Three years ago we were vacationing in Florida on some special tour that took us to Orlando, Daytona, the Bahamas and Miami. This was during Hurricane season but that is another story. While in Orlando we stayed in a time share and went to the obligatory presentation. We didn’t buy, but did buy a prepaid vacation. We had to extend it for a year, and this year we were booked at Park City for a week at the Westgate Resort.
I called on friends Rick and Donna Leonis in St. George since we would be passing through there (the plane is getting an annual so we are driving). Unfortunately they would not be home because….. they were going to Park City, Utah! We agreed to meet while we were both there. So we had breakfast at Kidwell Airport, Cal-Nev-Ari and drove straight through, stopping only for gas (while on empty) and lunch at Subway as we filled up.
Entering Utah from Nevada on I-15
Getting closer to Park City, Utah
We checked in and wandered around the resort, getting ourselves oriented. We found the swimming pools and Jacuzzis, and that was enough for the time we had left of the day. Our room was a one bedroom with a large double bed, TV and Jacuzzi , and a single and a double sofa beds in the living room along with a fireplace and another TV. The kitchen was large and well equipped, with even a washer and dryer in the suite. There was lots of room, and we could even move around with both sofa beds pulled out. Even the base of the dining room bench pulls out to make another bed, maybe even a double. About the only thing missing was a screen door to keep out the bugs when we wanted to keep the doors open at night.
We even discovered on Wednesday that there was maid service every day and a newspaper, which is not something expected since we didn’t have it in either of our other two time-shares. It made our stay very comfortable.
On Monday, wanting to show Johnny the Great Salt Lake, we drove down the hill. We followed the GPS to find a beach and ended up at The Great Salt Lake Marina. The sign said to pay for parking at the ranger station so after driving around the parking lot and deciding we wanted to stay, we parked and I proceeded to look at the buildings to find the office. While looking I met a lady tri-athlete on a bicycle. I asked her about her riding and told her I was more of a tourer. She said she thought she would “graduate” to touring one day and I suggested that it was more of “retiring to” was a better description. She also pointed out that a Ranger had put a ticket on my car to “help” me pay for my parking.
The misinterpreted sign
I found the ticket, which was an envelope, requiring me to pay $2.00 for the parking. I didn’t have change. I chased down the ranger and asked if he did, but he didn’t. I had read the sign wrong, or actually had just not finished reading it. For a boat camping and slip rental one needed to pay at the ranger station, but for parking one needed to get an envelope and put the money in a box behind the sign. Hsien-Ling found some change so we were able to pay our dues and enjoy the area with a clear conscience.
At the water, but not in it
We spotted a big stack and after wading in the water, went to explore what it was. Turns out it is owned by Kennecott Copper, most likely a smelter.
We drove by and continued down the road until we got to a gas station and Burger King where we had lunch. While there we picked up some brochures and decided to see the grist mill that was near-by. We found it after taking a scenic route or two.
Is there a TV in the background???
The mill consisted of the mill itself and several out buildings including a few settler homes, a blacksmith shop, a cobbler shop, a few barns, and even an outhouse. While there we even got our picture taken for the Tooele Transcript Bulletin Online: http://www.tooeletranscript.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Museums+bouncing+back+this+summer%20&id=3044920-Museums+bouncing+back+this+summer&instance=home_news_left Oh boy, now we’re famous.
We also visited the Mormon Temple.
Johnny liked this....
Tuesday we went to the Olympic Village and watched the skiers practice jumping, doing flips, twists and everything else they do, but landing in water as there is no snow at the moment. We took a tour of the village and saw the tops and bottoms of the jumps, toboggan luge and skeleton runs. I wanted to come back and take a toboggan ride but Johnny made it clear that he was not going on it.
We then wondered around town looking at the sites and of course Hsien-Ling discovered the Tangier Outlet Mall so we spent a bit of time there. We were there when Randy hit town and he eventually found us there. Johnny and I bought some Mrs. Fields cookies and a soda but found nothing else there but clothes, too boring. Randy bought a book and a map of the riding trails at Pearl Izumi so we could figure out where we wanted to ride. He had brought down two mountain bikes for us to use as my Surly is still in Taiwan and my Peugeot is not much good off roads. The afternoon was spent resting and looking over routes for our rides.
For dinner we all met with Rick and Dona at Wasatch Brew Pub in Park City and had a great time talking all about what was happening with each other. Donna is still working as an escrow officer, and Rick is working out of Delta, Utah, stringing wire from a new wind farm to the grid somewhere. Details. After dinner we came home and went to bed in anticipation of a long ride on Wednesday.
On Wednesday morning Randy and I rose early, drank coffee and ate oatmeal (my start to healthy eating) and headed out on the bikes by about 8:30. With a few extra miles we found the Rail Trail and headed down to Coalville, about 20 miles away according to the signs. The trail was gravel but well graded. We rode downhill almost all the way. At Coalville I bought batteries for my camera and snuck down a few Reeses Peanut Butter cups when Randy wasn’t looking. The Rail Trail kept going so we did too. Down around a lake the trail fizzled out and we hit the road. As I-80 turned a corner we realized we were at the end. There was a sign for a Pony Express station and the “town” of Echo. We hadn’t had a real breakfast so we continued on. In Echo there was the Kozy Café, a cemetery and a temple. We stopped and ate.
Coming back up the hill was slow, but not more than pain in the rear. I really miss the Brooks Professional leather saddle on my Surly LHT. It is really a lot more comfortable. When I got to Coalville I thought Randy would be waiting for me. Nope. I kept going until I got to the bottom of the steeper part of the trail. He was there and proceeded to leave as I got off my (his) bike to take my rest. And he thought I was going to follow him right up the hill after he had a rest and I didn’t. Wrong. While there, or just as I started to leave I adjusted the seat to something a little more comfortable. As we started up the hill I kept telling myself that trains do not do steep climbs, and I was right. I stopped at a few places along the way to “take pictures”, not to rest of course. Slowly but surely I made it to the top. I made Randy stop at a gas station so I could get something cold to drink. The hydro-pack I was carrying tasted terrible. We then started back a slightly different way than how we had arrived at the trail head. At one point I stopped to ask directions but couldn’t catch up to Randy to tell him we missed our turn. He was way ahead of me as Igot to the road to our resort so I opted to take the lift up the hill. It was nice to ride rather than pedal, but there was Randy to take my picture as I glided overhead.
The total ride was just over 60 miles with a total climb of about 2,000 feet. I went to the Jacuzzi to recuperate and watch Johnny swim. We had our obligatory interview to buy into the time share, and after an hour were able to convince them and ourselves that we were not interested in buying.
On Thursday morning, as if Wednesday wasn’t brutal enough, we rode to and across I-80 to a real mountain trail. It turned out to be an intermediate trail. I am a beginner when it comes to mountain biking. I might have found the strength if I could have found the technique to keep the front wheel on the ground and pointing in the right direction as I tried to power up the rocky hills. I found myself walking much of the time and Randy was Johnny-on-the-spot with the camera to see that it was duly recorded. To add insult to injury a hiker kept catching up with me as I alternated between riding and walking. When we reached a point where the trail crossed a road, I took the road more traveled and zoomed down the hill leaving the trail for Randy. I rested on the picnic tables until he finished and we rode back to the resort together. This time the tram was closed and I had to ride all the way up to the resort.
Randy decided to head back to Payette so he could ride in the morning. We would meet him there the next day. In the afternoon we went out to the Outlet Mall and bought some sandals then had a leisurely dinner in our room after finding out that we were an hour early for the resort’s restaurant.
Friday morning we checked out of the resort and headed for Payette.
