Adventures in Tooele

A few weeks ago my boss Dave came into my office to tell me that we were going to Tooele for a survey. Most people would be upset upon hearing this news. I was not... and here's why...

(1) I needed to get out of the office and start hiking again.
(2) I use to live in SLC and I knew I would be able to see some of my old friends again.
(3) I knew Malorie was living in SLC with her husband and she would likely be coming out on survey with us. Roommate!
(4) Park City is close by.
(5) Six awesome people from the Tucson office were coming up to help with the projects (5 of them I haven't seen since the UNEV excavation last summer).
(6) The Haunted Kirk Hotel!!

Little did I know that we would be hiking between 13 and 17 miles a day...

For reals!

I'm not gonna lie, the work days were long and hard. It snowed, rained, hailed, and was sunny all within 30 minutes... multiple times. The terrain consisted of large drainages, 45 degree slopes, snow, sand dunes, rocks, and forest so thick you had to sometimes hike 60 meters just to find a way through the trees.

But did I complain?

Yep!

But not too much.

The nights and weekends are what I really looked forward to.

Sushi Night:
I got a call from my old roommate inviting me to come over and make sushi with her and some friends.

We went to the store, bought all kinds of veggies and meat, prepared the food, and then waited... and waited... and waited...

Apparently rice takes a REALLY long time to make.

We were all starving so Lisa made us some appetizers: toaster strudel and mozzarella sticks!

[Austin, Lisa]

[Lisa]

Finally the rice was ready! Apparently you have to fan it as you add other ingredients to make it more sticky... who knew?

[Brooke, Me, Austin, Lisa]

Now we were ready... first you prepare the roll,

then you roll the roll,

then sharpen the knives,

and Voila! Awesomeness!


Homemade sushi is the way to go! So much cheaper and a ton of fun!

Park City:
What would a trip up north be without a little Park City action?

This was a great opportunity to try out my new camera.


Bonneville Salt Flats:

I've seen them. A million times. But, being the awesome tour guide that I am, I decided to take my coworkers out to the Bonneville Salt Flats.

If you haven't seen them they are worth seeing... once.

The summer is by far the best time to go out onto the salt flats. On a clear day you can actually see the curvature of the earth!

Kirk Hotel:

The best part about the trip was staying at the haunted Kirk Hotel. Dave and I found this hotel the last time we were up in Tooele and we decided, then and there, that we would stay here again if we ever made it back to Tooele.

The hotel was built before the Great Depression and it is still up and running.

The out side is old and creepy but the inside is pretty rockin! There is a community kitchen and living rooms and most of the bedrooms have recently been redone.

The hotel is still heated by an old coal oven, a ghost dog roams the halls, and my bedroom lights turn on and off by themselves... but I'm not complaining! This hotel rocks!