Just for the Fun of it

For weeks, maybe even months, Kaylie, Rachel, and their friend Ruth Ann have been planning a pleasure trip to Salt Lake. The idea was to shop, play, shop some more, and just have some fun.

As the day got closer, Kaylie was telling me their plans, which included taking a bus from Vernal to Salt Lake—and which would cost each of them $30 each way. And, on top of that, they would have to take city buses everywhere they wanted to go. So I told Kaylie that if they paid for the gas in the car, and fed me, I would drive them to town, and be their chauffeur while they were there.

Last Tuesday was the day; we got up early-ish, and were headed out to Salt Lake by 8:30 a.m.

One of the first things the girls wanted to do was shop at Deseret Industries (a thrift store). So we went to Salt Lake via Provo—which is an hour south of Salt Lake, but it's quicker to get there from Vernal. And, more importantly, Provo has the biggest D.I. I've ever been to; they would have a lot more stuff to peruse. When we drove up to the store at 11:30 Ruth Ann said, "This is ten times bigger than the one in Vernal!" That's about right.

While the girls started on their clothes-shopping adventure, I called my sister, Melanie, to see if she could join us on Wednesday afternoon. Then I watched—and helped—them choose clothes to try on.

This is the only picture they took at the D.I.—which is too bad because they tried on (and bought) a lot of cute things there, and they were having a lot of fun.

After the clothes-shopping, they went and looked at shoes. I have to admit, I was a little jealous of the shoe-shopping; I have a thing for shoes. (I did try some on, but none of the cute ones fit my wide feet.) They each got a pair of shoes, and three or four shirts each, and a couple pairs of pants, all for a whopping total of $50 between the three of them. Not bad!

We left the D.I. around 2:30 and it was definitely time for lunch. But we didn't know where to go in Provo, and I didn't want to drive around searching, so we just headed up to Salt Lake. Around 3:30-ish we had some food, and then we headed to Day Murray Music, our favorite music store. Ruth Ann had never been there, and it was like a candy shop for her; Kaylie almost had to drag her away from it. Then we went to Orson Gygi's. We looked around at all their stuff, and we looked at their model kitchens. And I decided I definitely want to do two colors of cabinets in my kitchen. Kind of like this:

I have wanted to paint my kitchen cabinets white because the kitchen gets no natural light—it's way too dark for a kitchen.
But the tile is white-ish, and the counter tops are cream-colored,
and white cabinets would make the whole room too, too white.
I'd been thinking of doing a dark color on the bottom cabinets
and white above, but the men in the house disapproved
(or at least they couldn't visualize it).

Now, my kitchen isn't nearly this fancy (I mean, really:
white Formica counter tops... although that is about same floor color), but I think I could do this kind of thing. Although I wouldn't go with solid black; I'd do dark, dark blue, or a softer black
that has a blue or brown tint.

Back to the girls...

After Gygi's we went to Grandpa North's house, where we would be staying for the duration of the trip. I guess we got there around 6:00, and then we still had to go to the grocery store and get stuff for dinner. So we ate around 7:30 or 8:00, and after that the girls started a movie. I, on the other hand, was asleep before 10:00. (Am I getting old?)

On Wednesday morning we had a leisurely breakfast, cleaned up, and started on the day's adventures. First stop was to Brad and Becky's house to admire their new (one week old) baby, Esther.

from left to right: Rosie (the dog), Ruth Ann, Rachel, me—with Esther, Kaylie, Scott, and Lizzy—who is sitting on the floor,
playing a video game. None of us managed to get a picture
of Brad and Becky. Lame.

I think only Ruth Ann and I held the baby.
Holding Esther made Ruth Ann's day; she loves babies.

From Brad's house we went to Jordan Landing so the girls could do some more shopping. Kaylie got a few things she'll need when she goes to school, but mostly it was clothes-shopping again.

Rachel surprised me—and maybe herself, too—by liking the black sheath dress with the art-deco sequins down the front. But her favorite (and mine) is the one with the full skirt.

Unfortunately we didn't get a picture of Ruth Ann in the dress that she absolutely loved (and bought). But this one is cute, too.

Kaylie fell in love with the pink dress, but it was a little too snug, and the next size they had was way too big. Darn!

The girls shopped until I  was ready to drop. Then at 2:00 we headed to Aunt Marian's house to have a dip in her pool. Melanie met us there (yay!). So Marian, Melanie and I all chatted while the girls went into the pool-house to get into their swimsuits and get all sunscreened; this gave us over an hour to talk. What on earth took those girls so long?!. Not that I minded an hour to visit, but...wow! Then Melanie and I got into our suits and sunscreen, and got into the pool.

Melanie and I spent most of our time hanging out in the cool water and chatting while the girls played, although we did participate in a pool noodle race with the girls. Melanie won. Sadly, we don't have any pictures of the private swim party.

The girls and I had thought to go back to Jordan Landing and visit the Barnes and Noble store, but it was time for us to head back to Grandpa's house. He took us to a really nice buffet for dinner. Back home again the girls played a couple rounds of croquet while I went to Winco to buy spices (they sell them in bulk, so whenever I'm in town I buy some to refill my empty bottles).

I wasn't nearly so exhausted this night, but I got home from the store pretty late. So I trundled off to bed while the girls watched another movie.

Thursday's plan was to go into Salt Lake City for more shopping and to visit Temple Square.

Kaylie and Ruth Ann are ready for the day's adventures.

When we got to Salt Lake I, being excessively ...frugal (cheap?), found a place to park for free (behind the Conference Center), but only for two hours. So we walked all the way across Temple Square to City Creek Mall, where the girls tried on more clothes and bought some makeup brushes. And by then it was time for me to walk all the way back and move the car. So I took the girls' purchases with me, stashed them in the car, and enjoyed two minutes of air-conditioning in the car while I moved it to another (free) spot. Then I walked across the hot, paved world back to City Creek. All this walking gave me a chance to get over-heated...  I mean it gave me a chance to call Bruce and let him in on our adventures.

I met up with the girls at the mall, and we walked over to Harmon's (a really nice grocery store) where we bought lunch and ate in their ...what would you call it? A food court?  A cafe? The place where they have tables and chairs so you can sit and eat if you want to. It really is a cool store, and one of the things I miss in Vernal.

I have to admit that I got all touristy and took this picture at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building—mostly so Bruce could see that flower arrangement behind the girls: A draped flag, all made of flowers, with floral fireworks next to it.
But the girls are cute in all their new, yellow things.

After lunch it was time to move the car again. This time I made the girls go with me; they stowed their purchases away, and we went to the museum on Temple Square. Did we look at exhibits? No. The girls wanted to look at the gift shop. :-D By the time we finished there it was time to head home so we could avoid the rush-hour traffic.

Back home we all needed a rest. This meant that the girls went into their room to talk and giggle, and I went into my room to cool down and to stretch. And then we went to Barnes and Noble. While the girls shopped, I sat in a chair and read a book. (I really am old.)

We had a simple dinner at Grandpa's house, and this time I joined the girls while they watched their nightly movie. Then we had ice cream sundaes with Grandpa before we all went to bed.

Friday morning we packed up, thanked Grandpa, gave hugs, and headed home.

We'd had a fun-filled, action-packed three days! Big, BIG thanks go to Grandpa and to Aunt Marian! We couldn't have done it without you.

The girls had some pleasurable, leisurable times with some of their best friends; they enjoyed themselves and got some nice things, and I was glad to act as consultant, companion, and cab-driver for them. It was a pretty good time.