A few weeks ago, my company had a few of us from each location meet at our facility in Idaho. We were told we could either fly into Boise or Salt Lake City, then rent vehicles to drive the rest of the way. I decided that the Indiana people (3 of us) would fly to SLC, since I have a cousin who lives there, and I would be able to visit her before or after the meeting. Turns out SLC was the logical choice anyways, because there weren't many options available for Boise.
Our flight out of Indiana departed at the ungodly hour of 6:00 in the morning. To make the flight, I met my fellow employees at an even more unholy time, 4:30. This was after a night with only a couple hours of rest because I had to finish preparing the materials we were supposed to bring with us. I tried to relax for the very short flight to Cincinnati, seated by the window next to a stranger.
I deliberately chose seats away from my co-workers on the plane. They aren't horrible people, but I am not the most comfortable with them. I still feel a lot like an outsider at my new place of employment.
After the short hop to Cinci, the next leg of our journey loomed before us abruptly. Our layover didn't last long, and we boarded the large jet. A packed flight and yet another pair of strangers next to me on that shiny metal tube.
Bear Lake, near SLC in Utah
It was fun to take pictures and see just how close I could get with the zoom on my new camera. These pictures weren't full zoom but still turned out neat.
The descent into SLC allowed a full view of the Great Salt Lake looming below, a brilliant shade of azure blue against the whites, browns, and reds of surrounding salt mining fields.
Ours was the first flight to arrive in SLC of the four comprising the SLC group. Three locations were flying into SLC and the others would travel through Boise. We ate lunch then pulled our suitcases from the luggage carousel. I checked the arrival boards and found that the Pennsylvania group had already landed, much earlier than their scheduled time! I called my counterpart with the group, and he said they were at the car rental place working on obtaining our vehicles. We had reserved two SUVs for a total of eight people.
After a bit of a wait, we had our first vehicle, a black Ford Explorer with nice tan, leather seats. We were still waiting on two flights from Texas (the two people chose to take different routes). Some of the PA guys commented that they had yet to eat, so two of us stayed behind while the rest climbed into the Explorer and headed into the wilds of SLC to sight see and dine.
Ok, I've run out of steam for now. To be continued (I know you wait with baited breath)...
