On the way out of Denver we stopped by 'The Tattered Cover Bookstore', a cool independent bookstore, where we treated ourselves to some NPR audio CDs for the journey. We should have perhaps recognised the discounted CD on animal stories as someone else's trash as opposed to the bargain we mistook it for though!
We then visited a huge outlet mall and came away with a measly black jumper for James. Good for our wallets, though traipsing through the soulless shopping centre was perhaps not the best use of our time here! Whilst it was absolutely massive, in the end it didn't feel like anything we hadn't already seen.
Driving through the Rocky Mountains was rather weird, in that the landscape actually seemed rather flat. The red rocks that continue all the way down to Arizona began to make an appearance though and it was a welcome change from the never ending cornfields of the great plains.
We stopped for the night in Rock Springs, a town that seems the have sprung up as a consequence of the trucker trade and as such boasted little more than a range of fast-food restaurants and manky motels. We opted for the Motel 6 as it was really cheap and were as such greeted by the smell of cat litter and, let's face it, poo as we entered the room. We summoned up the courage to make a complaint at reception and were very English about it, that is to say we ended up apologising for our fussiness in requesting a room that smelt of something other than faeces! We were given a free upgrade to a room with a broken lock, broken TV and hole in the wall and felt justified in congratulating ourselves for being uncharacteristically demanding.
SALT LAKE CITY
We were welcomed at our hostel, 'The Avenues', by a Native American with beautifully painted red toenails called Larry. We were quick to head towards Temple Square, curious to see the foundations of the Mormon epicentre. On the way, the wide boulevards were remarkable in their size (apparently you can do a U-turn with a herd of oxen) but also their emptiness (it was a Sunday). Most shocking of all though was perhaps the cleanliness, which was particularly noteworthy in comparison with Denver, as there were no homeless people to be seen (it later transpired that they were all staying in our hostel instead!).
On arriving at Temple square, we entered the "visitors centre," which turned out to be more of a conversion centre for The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints. We politely ignored the videos of adorable little girls with lisps telling us what Jesus means to them and the Sisters of varying colours (their national flag badges showed us how multicultural this religion is) trying to tempt us into conversation. The Mormon temple itself, with its backdrop of the Rockies, could have been beautiful if it hadn't resembled the Walt Disney castle.
That night we went to Lucky 13, a biker bar which apparently makes the best burgers in the world. James had the "Fungus Amongus" and Vicki opted for "The Celestial" - both were very nice. We then hurried back to sit amongst the vagrants and catch the season premiere of the second best show on TV, "Breaking Bad," which was interrupted by a police raid as they tried to evict PJ and Steve from the hostel. Fortunately they left with very little fuss so we could resume watching the show.
The next day we visited the public library, which boasted some impressive architecture and a 360 degree view of the Rocky Mountains. The Leo was an interesting science museum that had some fun "hands-on" exhibits and an "audio/video experience" documenting the 101 inventions that changed the world, where American inventors somehow featured rather heavily. Both of us were confused by the inclusion of Lego and air conditioning.
Foods tried:
Pretzel Dog - Not as good as a pretzel burger.
Taco Bell - Best fast food so far.
Birthday cake Oreos - Too sweet, ruined Oreos.
Mountain Dew - Quite refreshing, very sugary.
Mike and Ike - Cheap Jelly Belly.
Yoghurt covered pretzels - Yoghurt is actually white chocolate. Odd for a "healthy snack" but tasty nonetheless.
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