APRIL 26, 2014
PARK CITY, UTAH. It’s been cold and rainy for the last few days so we’ve pretty much stayed inside our rig. Today we even had some snow flurries…just enough to flock the pine tree branches and give us Southern Californians a thrill. Because cabin fever was setting in and also because we needed groceries, today we drove to Park City…about an hour away. A nice drive…the countryside here really is beautiful…very pastoral.
Look at all the ski runs on the mountain.
Main Street. Park City, Utah… at dusk.
There are lots of cattle grazing on the green hills. Well camouflaged deer are everywhere…you just have to look for them. The rain was pretty steady, but interrupted now and then by snow flurries. We shopped at Smith’s Market, a new one to me. It was big and pretty high-end: Boar’s Head products at the Deli, good-lookin’ marbled steaks in the butcher counter and produce pretty enough to photograph. I think with all the ski resorts and beautiful condos here, Park City hosts a pretty affluent crowd. Nice as it is, it wouldn’t work for me. Too cold. And snow skiing, well that happens high in the mountains…and you know about me and heights! No, I don’t think at the end of the line we’ll be living in Park City. It is beautiful, though, and for the right person it would be heaven.
As a State, though, we’re liking Utah a lot! As I mentioned before, the people are courteous and seem genuinely thoughtful. The young people, especially, stand out when compared to the kids in San Diego. Lots of “Yes, sir” and “Thank you, sir” from kids who wouldn’t give you the time of day back home. Well, enough of that. San Diego still is “America’s Finest City.”
“Continuous Flow Intersection.” Isn’t that the craziest thing you’ve ever seen?
VERY STRANGE TRAFFIC SIGNS HERE! One thing, though, about Utah I don’t like at all the bizarre traffic
I guess this means no hitch-hiking.
signs and signals! One of the strangest is called a “continuous flow intersection.” Here’s the official description: “A continuous flow intersection (CFI), also called a crossover displaced left-turn (XDL), is an alternative design for an at-grade road junction. Vehicles attempting to turn across traffic (turn left in right-hand drive jurisdictions) cross before they enter the intersection. No left turn signal in the intersection is then necessary. Instead, vehicles traveling in both directions can proceed, including through vehicles and those turning right or left, when a generic traffic signal or stop sign permits.” That description makes no more sense to me than the actual intersections on the road!
How about this: “Part of the delay at a typical, high-volume intersections is to accommodate left-turns; through-traffic must wait for the traffic turning left. The continuous flow intersection moves the left-turn conflict out of the intersection and synchronizes it with the signal cycle of the intersecting road.” Better? Understand it now? I didn’t think so.
It’s hard to describe: Driving down the road, wanting to turn left at the approaching cross street, traffic is diverted to sort of float from the right side of the road to the left, so the approaching lane is now on your right. Anyway, if you’re confused…that makes sense. All I know is that I get nervous every time I approach one of these traffic situations and I’m hoping they exist only in Utah!
This one threw us for a loop!
HENEFER, UTAH. Driving around this area is fascinating to me. The roads are different, the landscape is for sure different and the little rural
A little house in Henefer, Utah.
towns…well let’s just say there’s nothing like them anywhere near San Diego. These little “bergs” are so small it’s easy to almost miss them as you pass. I’m trying not to do that. I want to see them. I enjoy seeing the kids riding their bikes down the sidewalks. Everyone seems to know each other. Friends and neighbors “hang out” for chat and gossip at the post office, yet when I went inside to mail a letter in Henefer, Utah, I was greeted as if I’d lived in town forever. I kinda like it!
The Post Office is a gathering spot in Henefer, Utah.
In fact, I’m going to make it a point to photograph post offices in all the little towns we visit across the country. I’ll put the pictures in a gallery. I think it will be an interesting one. I think a lot can be learned about a town just by poking around its post office. We’ll see. I’m planning to do it often.
