SLC.......

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6:46 am - Wednesday - October 18th - South Jordan, UT - 37º F, humidity 60%, wind 3 mph out of the south by southeast......forecast high for South Jordan, UT today is 71º F with clear blue skies.....suweet!

Our Jello goal for departing Downata Hot Springs was 10 am.....we rolled out the gate about 10:15 am.....not bad!  We were on I-15 southbound within 10 minutes, then it was just a matter of setting the cruise control, then hang on to the steering wheel and enjoy the view........and what a nice view it was.

Our total driving distance at the beginning of our day was around 144 miles which would take us into the urban bowels of Salt Lake City traffic.  To be fair, traffic in downtown SLC does not even come close to the quagmire of traffic congestion that SoCal is, but when you spend 95% of your life living in rural America where there is often not even a traffic signal, and perhaps maybe only 1, or 2 stop signs, venturing into any area with any kind of traffic is disconcerting at best.

As we drifted ever southward at 60 mph the amount of traffic slowly increased, and as we entered the Ogden, UT corridor on I-15 additional new southbound lanes began to appear until we hit 6 lanes in downtown SLC.  Suddenly you go from seeing one vehicle in your side view mirrors a mile, or so back to being surrounded by dozens of vehicles all changing lanes back and forth in front of you.  The collar on your shirt seems to be shrinking, your left foot begins to tap out a nervous staccato rhythm, and you feel your right eye beginning to twitch.....yup...welcome back to urban life Clarke!  As we continue to ooze into the ever increasing congestion I begin looking for every opportunity to keep moving my 38,000 pounds and 62 feet of metal to each new lane which keeps appearing to my right.....every time I think I'm as far right as I can be another new lane is added.  I know from past experience that at the point where we exit the Interstate for my brother's home it is 7, or 8 lanes wide, which includes the two 'EXIT ONLY' lanes.  My right blinker is on, but the vehicles to my right are not yielding.....I've got less than 1/2 mile before I pass the exit.....I finally slow down to let traffic pass me, and squeeze in front of an oncoming semi just in time to make the exit....whew!

I breath a brief sigh of relief....the palms of my hands are sweaty, and that deodorant I applied just a couple of hours before has given up the ghost.  Within a mile we have pulled to the side of the road to unload the VW before we enter the very narrow streets of my brother's neighborhood.  He lives on a culdesac and it is impossible for me to make the u-turn in the culdesac required to park in front of his home, so I must turn right away from his home and then back up about 100 yards into his culdesac, and then position the coach and trailer in front of his home in such as a way as not to block local neighborhood traffic.  We've done this maneuver about 7, or 8 times over the years, but it never gets easier.  Sometimes we get it first try, and sometimes it takes several tries before we are positioned correctly.

Of course, this time we have a tool we didn't have the other half dozen+ times we have come here.....we have the 'Trailer Valet'.  The hardest part about parking in front of my brother's home is getting the trailer bent around the corner and out of the middle of the street.  This time, once we got the trailer close to where we wanted it, we dropped the trailer, pulled the Newell forward a little, then maneuvered the trailer into its parking spot.....so much easier!  Then we adjusted the position of the Newell, and we were done.....by this time it was closing in on 3 pm.  I got busy running about 70' of 50 amp extension cords into my brother's garage where we plug into a 20 amp receptacle....this means we won't be rocking 4 electric heaters for a couple of days.....maybe one at a time.  Fortunately the overnight lows will be in the 40's the next two days so our water bay is safe from freezing.  Once that was done I was ready for a nap, and that is exactly what I did.

My brother, Dwyer, was home from work around 5 pm, at which time we went inside to spend the evening with he and his wife, Lori. It happened to be 'Taco Tuesday', replete with Margaritas.  We had a wonderful evening laughing, and talking......hard to believe it has been four years since we were last here!

Thanks for stopping by!

P.S. - It has been a while since I asked those of my readers who are not yet 'FOLLOWERS' of my blog to take the time to do just that.  Just to the right of today's missive you will see the word 'FOLLOWERS'.....just below the pictures of my followers is the BLUE  'FOLLOW' button.  Just click that button and become a follower.  Let's see if we can get to 160 today!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission.