South West Spring Break

Part one: Utah! on a trip to find some signs of spring

My first sighting of daffodils at Temple Square.

We left Alpine early on the last Saturday of March to catch the Mormon Temple Organ concert at noon in Salt Lake City. Daffodils were shivering in the cold wind around Temple Square, but they were in full bloom, as were the flowering cherry trees and redbud. Color!

The organ at the Mormon Tabernacle.

The 1860 Salt Lake Tabernacle organ was a sight to behold, and Bach’s Prelude in D Major soared from the first resonant notes. The half-hour concert included hymns and Puccini and ended with Widor’s Toccata from Symphony No. 5. This was a soundtrack to set our spring break trip on high alert.

Salt Lake City offered many interesting dining and shopping options, two life categories missing in Alpine. After walking around downtown and checking out the Temple Square area, we explored the Sugar House neighborhood, which has an eclectic mix of vintage homes and new shops. I was delighted that our Spring Hills Suites was next door to a Nordstrom Rack and a few short blocks from a Vietnamese bistro, Somi, where we enjoyed our first road dinner.

The Vietnamese Seafood Soup with shrimp, tofu, crab and pork meatballs was delicious, with all the fresh herb and veggie toppings.

Our destination on Sunday was a remote part of central Utah, in a town named Boulder, adjacent to the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. Hell’s Backbone Grill and Farm is a destination property that draws serious foodies for serious fare in a glorious natural environment. The food and drink were delicious, and the lodge was rustic but with a nod toward luxurious comfort and environmental appreciation. The on-site bird sanctuary was busy at dusk and dawn.

Hell's Backbone Grill Salty Negroni and a Margarita prior to enjoying a tasty grazing menu with She Deviled Eggs, Goat Cheese Fondue, Black Pepper Biscuits and Bison and Green Chile Meatballs. Not pictured were the Desert Rubbed Roasted Cauliflower and Wiinuuch Bean Charro which we ate before photographing. So good! The last dish with the flour tortillas was our breakfast served al fresco from a food truck in the yard the next morning. We split the Breakfast Jenchilada, an assemblage of torn toasted corn tortillas with chile sauce, jack cheese, and rice with beans and sage potato cakes. We were glad that we split it!

The next day we toured the Anasazi State Park Museum and drove along the Burr Trail to a slot canyon recommended by a fellow traveler we met at HBG who worked for the Nature Conservancy. We traversed the spine road, with steep drops on each side, and made our way over to Bryce Canyon, where we found crowds jostling along the rim and peering at the hoodoos and other amazing rock formations. Our destination that night was Bryce Pioneer Village in Tropic, Utah, a crossroads whose name was disproven the next morning when we awoke to a fresh four-inch snowfall. But dinner on the property was great, with a guitar-strumming musician playing for a happy crowd. It was a good stop.

Looking in to Bryce Canyon with remarkable rock hoodoos, columns of rock eroded over the millenia. Dinner at Showdowns restaurant featured delicious Campfire Trout with Smashed Potatoes and the standard veg medley.

On Tuesday we motored over to Zion National Park, caught in a steady stream of traffic that wound through a serious tunnel carved into the rock red mountain. We connected with Rose, Stephen, and the kids in Springdale, which is within the park boundaries and is an example of a tourist town with thoughtful transportation and excellent amenities. Our two-bedroom condo was well-equipped and brand new, a short walk across the street to the shuttle that provides access to the park. We played outside with the kids, who were delighted to be let out of their car seats and babysat while mommy and daddy had a date night.

A boulder outside the condo was the perfect playground in scenic Springdale.

All in all, we were impressed with Utah and the Utahans that we met. It is a natural environment like no other on earth, and the people we met on our travels were stalwart and proud stewards of the land.

We didn’t really escape the winter weather, though, so we pushed further south when we continued our travels. More on that soon!