Beehive State

We decided to celebrate Labor Day weekend with some good ol' fashioned labor. Who needs cushy plane rides and hotel suites when you can drive 12 hours in a Jetta? Our thoughts exactly.

So, we braved the open road and headed out for Utah, the beehive state. Since we took off after work one evening, we decided sleep would be a good idea and planned to stop in Reno for the night. Reno, people, can be summed up in two words: Super Lame. Another two? Smokey Trash. And, just for kicks, another two: Depressing Hole. You can tell I'm a big fan.

OK, so as far as I could surmise Reno is awesome if you're a 73-year-old chain smoker with a weight problem or 45-year-old divorcee with a mullet and a gambling addiction. But it turns out that I'm neither of those (yet). So the booming metropolis of Reno has little to offer me; I was just hoping for a decent meal and a nice bed for the night. Alas, in Reno "french dip sandwich" means "flesh-colored fat with American cheese on top, delivered by quite possibly the oldest waitress this side of the Mississippi" and "non-smoking room" means "a room that's non-smoking only if you don't smoke in it." So, a dismal night on all accounts. I did win $15 at a nickel slot machine. And promptly lost it on another nickel slot machine. Just goes to show the whole no-gambling rule is a good one. I think this should be expanded to a whole no-Reno rule, but that's a campaign I'll have to take up in the future.

So. Utah. We finished our drive the next day and arrived in NSLC for an evening of R&R and PF Chang's and FroCustard and to look forward to other exciting adventures (and abbreviations, apparently) to be had.

Saturday we got to the labor part of the Labor Day excursion-- which was awesome. We got to visit with some of our very good pals from NYC: Ben & Julie and their brood-- the twins, and baby Robbie, and a bazillion pumpkins from the pumpkin patch Ben planted in their backyard.

See the fruits of our labors here.

One big girl bedroom for Kate and one big boy bedroom for James. It was a team effort with the whole fam (except Robbie. I didn't want to say anything at the time but all he did was sleep and eat. He's kind of lazy.) That night those of us of the adult kind dined at Cucina Toscana, one of the best restaurants ever to grace the SLC scene as far as I know. Loved it!!!

Sunday was spent with the fam, but not without a quick visit with more NYC BBFs now transplanted to the gret stet of U-T, the DeMs. Luc is such a little man now. He and Ian bonded over a shared affinity for Ian's french toast and Luc and I bonded over a shared affinity for the bows on my peep-toe heels. Good times had by all!

We made the trek back on the holiday Monday and it took us 15 hours thanks to a little phenomena called holiday traffic. I would have officially lost my mind had it not been for sweet XM Radio; namely, the comedy channel.

We realize now that driving from CA to UT on a holiday weekend is a teeny bit crazy. All in all though, we enjoyed our quick trip and buzzing around the beehive state as best we could. Next time, however, just as a busy bee should, I'm hoping to fly there instead.