Draper. It had been recommended to her by a CI (Quiltworx Certified Instructor) that Sandy knows who lives in the area. We followed the directions in Google Maps which took us to a strange building that didn't look anything like a store. There was no sign or anything which indicated what was in the building, which would be unusual if it was a business. Sandy was hesitant to go in but I figured that since we had come this far we might as well try. Sure enough, there was a quilt shop there. It wasn't very big so Sandy figured we wouldn't stay long. That was until she noticed that although they didn't have much fabric, they had a really extensive selection of batiks. Needless to say we were there a lot longer than she expected. As the husband of a quilter, I have to say that I wasn't surprised at all. By the time we finally left we were getting hungry. Before getting back on the interstate we made a short stop at McDonalds for milkshakes to tide us over till dinner.
Up close and personal to a bison - but I stayed in the car
We got to Ivan and Norma's house in the early afternoon. Sandy hadn't been to their house in Utah before so we got the grand tour. They have a lot of space and they are in the middle of a major project to finish their basement. It will be very cool when it's done but it looks like a lot of work. Too much for me. I'm not that ambitious when it comes to home improvement projects.
Their daughter Viviana is almost two years old now. She had grown quite a bit since the last time that I saw her, which was the previous spring on my way back from another canyon country hiking trip. They said she is usually shy around strangers but she had big smiles for Sandy and me and seemed very comfortable around us. Obviously she has good taste. She was also really well behaved even though she is at the age that is usually considered the "Terrible Twos".
Later we orderred dinner from Rita's Pizzeria, a local place with great pizza. It's become a tradition when I stop by to visit them. Ok, not exactly a tradition since we've only done it twice. It was still really good pizza.
After dinner Ivan suggested a trip to Antelope Island. A short drive from their house, it's an island in the Great Salt Lake that is a state park. Because it's isolated it's an animal sanctuary, famous for a large herd of wild bison. No, not antelope, inspite of the name of the island. We drove around and indeed there must have been several hundred bison. Sometimes we could get quite close as we drove through the park, but unlike those Yellowstone tourists who end up getting attacked, we stayed in the car while we took our pictures. Bison can be nasty and they are big animals.
Frary Peak - highest point on Antelope Island
To reach the island we drove across a long causeway. When we did it was clear that the water level in the Great Salt Lake was very low. In fact, Antelope Island isn't an island any more. It's just a peninsula. Since 2019 the state has been putting up fencing to keep the "island" isolated from the mainland. I hadn't known but apparently with the growth of the SLC megacity, most of the water that used to flow into the lake is being diverted for human consumption. The current prediction is that the lake will disappear within five years. Aside from the fact that the lake would be gone, the other bad news is that the salt deposits on the bottom of the lake bed would likely blow into the city and cause severe pollution problems. I had to agree with Edward Abbey - there are too many people.
After our visit Sandy and I continued on to Brigham City where we stayed at the Hampton Inn. Next day we had an easy drive home. After we had been gone for a week, Abby was very happy to see us.
