We made it to Ogden, UT in the dark and rain and stayed the night in a familiar pet-friendy Comfort Inn and I wondered why the guy holding the cocktail in the lobby had purple and green blotches in his hair ...but then I remembered: It's Mardi Gras! We were too pooped to party and I was too bleary-eyed to do my "Day 2" post last night so "sorry, Grandma, for making you wait all day to catch up with our blog." And "welcome and thank you" by the way, to all the new members to our blog! We hope you are having as much fun viewing as we are posing Mat for photos in front of cool roadside scenery!
Pushing southward on I-84 brought us through Salt lake City, but we decided to forego any stops in that busy place and Mat didn't seem too interested in Mormon temples anyway. And in case anyone is interested, we saw NO campaign signs for Mitt Romney anywhere in SLC. Strange? We remembered how awesome the Wind Turbines at Spanish Fork, UT looked from the highway. There was an opportunity to get pretty close to them and park the van thanks to the helpful hint from the nice couple that run the Spanish Fork Texaco (who also informed us that the turbines are made in their native India).
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| Mat basks in the awesomeness of the Spanish Fork Wind Project (turbines). Spanish Fork, UT |
The video doesn't quite do the sound of the wind turbines any justice, but you can just imagine the sound of a jet flying high overhead. We have seen plenty wind farms during our trek so far, but none as impressive as these, right next to the snowy foothills (and none that we could get so close to). We'll probably see many many more across the country. It's the future of electricity production and boy, is Mat impressed!
Traveling up and over the snowy Soldier's Pass and many miles through the vastness of Utah and into the red rocks of Moab (where Aron Ralston was hiking and ran into some "rocky" trouble in 127 Hours) we stopped for a tasty lunch at the Moab Diner, the "home of the best green chile in town." It's just too slick and diner-y not to take a photo or two:
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| Moab Diner, home of the best green chile in town. Moab, UT |
We left our late lunch just in time to make it to our #1 favorite roadside attraction in all of Utah: the famous Hole in the Rock. The Hole in the Rock is actually a blasted-out 5,000 sq ft cave home that was once the dwelling and restaurant of Albert and Gladys Christensen. It now operates as a memorial to the founders and it's a tourist must-stop with a $5.00 tour of the home (with its original furnishings) as well as an Exotic Zoo and outdoor art and nostalgia highway kitsch collection to drool over!
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| "Hole in the Rock," the home carved from stone that you can tour! Moab, UT |
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| Mat in front of the Trading Post at The Hole in the Rock. Moab, UT |
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| Mat checks out some cool old gas pumps and a wall of license plates at Hole in the Rock |
The gracious owners, Erik and Wyndee Hansen, were darling enough to let us stay a few minutes after closing to finish our photo shoot (we learned that they close an hour earlier in the winter and we'd made it there just in the knick of time). Mat was delighted to meet Erik and pose for a picture with him. We think that the Art*o*mat® program may have a new fan (and, Erik, if you are reading this, we REALLY hope you decide to add a machine to your menagerie -there is yet to be a host in Utah!)
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| Mat meets Hole in the Rock owner, Erik Hansen, in front of the cool dog bone jeep sculpture. Moab, UT |
Hole in the Rock owner and artist, Erik Hansen, hopes to join the ranks of Guinness World Records with his latest creation in progress: a giant Saguaro cactus made of over 1,000 bowling balls. That's a lot of balls, Erik! And re-bar too. He hopes to be finished well before summer and we wish him the best of luck in his "largest tree sculpture" Guinness category. We'll check up on his progress the next time we roll though town.
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| Erik Hansen's sculpture-in-process: Bowling Ball Saguaro cactus tree. Moab, UT |
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