Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Random Travel Update 18

Last Location: Breckenridge, CO
Arrival Date: February 09, 2008
Departure Date: February 10, 2008

Current location: Salt Lake City, Utah
Arrival Date: February 10, 2008
Departure Date: February 14, 2008

Next stop: Tucson, Arizona

After four days, 22-hundred miles and nine state crossings, we arrived in what Jon calls the Promised Land: Salt Lake City, Utah. No lie, it felt good to drop into the Utah Valley after days of driving in Jon's two-door Volkswagen hatchback packed to the brim with barely enough room for me to squeeze into the passenger's seat, provided that I carry several items on my lap and several more under my feet. By the time we crossed the Utah-Colorado border, my legs hurt more than when we walked 32 miles from Whites Ferry, Maryland to Harper's Ferry, West Virginia.

Salt Lake City is as beautiful as ever. The sun has been shining and the weather's been great. My room here is cozy and for the first time in six months I have a set of drawers and a closet to keep my stuff tidy. Jon's family has a heard of deer who frequent their neighborhood and snack on the landscaping. It is quite idyllic really.

Today we busied ourselves printing resumes and looking for jobs. We will go out tomorrow morning to apply in person to several prospective employers. In DC, 90% of the hiring process is done online or over the phone. Here, 90% is done in person.

On Thursday, we will fly to Phoenix and eat a Valentine's Day dinner with my parents, who have kindly offered to pick Jon and me up at the airport. Then down to Tucson to load up the Xterra with my skis, snowboard and winter clothing. I plan on staying in Tucson for a few days, but we have to be back in SLC by the 20th for an interview and Jon wants to take a slight detour to visit some friends and ski in Colorado. We want to test his theory that Utah has better mountains and better snow. This has been an ongoing debate between us for several months. As it turns out, he's only skied Colorado once.

If you are or will be in Tucson over the weekend, email me and we will try to meet up. For those of you in Phoenix and Flagstaff: email and we will try to swing by on our way north.

Love,

Melissa

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