The Long Trip West

Tiffy and I are now safely in Salt Lake City, having survived our harrowing trip out west as we passed towns like What Cheer, Iowa and Wahoo (we can't remember if that was in Iowa or Nebraska), almost got rear-ended in the middle of Nebraska, ate runzas in Syndey, Nebraska, and negotiated the ridiculous traffic coming into Salt Lake City.

The driving was mostly fine, except on Saturday evening when we ran into the traffic after a Cornhuskers game. At one point we encountered debris on the highway, so everyone slowed down, but the pickup truck behind us was going too fast and couldn't stop. Fortunately Nebraska is very flat, so instead of rear-ending Tiffy and me in our rental car (a black Ford Fusion with Minnesota plates), he swerved off the road and then got back onto it. Whew! Disaster averted. We made it to North Platte, Nebraska and stayed the night in a hotel, which was one advantage over the train: we had beds.

Sunday morning we went to Mass at St. Patrick's in North Platte, then we hit the road. In Sydney we went to a fast food chain peculiar to Nebraska called Runzas, where they served runzas, which are a lot like Cornish pasties in sandwich form. Wyoming was amazingly empty, and most of the traffic was semi trucks. Then we had to do a lot of downhill driving coming into Salt Lake City, and the traffic was bananas because the semis could only go 40 mph by law, so they were inching along in the right lane and occasionally passing each other at glacial speed. Meanwhile, people who were used to the mountain roads were taking the curves at alarming speeds. Of course I was the one lucky enough to be driving that leg of our journey, so I tried to stay in a middle lane and not get hit by anyone. We drove to the airport, dropped off our rental car, and took the free shuttle to our hotel downtown. (We are two blocks from Temple Square.) Then we took a walk to stretch our legs after two days of driving and ended up at a sushi restaurant called The Naked Fish for a late dinner. If you happen to find yourself in Salt Lake City, you MUST eat at this place. Everything was delicious, and, to quote Tiffy, the grilled octopus was "phenomenal."

Today we are going to wander around the city and see stuff. I am just blogging quickly at the hotel's business center after our complimentary breakfast. Will blog again when I get the chance.

Famous Hat