Utah-The One That Got Away (#29)

I have had the pleasure of visiting Utah a half a dozen times or more. In fact Utah is admittedly one of my favorite places to visit with all its National Parks, wild landscapes and blue, blue skies. This last time though, I was visiting the Capital to make it permanent.

Shortly after grad school I found myself in Salt Lake City, one of three final candidates for a SHPO position. The reviewer position was based in downtown Salt Lake City and located in the old and beautifully refurbished Rio Grande train station. The state arranged for me to have two nights and three full days for the interview process and to check out possible housing if indeed I became the preferred candidate.

Before I left Michigan I contacted one of our grad school alums in Salt Lake and asked about living there and areas I might want to live in with my family. I arrived early one morning, grabbed my rental car and headed to "catch" my interview at the train station. My interview was held in a board room with approximately ten people in attendance. By midafternoon it was over and I was on my way to the hotel. Tomorrow would be my day to explore the city and possible neighborhoods to transplant my family.

Late the next morning I headed over to Memorial
Hall- Home of the Utah Heritage Foundation to meet one of our fellow EMU alums. It was April and the city was blanketed in a thick lush carpet of glorious bloom. Kirk and I had lunch at Red Rock Brewing Company; the only one in Salt Lake City, where we had a tasty lunch and pint. Kirk had some wonderful insight to the city and after our lunch we parted company so I could explore the city.

I drove north of the city center checking out potential neighborhoods stopping at the State Capital for some wonderful views of the city below. Then it was back to city center to check out a few more potential neighborhoods before exploring the downtown area using a wonderful Historic Downtown Walking Tour map I found on line. The downtown has an astonishing amount of historic buildings-many creatively refurbished-like the Union Pacific Train Station that was converted to a shopping and entertainment complex. It is a great city to explore by foot and when you tire of walking, the light rail system will get you back to your car (free when I visited in 2004).

It was my last day in Salt Lake City and I had still had two very
important places to explore before I returned to Michigan. I left my hotel at the crack of dawn to visit Temple Square and the LDS Library-home of probably the best genealogical libraries in the US.

Last stop-Park City and the place my family would live, should this interview become a reality. Salt Lake City rests in a valley along the western side of the Wasatch Mountains, home to some of the best downhill skiing in the US. The alpine environment Park City offered was the place. I imagined days where the boys would walk in with their snowboards, and the apres ski life for Phil and me. Needless to say, I was sold on Utah. Unfortunately a few days later I was snapped back to reality. the position was awarded to one of the other two candidates. Little did I realize, but a short year and a half later I would be working another kind of Rio Grande in Austin, Tx...overseeing the districts along the US-Mexico border along the Rio Grande River.