Monday, December 23

We've arrived in Salt Lake City. Despite less than ideal weather the day's leg of our journey was the most spectacular so far. Leaving Cheyenne we crawled along - hoping that the highway would not be closed - through blowing snow and very ugh winds. Every vehicle had its emergency blinking light on which helped greatly since the snow was blinding at times. We finally made it to Laramie and things improved a good deal.

Still windy, but the snow has subsided

There continued to be snow and steering wheel gripping gusts of wind but the drive through the Continental Divide Basin was fascinating. In dividing into two segments in southern Wyoming, the Continental Divide created a broad high plain whose waters drained neither east or west. Not exactly a problem: the area, which is the Red Desert, gets less than 8 inches of rain annually. Most of the ground water is snow melt and mud flats in season are as good as it gets. The area is rich in natural gas, minerals and shale oil/gas. The desert landscape is peppered with energy-related facilities and wind turbines. Given the scale of the landscape this manmade intrusions are not entirely overwhelming, but after a wind turbine-free Nebraska it came as a shock to see legions of tall turbine masts marching across the broad plains. As we drove west toward Rock Springs the landscape began to resemble the American Southwest: mesas, buttes, arroyos and mountains. And finally plant life emerged again, mainly creosote, sage brush and mountain cedar.

Suddenly it was clear, but not for long

Things to a dramatic change for the, well for the dramatic once we entered Utah: we descended from about 7200 feet in a seemingly endless canyon of deep red rock, with vertical cliffs topped by cedars clinging perilously. Our descent seemed endless and then suddenly we were in Provo and confronted the steep mountain walls of seemingly endless ski areas. Interestingly the condos - a sea of real estate development - blends remarkably well into the mountain sides and is almost a form of architectural camouflage. Apparently our descent had barely begun and as we left Provo for the final drop into Salt Lake City (and the endless descent really was like that encountered on an airline flight) we entered some of the most dramatic valleys of the Wasatch Range. There were all sorts of warning about checking one;s brakes and then we silly drove down and down and down through gorgeous snow covered mountains until the narrow valley suddenly opened to reveal the broad mountain-ringed plain and the Great Salt Lake that is Salt Lake City.

The Bedrock Hilton?

We definitely feel like we're in the west. Tomorrow's 500 mile segment will bring us to Reno, Nevada and immediately after that we'll lose that western sensibility for California's. I don't think of California as western but instead as West Coast. California has as much past as anywhere else, but I sense that we'll also be confronting the future in ways we'll both appreciate and abhor. Of course, that's what the eight month sojourn will allow us to determine. But we're only in Salt Lake City - we have plenty of time to meet a realtor, look at house and become Mormons. A Latter Day Saints aside: at dinner tonight we perused the beer and wine menu (locally brewed beers and a wealth of California wines). One beer in particular stood out - a porter named Nitro-Polygamy Porter. If we don't make it to San Francisco, we could live here...

Instead we'll just hope for a rejuvenating night's sleep and a safe and pleasant Christmas Eve day drive across Utah and Nevada.

Salt Lake City in the distance