Utah 2014: Carefree and Carless in Salt Lake City

I needed a break from watching the Olympics and so I headed up to Salt Lake City for the morning. Just after the "point of the mountain" I realized I was almost out of gas and pulled off in Draper. The inversion was creeping back into the valley and just then I decided to hop on the Trax train instead of filling up and driving in. Since I wasn't in my car I had no music in my ear and was forced to empty my mind and get lost in the scenery. Well, "scenery" might be a bit generous. There wasn't much to look at until I reached about 9th South in SLC.

Today, I felt like a tourist in a town I lived in for several years. After a bit of pre-birthday shopping at City Creek, I walked down Main to the Courthouse Trax stop. When I travel in Europe, I always remind myself to look up so I don't miss the detail and history above the doorways. Several old ornate buildings remain in downtown SLC and even a few new ones like the Boulangerie - Eva's Bakery. I stopped in for some gingerbread with cream frosting - to die for!

I couldn't come all the way to SLC and not stop in to Trader Joe's. Just a few stations on the Red Line and I was sampling some lentil, tomato and cucumber salad and buying Irish Sharp Cheddar. I only had a small back pack with me so I didn't get much and had to restrain myself as I walked past the flower section. Not sure why I never noticed the Olympic mural above the lettuce and kale before today...

 

 

After filling up my car, I made it back down to Orem with enough light left in the sky for a walk along the Provo River Trail. The snow and ice has almost melted and a few plump ducks braved the frigid water. Nice all around Utah winter day.