This past weekend, Gene, Sidney, and I went to Salt Lake City (Elisabeth was at PAX). The main purpose of the trip was for Gene to get his scuba dive certification but we also turned it into a mini vacation. None of us had ever visited Salt Lake before so it was a new experience for all of us. We flew in Saturday morning and met up with one of Gene’s friends from high school for lunch and a short hike in Park City. Gene’s friend and his wife were friendly, great conversationalists, and interesting people. I’m sure we’ll see them again. After we said our goodbyes we went to Midway where Homestead Crater resides. The Crater is a neat thing – it’s a hole in the ground filled with naturally warm water. Surrounding the hole is a natural rock wall that raises up over the water. There’s a hole in the middle so you can look up at the sky while swimming. It’s basically a volcano but with water instead of lava. Sidney and I went swimming while Gene did his scuba thing. It was so relaxing and fun, worth the money.
Sunday morning started with Gene scuba diving again so Sidney and I went to breakfast and walked up Memorial Hill, a hill commemorating the men and women of the local county who served in the military. We then picked up Gene, who was now a certified scuba diver, and headed into Salt Lake City for the day.
Our first stop was The Leonardo, Salt Lake’s science museum. I have to say, I was highly impressed with the two museums we went to. The exhibits were well done and there were so many different ways for guests to interact with the exhibits that there was no time for boredom. We learned about all the amazing women throughout history, marvelled at art pieces inspired by Leonard DaVinci, gaped at miniature buildings made from Legos, and pretended we were pilots in an old military airplane. It was quite enjoyable but eventually we made it through the entire museum so we grabbed some lunch before heading to the Nature and Science museum. This museum was also amazing – their exhibits were very artfully done and most were well taken care of. Parts of their dinosaur exhibit were vastly superior to the exhibit in Denver, I’m going to have to submit a request for upgrades here. We explored the majority of the museum until my feet were sore and I needed a rest.
From the museum we went to a nearby park so we could relax and work ourselves up to dinner. It was a pleasant evening so we took our time, Gene worked on his hand stands while Sidney and I stretched out. We walked around the park eventually and then went to dinner at a Thai restaurant. When we came out of the restaurant we were pleasantly surprised to find a cat chilling on the step. Gene quickly found a bench to sit on and I snapped a picture before Sidney discovered there was a black widow spider a foot away from where the two of us were standing. I left the area after that! I’m very proud of the picture though, I think it’s one of my favorite pictures I’ve ever taken. Take a look!
Just Lauren 