Today is Ute’s day. We are very much staying in a University of Utah Ute’s household and they will be taking on Oregon in Salt Lake City. Ben and Deanna drove up from Las Vegas overnight and would be going to the game as there are only 2 tickets, which meant a “home” game for us in the home theatre.

 

It was a tight game but Oregon were the better team on the day. Utah got a lucky break late in the game to get a “touchback”. A touchdown with 2 seconds to spare by Oregon sealed the game for Utahs demise. Cindy was not a happy camper.

 

We flicked back and forward to the Texas Longhorn / Kansas game which was also a close game. And once again the team we were barracking for lost at the last minute. Maybe the Longhorns will will next week when we see them live in Austin next week.

 

For a farewell to Utah dinner we headed out to Texas Steakhouse for a steak of all things. The place was packed with a huge line of patrons wanting to get in, luckily we had booked earlier so we only had a 5 minute wait. The meal was great and a fitting thank you to Allen, Cindy, Ben and Deanna for being great hosts for the week. 

Tomorrow we head to Texas to catch up with the kids for 10 days.

It was time to visit a fire station (after all it has been a couple weeks already) and Allen had a buddy who was Captain at Unified Fire Authority Station 120. UFA had 28 stations but only had a global manning of 111 (compared to our 20 and 130). The difference was due to UFA manning their engines with 3 crew. Neil only had a month left before retirement and had his retirement motor home outside to do some work on.

 

They had 3 appliances at this station which included an engine, tanker and brush truck with only 3 crew members so all three appliances were cross manned depending on the callout. They station was set up for 10 crew but with the building of two new stations saw the other 7 crew moved out.

 

We bid farewell to Station 120 and headed off to do some people watching and shopping at Walmart. It must have been too cold as we didn’t spot anyone interesting. Sams Club next door had a restaurant if you call it one and we had the hot dog combo which was a Nathan’s hot dog and a large drink for $1.50. 

 

Between Jenny and myself, we have bought enough stuff to break out the 4th bag. Looks like we may have to buy an extra baggage allowance from Austin as we will be taking an extra bag home from Rachael.

 

This afternoon we were going to check out the ski resorts in the eastern mountains – the Wasatch’s. This is where the 2002 Winter Olympics was held and Snowbird was where Allen was stationed for 10 years.

 

Even with the snow that fell on Wednesday, there wasn’t really enough to ski but there were a few diehards on the lower slopes where they were making snow. Most of the slopes looked reasonably steep and would be classed as black runs in Australia.

 

Allen pointed out a couple of vaults that are built into the mountains. One is for the LDS for the storage of important documents and the other is a private vault with unknown contents. Allen said that when they went for a fire department inspection, they were turned away by security.

 

On the way home, we spotted another herd of deer. We are starting to see more deer as they are moving out of the mountains due to the snow.

It was good to wake up to snow covering everything. Even our hosts were happy to finally see some snow as it so long overdue. It looked like the snow was going to hang around for a while as it was still around zero.

 

Our divinity quotient was going to get an increase today with a visit into downtown Salt Lake City. You have to realise that the Mormons have a huge impact on life in SLC with almost as many temples as there are Starbucks. Both Cindy and Allen had a Mormon influence growing up but they are a long way from being Mormon now – is that lightning striking.

 

We took the Trax in from Draper to downtown which is SLC’s rapid transit set up when the Winter Olympics were held here in 2002. It was lunch time when we made downtown so we went in for a burger at Johnny Rockets (a typical 1950’s burger joint). It wasn’t a bad burger and shake.

 

It was time to take the cool aid as we wandered along South Temple Street where the LDS Temple, Tabernacle, Archive, Museum and Visitor Centres are located. It was soon obvious that the sisters had drunk the coolaid but we had Cindy and Allen to deflect for us. It became apparent that it was safer to stay in our small herd and not stray. It was interesting but I was waning once we hit the second visitor centre.

 

It was still cool as we left the city, returning to Draper on the Trax. There was still plenty of snow when we got home but we were not hanging around as Thursday night is wings night.

 

Buffalo Wild Wings is a sports bar that Allen and Cindy have been going to every Thursday since it opened 4 years ago. The wings were good but the beer was lightweight but that is because only low strength alcohol is allowed in Utah due to the Mormon influence.

The plan today was to head up into the mountains on the western side of SLC – the Oquirrks. Allen had rung the DOT to confirm the road up through Butterfield Canyon was open and of course when we got there, large concrete barriers confirmed the road was closed contrary to the DOT information. It was probably closed later in the afternoon yesterday due to the expected snowfall later in the day.

 

Plan B was to head south and around the mountains. Along the way we spotted a Golden Eagle on a fence post and grabbed some in flight photos.

 

First stop was Fairfield which was the site of Camp Floyd – a government army fort when there was some conflict between the Mormons and the Government in the 1800’s. I managed to grab my first Utah geocache finds here.

We continued around the mountains taking the various canyon roads to see how far we could get up to the various old mine sites.

 

One of the more interesting roads took us into the town of Ophir which was old gold and silver mines but is now some expensive homes as well as weekenders. They have embraced their heritage and have put together a old historic mining town. We even spotted herd of deer wandering through.

 

The trip took us through Stockton, Tooele and Magna before getting back home to Draper.

 

It was starting to cool down and the clouds were rolling in. It looked like it was finally going to snow, even if it was a month late. As it had been so warm ove the last few weeks, any snow was not expected to accumulate but the snow kept coming down. We were using the BBQ as a grill-o-meter and the snow was stacking up. After the storm headed into Colorado, it had left 4 inches of snow.

As with previous stops we arrived in Salt Lake City 15 minutes early and were wondering if Allen and Cindy would be there to meet us and it wasn’t long before we saw them waiting in the station.

 

After picking up the baggage we were soon down at Allen & Cindy’s house in Draper. A quick chat and it was some time for sleep.

 

We awoke later in the morning. Allen had gone to work as a substitute teacher at a local high school so Cindy became our tour guide for the day.

 

The weather was very unseasonable. Normally we would be trudging through at least a foot of snow at this time of the year but today it was jeans and a t-shirt and no snow on the ground.

 

We headed up the hill to take in some views of the expensive homes, the local LDS Temple and the Salt Lake City valley below. Over the pass and down to the Highland area before making it back around to Draper again.

 

Allen made it home after his day at school unscathed and we headed out for some Mexican at the local Cafe Rio Mexican Grill. It was some good Mexican that was made fresh in front of you and luckily we got there before the rush.

 

Back home and we chatted to well after Allen and Cindy’s normal bed time.

Our last morning in Benicia but not for long. We had chosen to do something a little different and take a train rather than fly so that we could get a look of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and relax as we went. Today was the trip on the Amtrak California Zephyr through the Sierra Nevada Mountains to Salt Lake City in Utah.

 

The view from Joanna’s house was very average with fog all over. A quick farewell to Jiana as she headed to school and we were soon on the way to the Amtrak Station at Martinez. We didn’t do too bad with the baggage with only one bag overweight so a quick move of a bathroom bag and all were good to go. It was now a 50 minute wait for the train to arrive.

 

As the trip was only 16 hours, we opted for a sit-up rather than sleeper. The train arrived on time and loading was very quick with a reasonably empty train so there was a huge choice of seats. The seats were very comfortable with plenty of room between our seats and the seats in front as well as large windows to look out.

 

It was very smooth travelling with speeds up to 130 kph but it soon slowed to 50 kph as we headed into the mountains.

The views through the mountains were spectacular but it was disappointing to see a lack of snow (who says global warming is not a thing).

 

Even with the slow speed through the mountains, we kept getting into each station ahead of time but they still left on time. 

 

Not long out of Reno Nevada the sun set and the supermoon came up. It became apparent that I was not going to get a photo of the supermoon because of the train moving even though there wasn’t much movement felt.

We managed to get a few hours sleep but awoke at 2:15 am not far out of Salt Lake City.

This afternoon was chowder time with a lot of friends / acquaintances we have met over the years visits coming over to meet up again.

 

The morning was spent preparing the house and the chowder with the first guests arriving around 2 pm and then never seeming to stop.

 

It was good to catch up with all and even got in some football game viewing – learnt a few more rules.

 

The last task for the day was to pack our backs and try and get them to be close to 50 lbs each without going over. At this time we only have 3 bags but this will increase for sure.

Another glorious day in Northern California, with temperatures in the 70’s and clear skies. Today was time to be a tourist in San Francisco. Joanna dropped us off at Vallejo Ferry Terminal for the 1 hour ride to the city. the ferry is pretty good with power for charging as well as free WiFi. The water was like glass and you could have bare foot skied behind the ferry. The ferry first stopped at the main ferry terminal but we continued to Pier 41 in the main tourist area.

 

Jenny was keen to get some chowder and soon we were getting into a couple of sourdough bread bowls of clam chowder. we found some tables in the middle of a flock of pigeons and gulls (including bird poo on the tables) but they were well behaved. I think they knew food was coming to them. Like many others it was a struggle to get through the chowder and the bread bowl. So the birds got their feed.

 

Next door was Musée Mécanique which was an amusement arcade with a difference. Most of the machines dated back to the early 1900’s.

 

With no fog on the bay we walked along the beach towards Presidio to get a good view and photo of the Golden Gate Bridge. It was amazing at the number of cyclists and joggers along the path.

 

After a decent walk it was time to indulge on one of the local delicacies – Ghirardelli chocolate. I chose a caramel fudge and Jenny had a raspberry sorbet. It took a bit to go through.

 

It was time to head home via the BART but we used another of the local attractions to get there – the Hyde & Powell Streets Cable Car. It wasn’t too much of a wait before we were on with Jenny on a seat and me hanging off the side. The ride took us past Lombard Street (that’s the windy street) with a huge queue of cars waiting to drive down it.

We were about to turn into Powell Street when the cable car stopped and were told the cable was out and this was the end of the journey.

 

There were two choices – wait for a shuttle or walk the 10 blocks on some steep roads to the BART station. We decided to walk.

 

With a 45 minute trip back to Martinez, it didn’t take long before we were both taking nanna naps. We did wake up just before our station.

 

Joanna picked us up and it was a quick trip back to Benicia to see Jiana receive her soccer trophy –  her team one the championship this season and apparently there are some good players on the team.

 

The day wasn’t finished yet as we were headed out to 1st Street Cafe for a meal and some live music from the Tuneriders. our favourite crab man, Paul was there and was good to catch up. He has promised crabs on our return to Benicia on December 8th.

This morning was a hang around the house day as we were heading out tonight for some Ice Hockey.

 

jiana was keen to do some geocaching so we loaded her phone up with the Geocaching app and started out on a walk around Benicia. It was a pleasant walk along Main Street and the waterfront area, meeting up with some of Jianas friends and one of her previous teachers. After an hour we called into a random house for water and chocolate. It wasn’t actually a random house. We had met Sharon first in 1992 and had caught up on our visits over the years.

 

After making 9 geocache finds and walking 6 kms around Benicia, we made it back to the house and a quick rest before heading off to Stockton for tonights entertainment.

 

The local NHL team was playing away tonight so we were to watch the minor league AHL team Stockton Heat play San Antonio Rampage. This was a couple of firsts – first time to Stockton and first ice hockey game.

 

The plan was to stop for Mexican near the Stockton Arena then head to the game. We dined at Nena’s Mexican which was a great meal with great atmosphere full of hockey fans as well as a Mexican band.

 

Tickets were dirt cheap at $22 each and there were no issues with crowds. We got parking by the front door and there were probably only 2000 fans in the crowd.

 

Even it was the minor league, the skills were amazing and we got a lot of boarding and a few fights as well.

The better team was San Antonio and they ended up winning 3-1

 

Joanna decided that the freeway option was better than the back road option we took to get there and we were back home around 11:30

Our last morning at Newcastle and once again woken up by a cooked breakfast. 

 

We farewelled Lyn as she had to head back to work today and Dave offered me his motorbike to head out for a ride. The weather was perfect for a ride and I haven’t been on the road for about 20 years and I would be riding on the wrong side of the road – what could possibly go wrong!

 

It felt good to be back on the bike and Dave’s bike was a good one – BWW 1200. Maybe it is time to get my Honda 900 back on the road.

 

We bid Dave farewell and headed back to Benicia stopping at the Rocklin Bass Pro Shop and the In-n-Out Burger for lunch.

 

One more stop was the Jelly Belly factory at Fairfield. We took the factory tour and sampled most of the different flavours  and spent way too much. Not sure how we are going to go with weight limits on the way home.

 

Back to Joanna’s house on the water for another great home cooked meal – I could get used to this ?