Date: Wed, 16 Oct 1996 Subject: The Saga of a Steel Magnolia in Utah

Hi All,

It rained today. By afternoon, the mountains were covered with a dusting of snow and the skies had cleared up. Rain doesn't last long to my way of thinking out here. The clouds were sitting on the mountain tops and you could see the tendrils of rain/snow moving over the peaks and racing through the canyons. We had dinner out this evening and by the time we finished the clouds were coming down into the valley at a good pace. It's very different from Georgia here. We were sitting in Shoney's, listening to Country and Western music instead of the usual new age elevator music, watching the people around us. Instead of the Yuppies, Business Persons and Tennis Queens that inhabit the Roswell restraunt, we watched farmers and military personnel, Mexicans and Native Americans, young families with their children...ordinary people who make up the bulk of our society and never realize their importance to our society as a whole. It was fascinating. It was also cold outside.

Fall arrived in a flash of mottled reds and oranges. The mountains are covered in a patchwork of pines and scrub oak that make a red/green quilt-like pattern. Since the last snow in the mountains, the few hardwood trees have undergone their color changes. The trees in the valley have turned yellow and begun to drop. With the snow today, the leaves will probably all drop soon. It is the middle of October, but I want the warm weather to last for a long time yet.

We drove up to the top of Bountiful Peak last Friday evening. Bountiful is directly north of Salt Lake City and we wanted to see the sun set over the valley. The road up the mountain is hidden in the back of a subdivision. One moment you are driving through your standard up-scale subdivision, then you are on a dirt road going up the hill at a steep incline. Oh my...it's another fine example of back country off roading on what can loosely be called a road. This road has erosion channels cutting through it, industrial size holes, and gravel and sand and rock in varying sizes. It is mostly a one lane road, but it goes up to two lanes at random intervals. The road loops over the mountains between Bountiful and Farmington. These towns are about 10 miles apart on the freeway, but it will take you 25 miles to go over the loop. We only wanted to go part way this time. The road winds up and around closed hairpin turns constantly. We found the local 'Dead Man's Curve' about 3 miles up the loop. Katherine spotted the wreak of a truck about 300 feet down in a ravine ahead of us. I stopped the truck and we got out to look and see if it was a recent accident. Fortunately, it wasn't. Neither were the other 6 smashed trucks in bottom of the ravine. Driving caution takes on a whole new meaning in a situation like this. We went on slowly. The view is mind blowing. The Great Salt Lake is glowing in the setting sun and the sky is clear and blue. We got to Bountiful Peak in time to watch the sun go down and turn the clouds into a techni-color wonder. Now the fun begins. Getting off the mountain before it gets pitch black. Now, going down is as slow as coming up, about 10 MPH at the best of times, not often. We made it to within a mile of the pavement when it got really dark. Katherine acted as my edge proximity alert. Did I forget to tell you that I'm kinda night blind? Well, the edge of the road kinda gets lost in the darkness and when I got too close...the squeals from the other side of the truck sounded out loud and clear (actually they were ear splitting). Well, we got off the mountain okay. The next trip will be to camp up there where we can stay longer and enjoy the view.

Internet sites du Jour: www.freemail.com (Another free email software site. This one is supposed to be a better way of sending secure files than conventional email routines. I haven't tried it yet.)

www.whitehouse.gov (Yes...that's right. It's the Whitehouse. Be sure to tell them what you think.)

www.unitedmedia.com/comics/dilbert/ (The Dilbert Zone.)

I've spent VAST amounts of time on the weekends surfing for educational sites. Any one wanting the bookmarks, let me know. I also decided that I wanted to drive the Alaska Highway. Well, I have to find someone to pay for this little side trip. There has to be a foundation out there some where that is waiting to fund my excursion. Scientific American, National Geographics, some one. I'll keep looking. The travel log on that one definitely rates a motion picture. :-)

I miss having tea at Mitties Tea Room in Roswell, Georgia, bagels from Philly, Caribbean Pastries from Miami, black walnut chocolate fudge from the Lazarus Company in Columbus, Ohio, and my Tbear. Any one else got any other favorites that they miss?

Take care and write when you can.

Jan Noble steel_magnolia@mindspring.com

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