Salt Lake City - Day 6

Tuesday, July 28th

Today my plan was to get up earlier to be ready for SLC Epal. I was guessing that since we didn't do any touring yesterday, that we would make up for it today. A part of me thought that SLC Epal might even be out in front at 11AM when he calls to say that he was ready.

Unfortunately, I didn't get up as early as I wanted, but it was still early enough to do a quick 30 minute walk through the neighborhood. I returned from my neighborhood walk at about 10:50AM.

Yesterday, SLC Epal said that he would call around 11AM. I mistakenly thought he would call on or before 11AM. I was out on the front porch about 10 minutes to 11AM waiting for the call. 5...10...15 minutes passed and no call.

Twenty minutes and still no call. Around this time, I'm thinking of turning off my phone. I told myself that if SLC Epal didn't call by 11:30AM, I would just go wandering downtown myself.

At 11:24AM, SLC Epal called asking if I was ready. I guessed from the tone of the conversation that he wasn't in the mood for a drive to the Bonneville Salt Flats, so I suggested we just do a local activity, he agreed. 15 minutes later, SLC Epal arrived at the hostel. Next, he asked if I wanted to grab some lunch, but I wasn't really in the mood to eat, so I said I had eaten.

First stop was out to the Great Salt Lake to a place called Saltair

Wow, I love Google and Wikipedia!!!

Saltair was a nice place. From the lack of people there, I think Salt Lake State Park is a hidden secret. I was amazed at the lack of people on the lake shore on the hot day it was. There were a few people, but very few. SLCE told me that due to the high levels of salt, a lot of people will avoid going especially if they have a cut or an open sore. I guess going would be like "pouring salt in an open wound". Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Anyway, we stayed for almost an hour. I got to see brine flies and brine shrimp. The flies were the first things to catch my attention. They moved like a minuscule locust swarm, but were harmless. For those of you around my age (those who remember when MTV only showed music videos, The fall of the Berlin Wall isn't ancient history, etc...I think you get the point). Anyway, some of you might remember ads for "Sea-Monkeys". For those of you (who like me)have never tried to buy sea-monkeys, you now know what they are....brine shrimp.

Next stop was over to the Kennecott Copper Mine pit. The Kennecott is the largest man-made excavation (meaning largest man-made hole in the ground). I thought the museum located on the grounds was very interesting, we stayed about an hour.

After the copper mine, SLCE knew of a place he used to go to when he was a kid. The place was called "Gilgal Garden". It was an interesting garden. I was impressed that SLCE knew of this small out of the way place. I was a bit embarrassed that having lived in NYC for most of my life, I didn't know more than the main tourist attractions...barely. I was also in a better mood than I started out with. I thought this day was going to be a waste, but it turned out to be very enjoyable and informative.

Being in a better mood (and hungry), I offered to buy lunch/dinner. SLCE knew of a well-known pizza place near the University of Utah he's been to on a few occasions. I paid for the meal and SLCE left the tip.

Since we were near the Utah Museum of Natural History, we thought we would stop by. The price was $7 per adult. I offered to pay the admission fee for the both of us. At first SLCE was a bit concerned about the price, but he agreed. However, the lady behind the desk was very nice. Since the museum was going to close in about 30 minutes, she let us go in for free.

About 6PM, SLCE dropped me off at the hostel. I gave a couple of NYC souvenirs for SLCE and his friend (who also help provide ideas for locations to explore while I was visiting Salt Lake City.

Since it was still a bit early, I decided to do a practice trip to the Greyhound station to make sure I would be able to leave tomorrow morning with enough time. My original plan was to just call a taxi, but I found out the Trax light rail had a stop at the transit terminal. The results were 12 minutes to walk to the "Fare Free Zone*", then the Trax ride. In total, it was about a 40 minute trip.
*Salt Lake City has a fare free zone downtown where you can ride public transportation for free. The FF Zone starts one station stop away from the hostel and ends at the transportation terminal (Amtrak, Greyhound and local buses).

I walked back to the hostel (50 minutes). I showered, did laundry, ate dinner and packed up. Tomorrow, I will have an approx. 2 day bus ride to Indianapolis.

* The attached photo is a view of the Kennecott smelting stack viewed from the Saltair resort.

Post Date - Wednesday, August 26, 2009 1:07PM