Woke up with a sore throat, swollen glands and running nose, probably from the shock of getting up at 5:30 am. Was in the car by 6.
Quick ride except for the inevitable traffic on the Palmetto Expressway SR 826. Sigal dropped me off and went to work.
Can you spot the Morman Missionaries? There are seven. This flight was going to Denver, but you can spot the Mormon Missionaries on their way home after 2 years abroad. Nice looking, clean cut, well dressed, well behaved, friendly, smiling young men. Totally out of place in Miami.
Flew United. Got lucky with an economy plus seat, which has 5 inches extra leg room. The promise of extra leg room induced me to be daring and take a window seat to shoot pictures. On the low-priced Delta flights, there is so little leg room, being 6 feet 2 inches tall, I have to sit in the aisle if I do not want my knees in my eyeballs.
While boarding the plane, a woman asked me how long the flight was from Denver to New York. She had flown 6 hours to Miami from Rio De Janeiro and was flying stand by to New York. All the direct flights to NY were full and someone in the airline staff, unbelievably advised her to fly to Denver.
The dirty windows clouded the photos. Still, you can see two major canals draining the Everglades and disrupting the natural flow of water, a serious problem for this unique ecosystem. Notice the dry patches to the right, down stream of the big canal, which is preventing the flow of water.
Rick's packing list said to bring two pairs of shorts. Packed away the dark pair and was wearing my favorite, never worn, brand spanking new, Walmart long-legged, khaki hiking shorts, with the extra velcro-flapped pockets, in which I already secreted special hiking gear, like my lip balm. I had intended these shorts to be my primary hiking clothing, to be worn every day for the next 9 days. One hour into the flight, the 11 year-old girl next to me, spilt her orange juice all over my shorts. Wore them anyway.
The land is flat for a long ways into Denver. Behind, like a curtain for as far as the eye can see, runs the line of the mountains.
The name Utah comes from the Native American Ute tribe and means people of the mountains. Utah became the 45th state on January 4, 1896. The state capital is Salt Lake City.
The Utah population is about 2 million. Utah is the 11th largest state (84,900 square miles). Most of the land is owned by the federal government (65% ). Utah mountain peaks, on average, are the tallest in the country.
The National Park designation is rare, being the highest and most protective designation given by the Federal Parks system. Utah is the home of Arches National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Canyonlands National Park (our destination), Capitol Reef National Park and Zion National Park.
Extra tight security in army fatigues, residual from the Olympics, patrolled the airport. Balloons, signs, hugs, kisses and tearful family and friends welcomed home the Mormon young men.
Gathered up my heavy bags and called the hotel to send the shuttle. Who should arrive? Rick, with a rental car. Much appreciated. We dropped my stuff at the Comfort Suites and by 2:30 were off shopping.
Had a bite to eat at a local burrito place while we mapped out our shopping strategy: Walmart, REI, Costco and unload at the hotel. Rick drove. I navigated.
The big purchase in Walmart was the washable, sturdy plastic plates and bowls, orange and blue, of course, four for 88 cents. Nice mountains.
It was about this time that we started hearing from Luba. We had hoped to pick her up at the airport, but we were on the other side of town and on a mission.
REI, what a great store, so huge there is a giant rock climbing wall inside. Beautiful merchandise, with a lifetime, no questions asked, satisfaction guarentee. You can return anything at anytime. Prices are expensive though.
Bought a hard plastic, water proof case to hold the camera for $20. That was a great buy.
We continued to hear from Luba, who took the shuttle to the hotel and then a cab downtown until we could catch up with her.
If you imagined a person planning and purchasing the food for a group for a week, you might imagine that person making a list of each day, with each meal and the various food items. For example, you might expect something like: Monday breakfast - bagels, cream cheese, cereal, bananas, milk and so on, through each meal. Then you might imagine some calculating and estimating to arrive at a quantity for each item, with the result being a long and detailed list like: 2 pounds of butter, 6 dozen eggs, 3 gallons of milk and so on.
If you imagined so, you would be foolish and time wasteful.
--- Rick's Food Shopping List --- Meals ----- Pasta Meat Burritos Rattatouie Chili |
Rick's food shopping method is the height of simplicity. First there is the list of food needed for 21 people for 5 nights and 6 days. Here it is.
Next there is the budget: $2,000
Then there is the oral tradition: "Lox, eggs and onions for breakfast everyday. Luncheon meat for lunch."
Most importantly is the method: "If you see something you want to eat, grab it".
Surprisingly, the method works quite well. The bill at Costco was $820, an impressive load of groceries, yet we did save $1,200. Aside from running out of fresh fruits and vegetables, which probably could not be avoided, we had plenty to eat, and the food was pretty darn good. Getting it to the hotel was another matter.
Luba was still in our thoughts, still downtown, and still on the cell phone, but we had to get the food back to the hotel.
Loading the car was a big job. Literally there was not a space left except for Rick to sit, and the car had a large trunk. We stuffed little items in the cracks, put the crates of eggs on the ledge behind the back seat, and filled my lap to capacity. Unloading was a lot of back breaking work. We stored what we could in the electric room downstairs and put as many perishables as we could in the mini-fridges in our rooms.
We headed downtown to pick up Luba, who neither of us had met. Got there as the Delta Center emptied, home of the Utah Jazz (professional basketball team) who had just lost to Sacramento.
Rick had Luba on the phone.
The Delta Center was alongside of us, the mall to our right.
Rick told Luba, "Do you see the traffic light".
Luba told Rick, "She was carrying a shopping bag".
I leapt out of the car, dashed along the road,
whisked her up and away we went.
Next stop Dee's for a late, 10 pm, Shabbos dinner, washed down with delicious chocolate pie. Then we were off to Albertson's for produce, until the store closed at midnight and ended our shopping day by virtue of there being no place still open.
Back at the hotel, Rick, Tracy and I shared the trip headquarters suite, Rick having picked up Tracy at the airport very late. Still, not too late for a game of Boggle, which I hate to say, Rick won every round. We called it a night and so ended the first day of my trip. The time back in Florida was 5 am.