Salt Lake City: Weekend trip on a whim

Hello from Salt Lake City!

Panda still has two more days of leave and we decided that we should make a couple more weekend trips before we go. We almost bought tickets to Minnesota - one of the coldest states in US, because I want to freeze like a popsicle before I go back to hot, melty Singapore. It's crazy, I know, but it would be an once-in-a-lifetime experience. Too bad the website was down when Panda tried to make a reservation.

In any case, Utah is just as nice. As I am typing this, it's -6C outside but sunny!

No day-by-day breakdown of our itinerary here, simply because we didn't plan anything. On a whim, see? We only picked up some brochures from the hotel upon arrival, and drive off to wherever we fancy.

One of the places we visited is Antelope Island within the Great Salt Lake. The place is pretty quiet during the winter season; just a few other cars except for ours. But the view is gorgeous. The distant Wasatch Mountains seem to be enveloping the water body.

A cool thing to do in summer would be to hang out on the shore and swim in the lake. Due to the hight salinity and corresponding density of lake, you can bob like a cork in the water. But then again, you have to get past the flies and bugs and the smell from dead birds (yikes!?) All depends on one's tolerance level, I guess. 

Well, none of that affected us in the crisp, winter season. We can't try dipping in the lake in that sub-zero weather, anyway. So we made do with a short hike up the Buffalo Point. 

The grass has all turned yellow and the hills are full of dried sagebrush shrubs. Still, we saw some great shoreline to the west, where the White Rock Bay is.

I expect to see some bisons along the trail, given the amount of poop everywhere. But nope, we only saw three by the side of the road as we are about to leave the island. Unfortunately, they are not near enough for Panda to have a good look. Moo-ing at them or saying 'HELLOOO" doesn't really help. I tried.

As we drive across the causeway to return to mainland,  I noticed the stillness of the lake despite the strong wind gust. The light cast some great reflections of the frosted Wasatch Mountains on the Great Salt Lake. It is a picturesque sight. 

More memories for us to bring home.