Great Salt Lake Country

The ALBION BASIN TRAIL is a perfect ride for beginners, dates and families. The trail leads to a beautiful camping area below Crescent Lake, which many families and couples use as a picnic spot. The ride is about six miles round trip and can be completed at a fast pace or at a slower, enjoyable pace. 

It is officially spring, which for clarification does not mean blooming flowers, a light rainfall and singing birds. In actuality, springtime in Utah is a teasing sun that fools you into thinking that wearing a cotton floral-print dress is a good idea only to disappoint you with a downpour of snow in the afternoon, a domino crash of cars on the freeway and, of course, looking ridiculously underdressed.

It’s important to not get distracted from keeping everyone safe and the ATVs intact and running. Contrary to what daytime soap operas may have taught us, there is nothing romantic about finishing a date in a hospital gown. An ATV is only as safe as its rider.

We took a journey with some relatives out to the Dugway Goede Beds on a recent Saturday afternoon. We were accompanied by my sister-in-law's family, who had been there before and knew where and what to look for, which was a necessity for first-timers like us. We found lots of geodes, which made the trip even more worth it, took lots of pictures, and after an appetizing dinner of smashed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches — Why is it that the bottom of a youngster's foot is ALWAYS drawn directly to the bag of sandwiches? — we headed back home.

They say that getting there is half the battle. Well, I am here to attest that the other half, in some cases, is getting back home.

Such was the case when we took a journey with some relatives out to the Dugway Goede Beds on a recent Saturday afternoon. I was warned ahead of time to expect a long, bumpy drive, but I still wasn't mentally prepared for what was ahead.

With three car accidents, three separate towing incidents, and at least a dozen moving violation and parking tickets under my belt, I am not exactly the world’s best driver, and I felt, well, less than qualified to report on the Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah.

With a seven-mile stretch of road ahead of me and my downtown student life behind me, I was already beginning to feel liberated and re-engaged into life again. Surrounded by the icy Great Salt Lake, I drove into a white monochromatic world;