It's probably good we left when we did.
There are a couple things you should take note of regarding this trip.
First of all, while "The Big Fat Rolling Meatball" (the girls' nickname for our RV) keeps pace pretty well, it sort of goes "chug-chug-chug" up hills and mountain ranges, leaving you to think the steel beast is knocking on death's door. (We later learned that diesel RVs don't have this issue, but TBFRM is a gas RV, and we were advised to use "the cheapest gasoline available." Enough said.)
Secondly, my nieces have yet to meet a gas station they don't like. More to the point, they are highly amused by the random, kitschy stuff sold at various stations and truck stops.
Our first stop on the second leg of our journey was "Little America" in western Wyoming. I'm pretty sure we stopped for fuel (Bridget's note: Actually, we stopped to plug in the generator cord), but the place also boasts 75 cent soft serve ice cream cones (which looked delicious), snow globes (Veronica found an addition for her collection), and lovely restrooms (the girls had me peek into the "sitting area" of the women's restroom, and it looks like a department store dressing room).
It seems like we stopped at an insanely high number of Sinclair stations along our journey, and the Little America Sinclair station was no exception. Emily and Lauren have a tradition of taking pictures of themselves riding Sinclair's green dinosaurs:
After 30 minutes of fun at Little America, we set out for Logan, Utah.
The rugged terrain near the Wyoming border features open, flat spaces full of these metal cylinders. I don't know if it is some sort of water-well system, or something else, but they were everywhere:
We also had to stop and get our obligatory photos with the Utah sign. This was the first time in Utah for all of us, and it is fun to be able to cross a new state off the list.
We soon found ourselves along the route of the first stage of the Tour of Utah. The stage featured a lap around Bear Lake -- a beautiful recreational area featuring inviting rolling mountains and amazing turquoise water (kind of wishing we'd been able to stay a little while -- the water looked like it was straight out of the Caribbean).
Part of Bear Lake is in Utah, and part is in Idaho (we really should have found a way to cross Idaho off our "never visited" list).
I took this picture from a scenic overlook at the top of the Beaver River Mountains, a range which sits along the west side of Bear Lake:
Race volunteers were stationed around the winding roads in the mountains, ready to close off the road to vehicles.
We needed to scoot because we weren't terribly far ahead of the cyclists, and "The Big Fat Rolling Meatball" needed time to maneuver us toward the finish line -- so we could see the conclusion of the stage, and greet the riders.
What ensued was a rather lengthy journey through the mountains. It was slow going for the RV, and the wireless data situation wasn't good. (Lauren reminded us all of this fact every mile or so.)
We arrived in Logan (which is the home of Utah State University) in the nick of time, and found a place to stow the RV. We trekked a few blocks to the make-shift media room (located in the basement of a mental health center). We were meeting Fitzalan Crowe (press officer) and Nick Shuley (marketing director). Both worked with my brother-in-law Sean during his tenure as press officer for the Axeon Hagens Berman cycling team, and both were glad to see my nieces (taking time to pose for pics):
They also gave us access to the media area near the finish line. I'm not sure that was kosher with all involved, but it gave us the opportunity to see the race close up, and snap some pictures.
It was kind of emotional to be in "cycling territory" -- the natural habitat of my brother-in-law during his career. The announcer at the event mentioned Sean over the PA system, and talked about how much he was missed at this year's tour.
My niece Julia broke down at one point:
As I stood in the media area, I kept thinking about how much I missed Sean, and how many questions I wanted to ask him. Having seen him in action (I'd worked with Sean on various PR-related projects over the 26 years I knew him), I knew he would have been zipping around the media area, finish line and podium ceremony like a tightly-wound Whirlygig.
After the conclusion of the day's Tour of Utah festivities, Axeon Race Director Jeff Louder gave the girls bouquets of flowers that had been presented to the riders who were on the podium after Stage 1.
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| Axel was wearing a commemorative t-shirt the team had designed to honor cyclist Chad Young, who had died while racing the Tour of the Gila earlier in 2017. #AlwaysBeYoung |
The flowers were a nice gesture, and the girls had fun posing for various pictures with them near the vendor area:
We met some wonderful folks after the race -- people who had fond memories of my brother-in-law. These ladies remembered Sean when he was the press officer for the BMC team, and were super excited to see the girls:
After chatting with the fans and staff members, our entourage was ready to take a break from the heat (it was kind of brutal during our stay in Utah), and get on the road for Odgen -- the next stop on our journey.
Ogden is about an hour south of Logan. After our long morning and afternoon traveling and chatting at the Tour of Utah, we were all hungry.
After a cursory Google search of places to eat, we settled on The Lucky Slice Pizza in downtown.
The downtown area has a certain bucolic charm to it. We "window shopped" the quirky storefronts as we walked to the restaurant. It felt like a cross between Dundee and Benson here in Omaha. I got a selfie with one of the "horse sculptures" located along the sidewalks:
On our drive into Ogden, our group discussed things to do after we had dinner. Since Ogden is along the shores of the Great Salt Lake, we decided to go see the lake.
My niece Emily looked up spots where we could find a beach and try out the salt-filled water.
Antelope Island State Park looked like the best option. It was about 30 miles away from the pizza place, and the girls were excited to swim.
To say I wasn't prepared for the Great Salt Lake is an understatement. I knew it was salt water, but figured it was like salt water in the ocean. I guess I should have known better.
The first thing we noticed as we pulled into Antelope Island State Park was the stench. It didn't smell good, and we learned through a Google search that the smell is normal around the Great Salt Lake.
The next thing we noticed (as we parked "The Big Fat Rolling Meatball") is that the water had receded away from the beach. That fact meant a long and frustrating walk down to the water -- the sand was loose and full of sharp rock chips.
In addition, there were thousands of little flies that would flitter to-and-fro in your wake along the sand close to the water (where the beach was more hard packed and covered with dried seaweed).
In my mind, it was kind of disgusting, and I had no desire to go into the water. But my traveling companions all went in.
They said it was fascinating how easily your body floats in the salty water. I had to take their word for it, but this picture shows how buoyant your body is in the Great Salt Lake.
Bridget waded into the lake. She said the salt sort of stung her legs as she walked around. At that point I was tired of the fly situation, and the heat, and I trudged off the half-mile back up the beach to the RV.
A while after I made my way to the RV, I spotted my niece Olivia headed up (she said she was ready for a shower), and the rest of our crew followed shortly thereafter.
Lauren found a souvenir in the lake -- a giant rock that she lugged up the beach:
My seven companions got cleaned up at the outdoor showers. The nieces loaded in the movie "Nerve" on DVD, and we headed back into Ogden for the night.
(Thanks to Bridget Brooks, Emily Weide, Lauren Weide, Olivia Weide, and Julia Weide for supplying additional photographs for this post!)
Stay tuned tomorrow for "Utah Trip, Part III"...
And check out yesterday's post: "Utah Trip, Part I: One Guy, Seven Girls, and an RV"
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