SLC Podunk

This weekend we went down to Salt Lake City to visit Brig's dad and to take in the urban scenery. Now I grew up in a town with a population of 700 and that amount hasn't changed much in the last 100 years. While I'm scared of chickens and cows I'm more scared of homeless men and dark alleys. Which brings me to my first SLC adventure of the weekend...riding Trax.

My mother in law, who is made of tougher stuff than I am needed a break from the hospital. So we walked across the street and tried to buy a ticket for the "choo-choo train" as Ava kept saying. She loves trains and I promised to take her on a train ride for her birthday back in November, but it never happened. Here was our big chance, right. After grappling with the ticket kiosk we were finally ready to board the next train.

Now I've ridden the bus a few times and know from experience that there's all sorts of different people that like to hop the bus and in this case Trax. Boy, I can see why investing in an ipod is well worth it while riding Trax. We had quite the talkative and very informative man sit across from us and he kept up a running converstation with us from Murray to Temple square. Here's what I found out: His line can be traced back directly to Joseph Smith. He rides Trax all day long. His mother has Cherokee blood and they once had a cousin by the name of Drinkwater show up at their door. He once rode Trax where a baby wouldn't stop crying for half an hour. He's also German/English/Irish/Scottish. Super. I nodded occasionally but mostly held on tight to my slumbering three year old and looked out the window at the passing urban decay. But my mother-in-law, ever the polite woman, smiled and nodded and even challenged him on some of his assumptions. Like I said, she's made of tougher stuff than I am.

We reached our destination: The Gateway. I never feel trendy enough to blend in with the city folk. Who wears high heels to go shopping? The fashionistas of SLC apparently. Can you imagine my surprise and then horror as I came face to face with the new hip trend...high tops?!? I'm sorry, it's not happening. I'm not doing it and nobody can make me. LA Gear 2.0 what are these people thinking? Kids these days.

That's about all that happened this weekend. I was sad driving back home and looking at the land lit up like a Christmas tree imagining myself living in some place like California where the cities blend into one other and you have everything at your fingertips but no open spaces to breathe. It could be a reality for us. My husband has been looking at jobs in Southern California. I'm not sure how to feel about it besides apprehensive. 47 years ago my dad and his family left California to move to Cache Valley because of the unrest in the community. It seems odd to me to be thinking of going back to a place my grandparents left so their family could have a better life. I'm open for adventure. Maybe not that kind of adventure.

Finally, my father-in-law is doing well. He's a little stir crazy but we're glad he's getting better.