We didn't have to leave too early for Salt Lake City since we only had about a six hour drive ahead of us. We slept in and ended up going to Starbucks on the way out. It wasn't too original, and I usually like to be more original on road trips, but this should have been quick and cheap. It wasn't too expensive, but the poor girl on the cash register really didn't know what she was doing. I think it may have been her first day and it was a busy day and they had run out of some of their popular items.
We drove out of Casper and through Wyoming. I think it may not have been as green as it was when we came through...or it was so much greener in South Dakota that it no longer looked green to me. We saw some pronghorn along the way. As we came closer to Rock Springs, I saw how pretty the surroundings were with the big steep red and rocky cliffs around and the town mostly nestled in the valley. We stopped at Taco Johns since we'd seen it so many times. We figured we would try out their food and I bought a walking taco (taco in a bag really is all that is). It was fine, nothing to special. We drove back through the mountains and dropped down into the valley. It is interesting to me how one side of the freeway was so dry, then the other side had way more trees. I also know Park City just a few miles higher up is even more green and more trees.
We arrived at the Hyatt House in downtown. It is in a great location and it looked very new. Our hotel room is more like a mini apartment with a little kitchenette, a living room space with a long curving couch, and separate bedroom. Great, since we were staying here all week. We headed back out and went to Dickie's BBQ. I always like BBQ and this didn't disappoint. We drove into downtown and then parked in front of a beautiful building and park. We saw it used to be the state capitol building until the early 1900's. There were two flower encircled fountains, one each side of the park in front of the building. We ran into another couple who had just come from Yellowstone, but lived in northern California. The woman could really talk. She told us all about their trip and her husband finally got her moving, otherwise we might still be there talking to her.
We continued up the street, but it was pretty quiet. As you walk across the streets, painted on the pavement is the word 'look' with the "o"s made into eyes. Cute. Chris pointed out the bright orange flags at the crosswalks that didn't have lights. People crossing them were supposed to pick up a flag and carry it to the other side so they were be highly visible. They are really into safety. A bunch of kids kept passing up on green bikes that must have been rentals you could get around the city.
We saw a grocery store and I wanted to go in to buy my lunches, especially since we had a little kitchenette. I wanted to get back to the car before it was dark, so we decided we'd go back and get it then drive up to the store. The walk was quick and as we drove back up we saw the new capitol building and thought it looked pretty so we continued up the hill. The homes and buildings were very cute on the way up. I noticed several of them looked like apartments or multi-family. I wonder if these are more rentals or offices for the congress members. This capitol building is a little more neoclassical, but I could tell the reason they probably moved it was because this sat up on the hill looking out over all of Salt Lake. The views were amazing.
We parked the car in the visitor information center across from the capitol building. We started to walk across when a man came up to us. He let us know he was homeless, but that it was very important for him to be clean. He lives in the canyon, not at the shelters, but three times a week he goes to take a shower. He thought it was great to be homeless, but he was asking us for money. I had left my purse at the hotel, and Chris left his wallet in the car, so we had nothing to give him, he was kind, shook our hands and moved on.
Across the street, the capitol had turned on the outdoor lighting and the sun was setting. I could see it was a gorgeous sunset, but we weren't high enough to see it lower in the valley to the west. We tried to hurry, but then a couple stopped me and asked me to take a picture of them. I agreed, but by the time I reached higher ground the sunset was almost gone. There was a big patio that overlooked the valley to the west and had these beautiful old fashioned lamps glowing around the edges. You could see the lights and buildings of downtown to the south, hills to the north, and mountains to the east. It really is built is such a beautiful location. After snapping some more pictures, we left for Harmon's, the large grocery store just down the hill in downtown.
Harmon's was huge and looked very upscale, and there was a lot of artisan types of foods. Chris went up to the second floor where there was a sitting area and coffee and the restrooms. He took a picture and showed me how it shined from up above. I found some butternut squash soup and crusty French bread for my lunches, some red delicious apples as a snack, and a delicious little round Mexican chocolate bar, cinnamon flavored.
Returning to the hotel, we went by the pretty lit up City Creek shopping center and the super fancy Mormon Temple. It really is lovely at night in the downtown area and so close to the hotel, so it will be easy to walk around the rest of the week. 
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