* camping on antelope island, in the great salt lake, home to the largest herd of buffalo in utah. i was continually compelled to silently (and sometimes, to my partner's chagrin, loudly) sing 'home on the range.' often. although the salt lake smells rotten (i didn't know this - did you?) and is teeming with brine flies (constant buzzing), experiencing the buoyancy was quite a thrill - and a welcome relief from the 100+-degree temperatures.
* the mormon tabernacle choir. amazing. pure, angelic, encompassing, chilling.
* steamboat springs, colorado, and heeding locals' advice to camp there, at the tip-top of the mountain. we wound our poor little four-cylinder rental eight miles up the gravel road and whoa, was it worth it. up there, all alone, we felt like the double rainbow was just for us
... and the sky cleared and continued a show through sunset. for us.
* meeting up with friends, who happened to also be in colorado, on a five-week music-playing holiday. with them, we cooked, camped and took a two-hour side-trip to central city, a teeny town full (i mean this) of casinos. we made sure our time here, however, was brief - because we hadn't budgeted a gambling spree (but still allowed ourselves a little play) and because new belgium brewing was begging for a visit.
* so we went. and saw how our favorite beers are brewed.
and came away with fresh growlers of fat tire and 1554, determined to enter utah with 3.2-PLUS beer
*zion national park. we stayed here for three days, the longest stay of all stops on our trip - partially because we fell in love, partially because our campsite was incredible (next to a brook for dish/hand-washing - yes, with environmentally friendly soap, steps from the virgin river for afternoon dips, and positioned beneath 'the watchman' mountain). mostly (?) we stayed longer because, after driving 2100 miles in less than a week, we were reluctant to get back into the car and start driving again. so we missed the northern rim of the grand canyon (a mere 85 miles from zion - although the park ranger assured us it was a three-hour drive each way), and we missed hoover dam, which would've been really cool, considering we followed the colorado river for so long on our journey. would've been neat to follow to its conclusion.
i'm grateful i was able to travel with a like-minded companion who prefers smaller, scenic highway routes over interstates, spontaneity over a rigid schedule and tents over cushy beds (do they clean those bedspreads after every stay? and the carpet? is it ever cleaned? and have i told you my *young* niece once found a used condom under a bed in a 3-plus-star hotel room? it's true; i was there).
* also of note (although, for some reason, i didn't get pictures): saltair. sooo cool. wish i would've explored more.
i use parentheses a lot (right?!)
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