Out & About in SLC

We paid up for another week here at the SLC KOA. Still have a lot of ground to cover! We haven't even made any road trips to check out Park City or Sundance yet. The weather the past couple of days has been less then desirable for biking or hiking, we need to get that in as well.

Since we have been out of "cilization" for past few weeks, we've had a lot to catch up on, its been a busy week! Laura posted earlier in the week on her job interview this past Monday. On Tuesday, the Suzuki went to the dealer for brake pads. Karen was nice enough to call in sick and shuttle us around for the day. She showed us the communities we should consider living in, drove us up to Solitude (they were still measuring snow in feet up there, but the skiing was closed for the season). We explored the canyons and had lunch.

Wednesday, we headed out to do some exploring on our own; We went grocery shopping, checked out the state owned wine store, got haircuts and explored the real estate market. The cost of living here in Salt Lake is really reasonable, especially for the west. Most of houses we see advertised have 4 to 6 bedrooms, aaahhhh, the Mormon influence! Square footage here always includes the basement, something we're not used to.

Thursday was Snuggles big adventure, and meeting some new friends (see the previous post). Kari and Greg are our age, bike, hike and ski, like wine and have birds, our kind of people. Later, that afternoon, a repair guy came out to look at our washer/dryer unit that has been out for a month. We called Splendide customer service a few weeks ago, based on our description, they thought it might be the main control board, not good. Sure enough, the tech confirmed this. New control board $300.00, ouch, that is definitely NOT in the budget. We'll be cutting back on a few categories this month to make sure we stay within our monthly parameters!

Today, Friday, the weather is improving, we may take a road trip to check out Park City and get a road ride in. This evening, we are going over to Karen and Richs house for a little BBQ. The weekend is supposed to be beautiful, weather wise. I'm sure we'll fill it with a bunch of outdoor activities!

There have been some questions about the LDS (Mormon) factor here in Salt Lake. Since we don't have kids, we won't be involved in the school system. We don't really get involved in community, political or religious matters. We are outdoor and activity focused, plain and simple. Our friends here(all outdoor orientated), are in a similar situation(no kids, similar beliefs) to us. They have confirmed our thoughts on this; LDS isn't really a factor in their lives. Live and let live seems to be the motto. The benefits, that we have noticed so far, a wonderfully clean city, friendly people with well behaved kids and VERY friendly and service orientated businesses.

It's funny, one of the first things people mention about SLC, or Utah are the wacky alcohol rules. Yeah, there are some confusing and inconsistent rules(you have to buy food to drink, you can only order hard liquor at the bar, members only bars and restaurants), but is it REALLY a determining factor in how or where you live your life(I guess it might be for some people)? We have yet to be in a place where we were NOT be able to get a drink in a restaurant. You do have to buy your hard liquor and wine at the 'state' liquor store, a minor inconvenience. Wine and beer prices seem generally higher then other states we have visited. My take on this, the overall cost of living is lower here then Michigan, California or Arizona; So in the end, I think it all evens out ;)

-Rich-