What’s In Between

What’s In Between

“ The most important reason for going from one place to another is to see what’s in between…”. Horton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth.

Why?

This is a question you may be asking. Why would I embark on a solo road trip between Cincinnati, New Mexico, Minnesota and back home? It’s not as if those destinations are close to each other. As a 61 year old women, is this really a good idea? Well, we are going to find out.

As a child, I spent a large portion of my life in the backseat of the family car on vacation. My father worked for Procter & Gamble and we moved from Seal Beach, California to St Louis to Chicago to Chesapeake, Virginia, to Lima, Ohio and then to Cincinnati. My parents loved to travel but with 3 children, and another to be born when we lived in Virginia, it would have been prohibitively expensive to fly everywhere. Plus flying was such a glamorous event back then, I don’t blame my parents for choosing a car trip over a flight where you needed to be dressed up and on your best behavior. So we drove and often camped while seeing parts of the United States. One summer it was New England, another out West, another the Midwest. Usually whatever was near by where we were living at the time. My mother was a history major so we spent one summer visiting Civil War battlefields (as an 11 year old, this was supremely boring as one field looked just like the next). Both sets of my grandparents lived in Arizona, and my cousins lived in California, so there were many road trips to visit them. I think I developed my love for reading during these trips in the back of the car. If I could get in the way back of the station wagon, that was the perfect spot. Old people will know what the way back was.

One of my favorite books in 4th grade (living in Chicago at the time), was The Phantom Tollbooth. For those unfamiliar, a young, bored boy named Milo is gifted a small tollbooth and he uses his little electric car to drive through it and to worlds beyond. The trip changes his outlook on life. As a child, I yearned to drive myself on a trip to unexplored places. Frankly, I was enamored with driving, hoping to become a bus driver when I grew up since I would be able to drive all day long.

I have traveled to many places here in the US and around the world, and each trip has changed my outlook. But I have never traveled by myself. So on March 1, 2025, I will get in my little car, drive through my little tollbooth, and see what is in between here and there. If you would like to see what it is, please follow along.

jgapfelbeck's avatar

jgapfelbeck

Utah, March 9, 2025

After a day of travel, we were all thrilled that we were not driving any long distances today. We are staying at Lisa’s again tonight, which is a gorgeous place, by the way, and exploring the sites of her neighborhood and Park City. And when I say her neighborhood, this is the view from her balcony –

She lives on the edge of Jordanelle State Park and is separated from the Wasatch Mountain Range by Jordanelle Resevoir. The Wasatch Range is part of the Rocky Mountains and is known for its rugged terrain, excellent skiing conditions and scenic beauty. We were able to see the back side of Deer Valley Ski Resort which is particularly famous for its upscale amenities, groomed runs and skier-only policy.

We took the dogs and walked down to the lake (resevoir) and took our time walking through snow, mud, dirt, and on pavement. The dogs were overjoyed to be out and had a blast running around.

The lake was partially frozen so the reflection was fuzzy in parts, and unseen in part. It was beautiful, and surprisingly, very warm. The air temp was 30 but the sun was so strong and bright that I warmed up right away.

After our walk, Lisa took us on a tour of Park City. We took a quick peak at the Olympic sites from the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. During the 2002 Olympics, Park City Mountain Resort hosted the men’s and women’s giant slalom, men’s and women’s snowboarding parallel giant slalom, and the men’s and women’s snowboarding half pipe events. Skiers come to train here now, however Salt Lake City will be hosting the Winter Olympics again in 2034.

We then drove over to Deer Valley Ski Resort which is where Lisa works part time.

It was difficult to take pictures of much from the car, but the resort was beautiful. The ski season is from November to mid-April and there were plenty of skiers out today.

The finding of silver, gold, and lead sparked the first silver mine in Park City in the 1860s. Park City’s mining boom brought large crowds of prospectors, setting up camps around the mountains, marking the first mining settlements. Silver and metal prices declined during World War I, the Great Depression, and World War II. The mining community never fully recovered so the town turned to skiing, with Park City Mountain Resort and Deer Valley being the two major resorts. Park City is the home of the largest independent film festival, Sundance Film Festival. Since the rise of skiing and tourism economy, Park City houses more tourists than residents. While the population of Park City is approximately 8,000, more than 600,00 tourists visit annually.

We walked up and down Main Street in Park City before having dinner at 350 Main. The appetizers, wine, cocktails, entrees and conversation were outstanding. Everything from salmon, branzino, trout, filet mignon, raclette, smoked vegetables, crispy cauliflower was delicious.

We ended the evening by soaking in Lisa’s hot tub, chatting and looking at the stars. We talked about how we wished our other members of the book club had been able to join us on this trip and resolving to have another trip in the future that hopefully could include everyone. The admiration and respect we feel for each member of the group is so apparent. I appreciate every one of them.

The 4 B’s leave for Cincinnati tomorrow, while Lisa gets a chance to relax before her next visitors arrive this weekend. I will be on the road again, heading northeast to Gillette, Wyoming.

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