In 1970, the artist Robert Smithson created the Spiral Jetty in the Great Salt Lake of Utah. Within a few years the lake levels rose and submerged the work. Several years ago the levels fell again revealing the jetty. I've been hoping to make it out there ever since and was finally able to a month ago. Jason and I stayed in Ogden and upon our arrival came across all of these bronze children. I'm thinking that all the bad kids there get bronzed, so be good when you visit.
This last kid had it's bat stolen. Poor kid.
Yes, you CAN get London ice cream in Utah.
The historic Union Station w/ my sweet Jason. And a horse.
Besides having bronzed children scattered everywhere, there were also plaster horses throughout the downtown area.
The cowgirl one was my favorite. Whoopee!
We stayed at the cheapest motel in town which I have come to realize is synonymous w/ prostitution. Who knew? But it was at least clean. I wanted to do a bit of night photography at the Jetty, so we got up stupid early and left the motel at 4am. It's only 45 miles away from Ogden, but a 2 hour drive, because the last 16 miles are on a very bumpy gravel road. The last few miles were so bad with large rocks & potholes that we decided to park and walk in the pitch dark. It was only a 40 minute walk and it's been so long since I've had the pleasure of being in a place that quiet. And finally our destination:
To give you an idea of scale, this is 1500' long. Currently the lake around it is completely dried up so it was easy to walk around.
A great indicator to let you know you're on the right track to the Spiral Jetty is the Straight Jetty which is about a quarter or half a mile south of the former. Though no longer in use, this was once used for, I think, oil drilling. The area surrounding it reeks of oil.
As we walked in the dark to the Jetty, we passed a convertible with it's top down. This was kind of strange because it had been raining on & off for hours. When day light broke and we decided to leave, we wondered if we'd find a body in the car on our way back. The lay of the land makes it easy to see for miles around and there was no one else out there. When we got to the vehicle there were no bodies or funny stains on the upholstery, only a case of unopened bottled water shoved into the back. If you happen to own this vehicle or know who does, please let me know so I can rest assured you didn't die in some tragic way out by the Great Salt Lake.
A couple miles later we finally made it back to the rental car that we had parked randomly on the side of the road. Right next to it was a couple bones; of what we have no idea. It was too big to be a cat and the only animals we had seen the whole time were bunnies.
The keys are to show scale to the femur.
Right before the gravel road starts is the Golden Spike National Historic Site which is where the Eastern railroad meet the Western railroad. They have two neat train replicas that run all summer. We just made it there before a torrential rain fall, which lifted just in time for one of the trains to come. www.nps.gov/gosp/
Utah is apparently the secret dinosaur burial grounds and therefore there is a healthy number of dinosaur museums throughout the state. We graced the Dinosaur Park and it was awesomely decked out for Halloween. Behold the entry way:
Per usual to where ever we go, Jason & I make some new friends. www.dinosaurpark.org
The Park has this very large fantastic outside area with many dinosaur mock-ups and trails.
These are pre-historic ducks.
We got a new pet, but it was taken away by airport security because it hadn't had all of it's shots. I'll miss you Bernie.
Yep, that's me.
And the Jason.
This was a neat display of rocks mocked up as food. Neat!
So we got hungry and went to the Prairie Schooner. This is a unique steak house that is stylized like an old western. www.prairieschoonerrestaurant.com
And the cool thing is you get to eat in a covered wagon!
And drink beer out of a boot! (Yes, they drink beer in Utah.)
All the wagons are in a circle with a campfire scene in the middle.
Alas, it was time to head back to SLC and we spotted this on the way.
The oldest restaurant in Utah is the Lamb's Grill Cafe, since 1919. It kind of reminded me of Clifton's in downtown LA. lambsgrill.com
And of course they have several cute lambs.
We had a tasty breakfast at the counter.
The window view on the way home. Goodbye Utah.
Hello San Diego. Sometimes I think the only thing that gets me back home when Jason and I take off somewhere is our kitty.
