Utah trip - The Moores and Triple D Heaven

As Mike put it, they are at a crossroads...they were converging in Utah to send three kids to college in three different states. Mike was reflective, Gwen was stressed, but for me, it was just a really fun vacation with good friends with a little chance to help where I could. My plan was to help with the move in and whatever they needed, visit, and go to at least one Triple D. I am a big fan of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives (aka: Triple D). I love food and I want to eat really good food always but particularly when I am traveling and have given myself permission to pig out, but am always reluctant to just try a place blindly. In comes the beauty of Triple D. Hole in the Wall dining with the accompanying price tag and the recommendation of a real food guy...what could be better? So knowing I was headed to Salt Lake City, I went on the Triple D web site and looked for the dives in the area....six total. I promised myself to go to at least one. Day One - Mary H, Barrett and I left Placerville at 2 a.m. for the drive to Utah. No good way to get there because Nevada is in the way. Gratefully Mary drove a lot and I was not beat when we got there at about 2 p.m. (time change and road work makes it look like 12 hours). We visited and waited until Jeff and Kayla arrived. Then the kids wanted to do touristy things at Temple Square so Mike and I loaded kids in two cars (required to fit everyone) then Gwen, Jeff, and Kayla met us in SL. We decided to go to the Red Iguana...I told them my plan and since it was only seven blocks away...we hoofed it over. Mike sold the group on the adventure. On the way we talked about the nice stroll April will have to school each day going past Temple Square, etc. Finally, seven Utah blocks later we arrived for a 45 minute wait....well worth it in my opinion.

I settled on a traditional chile verdi chimichanga...perfection! I don't really know how to describe it. The pork had a wonderful flavor that you could separate from the sauce that smothered it. Not too hot (which is good for me), but it had potato chunks in it that would cool it down when it got to be too much. It made it perfectly balanced. They gave plenty of guacamole and sour cream with it so I didn't have to ration. It was heaven! The menu is huge and had a Mole section. I wanted the flan for dessert but was way too full. It was good to have the walk back after the filling meal....no I left nothing on my plate.

Mike, Gwen, Jeff and Kayla waiting outside. Note: We got there just before 7 p.m. and the line was as long when we left after 8 p.m. on a Tuesday night! Killer Mexican is right :)

Day Two: The kids (Barrett, Julie, Mary and Jason) didn't see much of Temple Square Day One so they went back in the morning and spent the day at the Church History Museum and the Visitor's Center, having seen the Joseph Smith Story film at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building the night before. Meanwhile, Gwen, April, Kayla, Jeff and I went to move stuff into April's new digs and then Gwen and Jeff when to have the car serviced while we decorated. The room turned out really cute. I am glad I had the experience....moving a boy into a dorm is nothing like moving a girl in...Wow! It was fun!

Barrett is standing at a replica of the original pulpit of the Kirtland (?) Temple.

After we finished the room and Gwen and Jeff returned from dropping off the car, we met up with the kids. Here is a cool wall in the Visitors Center from the exhibit entitled "Love One Another". The kids and I toured the conference center. Huge....holds 21,000 people. I never took the full blown tour before....pretty amazing facts.
Day Three: The kids are going camping in Cotton wood Canyon. Here they are planning their departure. After food shopping and preparation, they are ready to go.

Here they are taking off to the tunes of Michael Jackson. Apparently, they had a MJ sing along all the way up the canyon. They crack me up! Before we left, Barrett told me he had hiking boots for the trip. Once we arrived in Utah he hauled these out. He had forgotten his mocassins. For those who may not know, that is what Barrett wears when he absolutely has to wear shoes. Other than that, he goes barefoot. Having forgotten the mocassins, he came out wearing these saying that these are what he meant when he said hiking boots. Yes, on purpose, Barrett brought bright blue water slippers to use as hiking boots when they went camping. Note: I bought him flip flops to wear around but after the day of touring the sites in them...and complaining all the way about how irritating they were to his toes, he gave them up and sported this attractive look.

After we got the kids off and the guys were off doing a father/son male bonding...the girls had a day plan that included my 2nd Triple D...Pat's BBQ. The original plan was to take Barrett to lunch before he went camping because he was supposed to do these with me and he had already missed the Red Iguana. I told him to eat a light breakfast but he didn't hear me and then after food shopping there was no time. However, by that time, I had already prepared myself to go and Kayla was a willing participant. April and Gwen agreed to go with us to the start of our afternoon full of stuff to do. You would never find Pat's unless you were looking. It is just off the freeway but tucked in an industrial area. Kayla, April, Gwen and me. Simple place, simple food. If you look in the back you can see their sign. It is a pig with sunglasses. The guys as Pat's were really nice, could tell right away that we were there because of Triple D because we were the only women in the place practically. A lot of guys were there for serious BBQ. The waiter was willing to take our picture. This was the only Triple D we went to that had any hint of having been on the Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives show...They had pictures of them with Guy....whatever his name is and a signed poster up from the show. Braised beef - the special of the day was soooooo flavorful! Wonderfully tender and the sauce it was in was incredibly tasty and true...nothing artifically brothy about it. Mashed potatoes were from scratch and chunky which I personally prefer in mashed potatoes. Sides were an add on just to say it isn't all about the meat...but trust me, it is all about the meat. However, the potato salad that Gwen and April got looked good. Corn bread was okay and the corn was nothing special. I know I was way too into this but I was....Kayla let me take a pic of her food too. Pulled Pork sandwich. After lunch we went with Kayla while she donated her hair to Locks of Love. She didn't tell Jeff she was going to cut it that day. He knew she was talking about it but she wanted to see his surprise. She has donated before.....she has great hair and it grows fast. It was cool.

That night Mike, Gwen, April, Jeff, and Kayla drove to Provo to visit family and I stayed in town and visited family of my own. Saw Mom Dopp and Kirk and Debbie.

Day Four: I woke up early and went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple in West or South Jordan. It was really nice. I didn't know how much I would need that strength until the day progressed so I was so glad I went. After that I went back to the house for a quick breakfast and met Debbie and Mom. Mom had a physical therapy appointment and Debbie had a conflict so I offered to help by taking her to the second appointment. It was a good chance to visit. By the time I got back to the house, the kids had returned from camping and, having only had lunch, but late, gave us the perfect opportunity to hit Triple D #3. I couldn't leave town with Barrett haven't missed all Triple D opportunities so I gave them the list and they settled on the Blue Plate Diner.

By the sign, you can see it was a true dive. Again no sign of Triple D having been there but lots of Best of SLC awards everywhere, I asked the waitress for the signature dishes. She said eggs benedict, corned beef hash, chile verde burrito, and the chicken fried steak.

Although the food was good, in true diner fashion, it is probably an awesome breakfast! Julie and Jason got the benedict and they did look good, I got the corned beef hash and enjoyed it - it was true cooked corned beef brisket chunked with potato fry type chunks (okay but not scratch) smothered with cheese. Mary's reuben looked like it tasted great. Barrett got all you can eat fish and was disappointed that he didn't get more before he got to full. Also, it looked okay but not great. There I think it depends on what you order. Whereas, at the Red Iguana, I think everything would be killer.

After getting lost a few times trying to get out of the Holladay area, we made it back and the kid prepared for their last night together in the form of a movie marathon.

Day Five: We got up and readied the house for departure. Then time for pictures. This was an emotional time for the Moore family, particularly Gwen saying goodbye to all three of her chicks.

Barrett with April. Funny thing here...April was complaining about taking her pictures with her messy hair so Barrett messed his up for the picture.

Here Jeff stood waiting for everyone to get set with the picture thing so he can get on the road. Once Barrett saw me with the camera he set out to mimic or is it mock Jeff?

Kayla, Jeff, Barrett, Julie, April and Mary

Jeff and Kayla left California, but Barrett, Mary, Julie and I headed to downtown Salt Lake so Barrett could buy a replica of an 1800's Book of Mormon that is set in paragraph form. Printed out of Independence, MO, the Church History Museum store was selling it. After returning the movies to the rental and getting gasoline for the car, we drove up to April's house when Mike, Gwen and April did to finish the move in. That gave Julie a little more time to help with April and be with family while we went to get the book.

We said our goodbyes and drove away when Barrett said he was hungry not three blocks away from the Red Iguana. Obsessed as I have been, I suggested take out to eat as I drove. I wasn't hungry since I actually at breakfast but I really wanted to try the flan and I was too full before, so I got it. I was not disappointed. Barrett took 20 minutes to read the menu before he decided on Tacos al Carbon...it was steak tacos. Another fantastic choice.

I have to say Red Iguana was definitely my favorite of the three Triple Ds. I would go to Pat's BBQ again. If it was for breakfast, I would try the eggs benedict at Blue Plate. Can't wait to go back to Utah and hit the Burger Bar.

It was so fun visiting with the Moores. They are such good friends. We've been mutually supportive. I so enjoyed talking to them. Gwen and I talked a lot about the kids, which we generally do. Mike and I talked about business and about the heartache of seeing one's we love making poor choices. Then a lot of time we just shared everyday stuff. I will miss them.