Awhile ago, I decided to do a session in each of the temples in Utah. (Thirteen in all: Logan, Ogden, Bountiful, Salt Lake, Jordan River, Oquirrh Mountain, Draper, Mount Timpanogus, Provo, Manti, Vernal, St. George and Monticello.) On Saturday, I accomplished my goal! The Monticello Temple was beautiful and I was excited to be there. Especially after my adventures on the way…
Monticello is a small town in eastern Utah (population around 1,900) about 300 miles from Salt Lake. I drove to Monticello on Friday after work. After a five hour drive on mostly unfamiliar roads, and especially after my encounter with a guy in the Wendy’s parking lot in Moab (who will hereafter be referred to as Creepy Old Guy #1), I was very excited to see the sign for the hotel where I had a reservation in Monticello.
Until I took a closer look at the hotel. First of all, it looked
nothing like the picture of the hotel I’d carefully inspected online. Second of all, they didn’t have a reservation for me and the clerk cheerfully told me that their online reservations are never really processed. Third of all, there was a couple barbequing in the parking lot on a table top grill at 9:30 at night. That’s just weird.
But I was ok with all of that. What I was NOT ok with was my next door neighbor, Creepy Old Guy #2. Now Creepy Old Guy #1 in Moab had been nice enough. He asked if I was from the area and what I could tell him about…. pause…. um…. that mountain over there. When I told him I was just passing through, he kept on walking and I went on my merry way. Nothing about that experience prepared me for the horror that was Creepy Old Guy #2.
Picture a man outside of a cheap hotel in a small town on a Friday night. Is he sitting on a lawn chair in a pair of way-too-short shorts? Is there a six pack of beer and a pile of cigarette butts on the ground by his feet? Does he grin as you approach and remark that his night just got a whole lot better since you checked in? Welcome to my nightmare!
So I walk into my room, lock all possible locks, shut all the blinds and windows, and pretty much barricade myself in the room for the night. And what a room it was. The carpet was filthy, the bathroom light didn’t work. Oh, and Creepy Old Guy #2 was still camped outside my door, yelling at a barking dog, "Die, dog, die." He then called a friend to talk about the very pretty girl in the room next to his and how he really liked Utah. I was not liking Utah so much at that point! I went to bed and, surprisingly, slept really well.
In the morning, I quietly snuck out of my hotel room and went to the temple. I was glad to be there and it was a neat session. I was excited to have accomplished my goal.
On the way home, I stopped at the Subway in Green River, where I had the pleasure of meeting, you guessed it, Creepy Old Guy #3. This charming man (who was traveling with his wife – she was obviously sick of him and I can’t say that I blamed her) asked me if I’d like to meet up with him at the Super 8 in Provo, the one by the stadium, so we could go to a football game sometime. Now I like BYU football, but I can’t imagine anything worse than meeting up with this guy in Provo at the Super 8. Even if he is BYU's "secret weapon," as he claimed to be. Thanks, but no.
The highlight of my trip (obviously) was coming home! My Dad and my sister had decorated my house to celebrate that I have now been to every temple in Utah. It was a fun surprise. I was glad to be home. In fact, I may never leave my apartment again.
Read the books. Discussed the books in a graduate-level Young Adult Lit class. Watched the movies. Two of them at midnight showings. So I consider my opinion to be fairly well-informed.
Awhile ago, I decided to do a session in each of the temples in Utah. (Thirteen in all: Logan, Ogden, Bountiful, Salt Lake, Jordan River, Oquirrh Mountain, Draper, Mount Timpanogus, Provo, Manti, Vernal, St. George and Monticello.) On Saturday, I accomplished my goal! The Monticello Temple was beautiful and I was excited to be there. Especially after my adventures on the way…
