A Weekend In Utah.
I am fortunate to have found myself a best friend who loves travel, and exploring as much as I do. Kylie and I have this similar urge to wander around, and see things. To always be moving, even if it means driving aimlessly around town. Every few months we get the unmistakable desire to "just go somewhere." You can follow some of our adventures on Instagram, under the hashtag #dandkwanders. Since I moved it's been a little difficult to adventure together, but with her new job at the airport in Rapid, it's sure to pick up again very soon. Anyways, this road trip may not have come about for a very good reason, but we made the best of it.. as much as we could...
The night of January 14th, 2016 was a cold one. I got off work from my job at Cabela's, and drove about 15 minutes east to Box Elder, SD, to stay the night on Kylie's couch. It had been a rough couple weeks for my best friend, not only learning about the passing of her father, but struggling to figure out a way to get back to her home in Salt Lake City for the funeral, in the dead of a Midwest winter. I had eagerly volunteered to keep her company on the trip, and split gas money to get there. I wanted to be there for my friend during such a horrible time, the added bonus of getting to travel, and to a state that I had never been before was enough for me. The couch was cozy, and that was good, we had an early morning to look forward too.
We woke at 4:00 AM, and quietly got our things together, while trying not to wake her boyfriend at he time (husband now), and her two year old daughter. The leather seats of her Subaru Outback where freezing, but at least the windows were not frozen over. We stopped at the newer Walmart in town, and stocked up on drinks, and food, before heading south out of Rapid City, SD. The sun began to rise as we grew closer to the Wyoming state line. So far the roads were not bad... until we crossed into Wyoming.
Let me tell you something about Wyoming. They are BIG TIME small town, middle of no where. They do not plow their roads (at least not very well). NEVER drive through there in the winter. The first road we were on was a small, and I almost want to say gravel road, that was completely covered in a few inches of snow. We took it very slow, and decided to follow the first truck we came across, instead of passing him, because we figured that I we did go off the road, at least someone would see it. Eventually we reached I-25 in Orin, WY, and headed for Casper... this interstate wasn't even plowed either, so we continued our very slow, and terrifying journey until we reached Casper, WY, were we stopped at a truck stop for Subway, and then I took over the drivers seat.
The drive from Casper to Rock Springs, WY was sunny and clear. I sped a little bit to make up for lost time, while we jammed out to old music, and talked about all the places Kylie wanted to visit during her first time back in Utah in four years. It didn't take long for the wide openness of Wyoming to turn into hills, and then gradually to mountains. We made a quick gas and bathroom stop in Rock Springs where Kylie decided to take over driving again. We were almost there, the next stop we make would be in Salt Lake City!
I became extremely excited when the rock turned an orange-red color, as we flew down I-80, and I made Kylie slow down as we approached the Utah state sign so I could take a photo. At the top of the mountain pass we happily cruised through Park City, UT, and Kylie began to point out the area she once lived, and the areas surrounding that she recognized. Is this what I sound like when showing people from SoDak, around my part of Washington, and vise versa? I don't know. Coming down the pass the overcast sky lit up, and I knew we were there before Kylie could even tell me.
By this time, Kylie had come down with a horrible headache, and so we took an exit off the freeway, and parked in the first parking lot we saw. After switching seats, Kylie called an old friend from high school, Britani, who had agreed to let us stay at her home, and let Britani know we were in town and on our way to her place. I plugged Britani's address into my GPS, and took a deep breath. (I am not a fan of big city traffic, especially in cities I have never been to before.)
A QUICK PIECE OF ADVICE: Please be aware that although GPS's are VERY helpful, they are also one of the biggest assholes of technology..
Following my GPS, I ended up back on the FIVE LANE freeway in the middle of rush hour. After entering the freeway (on the left side), the GPS immediately instructed me to take an exit in ONE MILE, on the right side of the freeway. So.. I began working my way across traffic, quickly, while yelling things like: "Excuse me!", "Pardon me!", "Sorry, I'm a tourist!", "Look at my license plate. I don't know where I am!". That and a lot of cuss words to be honest, but that's ok, no one could here me anyways. It was terrifying... but Kylie thought it was super funny. We made it off the freeway, and to what my GPS said was the destination- which was a lie- it was nothing. So I drove around, circling a few blocks until Kylie could get Britani on the phone to give us better directions.
We made it! Eventually. And Britani was so sweet, she had made us spaghetti for dinner, and I was ready for us as soon as we were all settled in. After dinner, the tree of us went out to walk around some places in the area, and then we headed back to the house so Kylie and I could get some sleep before the early funeral the next day. We slept on Britani's sons' bunk-bed (they were at their grandma's), but we were so tired from the trip that we slept like babies anyway.
In the morning, the two of us got up early, and got dressed and ready. I put in the address for the place of the funeral, and drove us there. The funeral was beautiful, and all the members of Kylie's dad's club were very happy to see her after so long. I was glad to be there, even though I had never met him, just to be there for my best friend, to hold her hand, and pass her tissues. After the service, everyone headed over to their club house, for drinks, and a party to celebrate his life. Kylie was grateful that I had experience with this type of setting, and we laughed at how terrified any of our other friends would have been to be sitting there amongst all of these bikers, in their house. (They're really wonderful people, with great stories- just don't piss them off.) After a while of reminiscing, and after the placement of her dad's motorcycle engine in the house, we left.. kylie needed to eat something after such a hard, and emotional day.
We stopped at Arctic Circle (a fast food place that I have only ever seen in Utah), and grabbed some food before heading back to Britani's house to gather our things. We were only able to stay at her house for the one night, but luckily one of the family back at the club house had given Kylie and I a really great deal on a super nice hotel room in downtown Salt Lake City. We spent the rest of the night wandering around downtown with Britani, taking in the city. It was cold, as it was the middle of winter, but I think the excitement of this new place made me not even notice the chilly temperatures. After a fun night exploring the city, Kylie and I slept peacefully in our comfy, king size bed, and woke up to a beautiful view of the skyline in front of the mountains.
In the morning we checked out of the hotel, grabbed our last fix of Jamba Juice (something both of us love, but didn't have access to in South Dakota), and headed back up the mountains, toward home. By the time we reached Park City, Kylie's mom called to tell us that I-80 (the interstate we needed to get home) was closed due to winter weather conditions, so we stopped and wandered around Walmart for a few hours. Luckily, I-80 did open back up after about three hours, and we quickly headed on our way. (By the time we got off I-80 they were closing it again, so we had perfect timing.)
The rest of the trip wasn't to bad. We made it home in time for dinner. My favorite part of road trips, besides the road trip itself, is always arriving back home with new stories, and more appreciation for the place you live in/actually know where things are at, in. Utah was beautiful, I can't wait to go back, and see more... maybe next time I'll see the southern part of the state.
