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Thursday, February 28, 2013

Caramel Brownie's Road Trip to Utah: Part One




 
 
Ahhh...Utah!! Where the scenery is bountiful and beautiful! Also where slogans : 'This Is Still The Right Place'; 'Life Elevated'; 'Greatest Snow on Earth', and ' In God We Trust' reign throughout the State and on license plates.

Now, before this 17 1/2 hour (well technically about 20 hours when you factor in our rest stops and eating breaks) from Oklahoma City to West Jordan, UT (our hotel), I had never had the opportunity of visiting Utah. My hubby's 91 your old grandma, may she R.I.P. (his mom's mother) had passed; he wanted to be there for his parents and to pay his last respects. Although our visit was under sad circumstances, I was pretty excited to be going just to be able to meet more of his extended family on his mother's side that I haven't been able to meet yet. Plus I was finally going to cross Utah off of my map of places never been.

I had read and been told by many that Utah is a beautiful state. I must say that I definitely wasn't disappointed with the beautiful scenery of snow covered mountains, views and surroundings. Now my ears, on the other hand, didn't appreciate constantly being popped majority of the time, but I had plenty of gum and suckers handy to help with that minor distraction. Guess it's safe to say, that's why the 'Life Elevated' slogan was created.

Since our hotel was less than a 1/2 hour away from Lehi, I wanted to go see the Brown's infamous plyg home for myself. Not to mention that one of my all-time favorite movies, Footloose, had filmed a few scenes at the Lehi Roller Mills in 1984. Please bear with me; I will eventually get to my visit and pics of Lehi. I just wanted to share a few fun gems and experiences I had hanging out in Salt Lake City and West Valley City with his huge family.


My husband's 1st cousins had planned a bbq/cocktail get together for Friday evening. Since it was pretty much pot luck style, I asked if we could bring something because one of my pet peeves is showing up empty handed, even if we're told it's not necessary. One of the cousin-in-laws, who I had met before at a family reunion, immediately requested I make my homemade mac and cheese, since that had been a hit at the reunion. I said no problem, as long as I could use their kitchen. I have to say, I was a little bit intimidated only because of the size of my hubby's extended family. Now mind you, over the past couple of years, I've been able to sort of get to know a few of his cousins via Facebook, so that helped ease my nerves a bit.

So before we get to his cousin's house in West Valley City, we have to make a mandatory stop at a liquor store to pick up some liquid family gathering cheer in a bottle.

Say what??? OH DOUBLE SNAPS!!! Damn someone hurry up and get me some o.j, cranberry, ice…then shake and pour!!

Yes, that is Five Wives Vodka you see in front of you! My hubby and I were totally cracking up when we saw these and I couldn't wait to share these fun pics with my peeps at SWB. Hey I wonder if Meri has any Five Wives Vodka stocked in her wet bar?....HA!

Ok, enough clowning at the liquor store, we had places to be, people to see, food to eat and booze to drink! We arrive at his cousin's home and they were all very welcoming and greeted us with hugs, etc... After the greetings, we go to the kitchen to make some cocktails, chit chat and so I could make my homemade mac and cheese, which happened to score me some extra brownie points with his extended family, especially the little kids...Lol

When we're all sitting around eating, drinking, getting better acquainted and listening to all the 1st cousins tell stories of growing up together, my ears overheard one of the twins say that he's a police officer for the Grantsville, Utah PD and that his older brother( who wasn't there) was a police officer for Salt Lake City PD. OMG! Ya'll should know that a million questions started racing thru my mind that I wanted to ask about the Brown's without sounding too much like a groupie psycho fan. Also, my hubby saw my face light up and I kid you not, he just buried his face in his hands and started shaking his head, saying "oh no, here we go".....Lmao Yes, he knows me too well ;) But I was gentle and did hold back a bunch since it really wasn't the right time or place. I did ask him what he thought about the Browns and their lawsuit. I also asked why Utah continues to be a safe haven for polygamists to dwell since technically polygamy is illegal. Well after a short pause, he responded that he's not personally fond of the Browns (along with a majority of Utah...) and thinks the lawsuit was just to get ratings for their show. Interesting! He also said they just really don't have the resources to prosecute all polygamists living in Utah because there's so many of them, unless they're committing fraud, rape, incest. Then I interjected that the Brown's not only committed welfare fraud, by practically bleeding the beast for many years just to survive before they came into TLC $, but most likely tax fraud too. He just explained his own personal experiences with a couple of polygamist families he knows and how they're self-sufficient and don't depend on the government for handouts. I said, well that's maybe just a small handful, but majority of the polygamists live in poverty and depend on the government for handouts. He then again stated that unfortunately they just don't have the resources to go after everyone practicing polygamy. But I could also tell he was holding back what he really wanted to say. So I don't know if that's a good or bad thing? Or maybe he just really couldn’t spill the beans too much on the matter, which I would totally understand! **Sigh** Ok, I had indulged and harassed the family police officer enough about the Browns.

Fast forward to Saturday night. A few of us went to dinner downtown SLC to Squatter's Pub. It was a pretty popular spot and we had to wait about 45 minutes, but it was totally worth it. I highly recommend this place!! Great food, great hand crafted beers, and great prices! Plus they also have a little gift shop inside with some fun Polygamy novelty items which you can check out at their website. Again I ask, I thought polygamists didn't drink alcohol?? Hmmmmm??? FYI, this pic is courtesy of Google, because unfortunately my lil HTC One camera phone pic didn't come out as clear. I wish it had though, because downtown was covered in snow and had a really pretty view.



My souvenir Squatter’s Pub Shot Glass. Some handcrafted beers we tried were Chasing Tale Golden Ale and Provo Girl Pilsner, which both were quite tasty and refreshing. Also, you can sample beers for .99 cents out of dessert size shot glasses, which I think is a pretty cool option to try before you commit to a pint glass.

It was a fun evening and we all really enjoyed ourselves. I was miserably full from good food and beer, so I was ready to go back to the hotel and rest up for our visit to Lehi and Riverton (AUB church location) the next day.

Finally it's early Sunday afternoon and we're headed to Lehi. Since it was lunch time, we wanted to check out a locally family owned spot just to try something different. Well, it was closed on Sunday. Grrrrr.... Now I just didn't want to go do a mad dash drive by and snap pics of the Brown's plyg house either, because I wanted to drive around the small town and kinda get a feel of what it would be like to live here. Dang, let me tell ya, I was soon over it all in less than 30 minutes...Lol IMO, when the Browns become broke again and are forced to move back to Lehi, they will definitely all be unhappy and their family structure will certainly suffer more and be on an even more shaky foundation than what it's on now. They've had a taste of 'fame and $$' and Kody will not be happy moving back to the quiet town of his dirt farm. His wives, especially Meri, will become even more bitter and I just really feel sad for the kids, because they'll be the ones truly suffering - especially when their parents start throwing tantrums instead of acting like grown adults and taking responsibility for their families.

That's me!!
When we exited for Lehi, turned right and came to the 1st stop light, I immediately see the Lehi Roller Mills. That excited me, so I immediately wanted to get pics.















Conveniently, Lehi High School is located just behind the mills, so I went ahead and took a few pics of the school too.


Look at those mountains!


Lehi High School doesn't appear to be too shabby of a high school. I'm pretty confident it's way better than the AUB plygy school. Ok, I'm sure ya'll have been 'schooled' enough with my pics of Lehi HS. Besides by this time my internal lunch bell was ringing blaring, so off we go to in search of a local food establishment...


Stay tuned for Part Two of Caramel Brownie's ear-poppingly good Road Trip to Utah !!

59 comments:

  1. Always nice to see pics from my hometown area. I lived most of my life in American Fork, the town right next to Lehi. Five Wives is actually made in Oregon, and for a while was banned here in Idaho for being "offensive.". I guess Utah Mormons have a better sense of humor than Idaho ones. The polygamists drinking alcohol comment is interesting to me, I always assumed they didn't. Recently I found the Dargers son in law, Rob, on Facebook, he seems to have a photography hobby, and he has lots of family gathering pictures that have a lot of wine in them. I wonder if his polygamist sect doesn't follow the no alcohol rule. There are a lot of famous plyg names on his friends list: Timpson, jessop, Lebaron,. These different groups are so intertwined. Link to his page: https://www.facebook.com/robert.knudson.9?ref=ts&fref=ts

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    1. Yeah, the no alcohol/caffeine rule has me kind of confused... the episode where they went to Boston and Christine was making coffee in the hotel and talking in that awful fake Boston accent, was it decaf? Or are they allowed to drink coffee/tea/anything with caffeine? I always thought Mormon's didn't but maybe their church is different? Just wondering.

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    2. I've always been of the opinion that the Kody Brown fam just picks and chooses what aspects they wanna adhere to, and throw the rest aside. Although really, if they are saying they're following the "true tenants" of Joseph Smith, they would adhere to EVERYTHING including the no caffeine/alcohol bit.

      Really great Part I! Now I'm hearing "everybody cut everybody cut..." in my mind...lol

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    3. When I was a kid a Mormon drinking coffee was a big no-no. As I got older I noticed my generation didn't take it as seriously(ice coffees, mochas, etc.). Last time I was in Utah I could not believe how packed the Starbuck were! So much for coffee being a sin.

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    4. Anon 4:20- I totally forgot about Christine mocking our fine accent here in Boston during her visit! Next day she's harassing a poor pilgrim about religion at Plymouth Plantation. Looks to me like she had a caffeine overload the whole time she was here!

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    5. Anony 2:52 - not sure where you got your info about Five Wives being made in Oregon but i lived in Utah and it's definitely made in an Ogden distillery. :)

      http://ogdensown.com/five-wives-vodka.html


      Caramel Brownie - Another popular micro-brewery is Wasatch Brewery located in Park City where the famous Polygamous Porter beer is made w/the picture of the man w/a bunch of wives on the bottle label and the slogan, "why have just one?"

      http://www.wasatchbeers.com/polygporter.html

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  2. CB this is good! I'm looking forward to hearing the rest of the story!!

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  3. CB, thank you so much. I do enjoy hearing about your family, too.

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  4. Hurray Caramel Brownie! Great writeup, wonderful pictures, beautiful mountains! I've been waiting for the report of your trip, and am not disappointed; looking forward to part 2. Glad you had a good time with hubby's family!!

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  5. Nothing like travel journalism, can't wait for part 2. Thanks for thinking of us Caramel Brownie.

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  6. CB, I am just so jealous! I really enjoyed reading this and am looking SO forward to part 2. Thanks for the great pics and girl you look too thin!

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    1. Thanks LL, but I'm definitely not too thin...that's just a far away pic...Lol I took a closer pic of myself, in part 2, which was just after a huge lunch & I'm totally bloated...lol

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    2. Did I miss the photo of you CB??? What did you think of Colorado? My home but it is getting crowded. Cant wait for part 2. Thanks!

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    3. Hi Colorado
      There's a pic of me standing in front of the Lehi Roller Mills, but I had my hubby take the pic from across the street, so the whole front of the mill would be in the pic. In part 2, there's a closer pic of me in the snow.
      On our way home, we did drive thru Denver & it was dark, but the lights at night were pretty. Actually, we made it just in time to buy beer at the liquor store before it closed. I wanted to buy Colorado beer, since Oklahoma domestic beer is only 3.2% We were told that we had to buy Bud light at the liquor store, otherwise, we would just be getting 3.2 (same as Oklahoma...blah)
      Also, when we drove thru Wyoming, I couldn't remember where Kody's parents ranch was located. I had no DATA service available either, so I couldn't Google it. You know I'm so mad at myself for thinking of this after we passed thru Wyoming, but I should've had my hubby take a pic of me making the letter Y, in front of the Wyoming state line sign...Lol But seriously, when we were passing thru Wyoming, cold winds were blowing up to 60MPH, so I wasn't trying to get out in all of that anyways :)

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    4. aren't his parents from Lovell WY?

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    5. aren't his parents from Lovell WY?

      Yes, they are...

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  7. The pics make me so home sick. We in ate Lehi on our last trip to visit my folks. I grew up 15 minute from Lehi. I wanted to travel around and see all the Brown sights, but then I would have to tell my husband about my guilty pleasure. Sure, it's the show, but I really only watch the show so I can stay up with this blog.

    On a different note, I noticed the wives only wear long sleeves, never short or 3/4. I get no tank tops, but can someone let me know why modesty requires(for them anyways) long sleeves only. Is it a AUB thing? Thanks.

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  8. Thanks for the beautiful summary of your trip. Years ago, when traveling through
    Utah, when in the service, we noted two things, SLC and Utah was very clean and
    few businesses open on Sunday.

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    1. I think I remember the last time we drove there that they don't sell lottery or scratch tickets.

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    2. U know I'm still not even sure if Utah sells lottery tickets now. I bought Powerball tickets in Amarillo & Albuquerque on our way up , so I didn't even think about the lottery until someone mentioned it during dinner on Sat. night.

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    3. I LOVE SLC on Sundays. so easy to grocery shop, go to the movies and restaurants that day.

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  9. Very interesting! Could we please have your recipe for Mac and Cheese? It must be good with everyone requesting it!

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  10. Thanks CB for the pics and great story. Didn't know about the Five Wives Vodka...kind of catchy. Did you see any Polygamy Porter beer? Their slogan is Why Have Just One. Kody could wear one of their T-shirts.

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    1. I LOVE wasatch brewery in Park City that makes Polygamy Porter. Yes, i did bring back home with me a ladies purple t-shirt that says BIG LOVE and shows a guy and his plyg wives and the slogan "Why have just one?" as well as a polygamy porter coffee mug which i use on a regular basis. Anytime i wear my t-shirt out in public, i always get asked about it and where to get one. lol

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  11. Caramel Brownie, I'm loving your story! Looking forward to part 2 of this vicarious thrill. Thanks so much for sharing your trip with us... and in such an entertaining way!

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  12. Ohmigosh! Your feet touched the same ground that Kevin Bacon's feet once touched. *sigh*
    Please tell me you did the Footloose dance.

    Can't wait for part deux!

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  13. Hey Caramel Brownie !!! *Loving* your travelogue !!!
    You got me hooked....hated to see Part One come to an end.

    Love the humor, details and occasional snark. I am an East Coast girl but have lots of relatives out west....but not in Utah.

    Getting the beer chilled for Part Two.....!!!!

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  14. Hey everyone thanks for your feedback. I'm glad ya'll enjoyed it, b/cuz I really did. Also, it took me a minute to collect all my thoughts & pics together. Actually it took me longer to send in everything since I had to resize, etc...So a HUGE thanks & shout out to Cyinical Jinx for patiently sorting thru all the emails I had to send her. Plus she had to do some resizing pics herself and lots of cutting & pasting just to get it to Blogger standards...WHEW!!
    It would be really cool if we could all go on a RV roadtrip to Utah & Vegas...SWB Style...lol
    Hope ya'll enjoy part 2 :)

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    1. Hahaha! A Sister Wives reality tour! How awesome is that! I am such an addict I would probably consider going. It reminds me of when Kramer (on Seinfeld) was doing a Peterman reality tour! I know there used to be a Sex and the City tour in NY where they go to all the restaurants, apartments, etc in the show. We could go to the Pottery place and the Froz Yogurt place, etc. BTW we are serious about wanting your mac and cheese recipe.

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    2. I'm retired, with time on my hands. Let me know when the bus leaves!

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    3. In "Footloose" was the family, Mormon or Christian?

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    4. All in favor of a sister wife's cruise raise your apron high in the air. . .

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    5. Would this cruise ship go up the Colorado River? Only way I know of to get to Las Vegas by boat. But I'm game!

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  15. Very new here and enjoying every minute of the snarkiness. Loving the travelogue CB. Many thanks.

    Jerseygirl

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  16. Thanks for including us in your Lehi adventure- I could not stop laughing about the 5 Wives Vodka...too funny!

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  17. CB I loved reading about your trip and can't wait to read about the rest!

    I'm thrilled that you got to go and see all the stuff that I'd give my eyeteeth to see! I mean what the heck, then I could tweet and ask about a dentist *wink*

    LMAO abut the 5 Wives Vodka and also wondering if Krody and Krew could possibly get some sort of endorsement deal???? Well he'd need another wife but he could do that without a problem. He's so sexy with all that hair ya know.

    Anywho, thanks and I'm waiting with bated breath for the next part of the adventure! Thanks for sharing!

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  18. Just a quick answer....from an lapsed mormon lol....the original Mormons did drink wine, coffee etc as did Joseph Smith. The revelation now known as the Word of Wisdom (no coffee, tea, alcohol, drugs etc) was later in Smiths time and not one that many of the fundementalists faiths follow as it comes under parts they think he got wrong. HOpe that helps and yes Im a first time blogger from Oz though ive been secretly lurking and reading your amazing blog for months.

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  19. Did you happen to venture into a Walmart near Lehi or Riverton? You ALWAYS run into polygamists shopping there. (The ones that wear prairie dresses and wear their hair in braids and buns) They fascinate me. Every time I pass a huge compound just off of Bangater Highway, I always crane my neck to look, but they never seem to be out. If you really want to see them, visit St. George in southern Utah and go to Walmart! The clans like Kody are harder to spot.

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    1. We did venture into a Wal-Mart Supercenter right by our hotel in West Jordan, but we didn't see any plygs in prairie dresses. Trust me, I was on the lookout...lol In diffenrent neighborhoods we were passing thru, I was speculating & saying, that looks like a possible plyg house based on all of the different sizes, shapes, & layouts. But unless ur familiar w/ the areas & know which are plyg homes,etc... it was seriously like trying to find Waldo....Haha

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    2. Brigham Young's famous plyg house called the Lion House is located in downtown SLC. they give tours there as well as hold weddings in it. It's also got a fabulous restaurant w/old school made from scratch Mormon pioneer food. Their Lion House rolls are so yummers!! They even sell them in all the Deseret Book Stores there.

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  20. Love your pics and story! You sound like such a fun person. Make sure you post your mac and cheese recipe too.

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  21. mock tomato sammichMarch 1, 2013 at 6:52 PM

    Thanks for sharing your adventures with us. Love the Five Wives vodka. *snort*

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  22. I emailed my easy mac & cheese recipe to C.J to post on SWB,which I'm sure she'll post it with part 2 :)
    It's a real simple recipe to make. FYI, it's extremely high in fat & calories, but it's yummolicious & comforting! But ya'll are more than welcome to substitute healthier preferences :)
    Bon Appetit peeps!

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  23. yummolicious....What a fantastic word!!!

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  24. I told you Kody wasn't lying when he called Lehi a hick town. it is for real. But i thought they fit in fine there.

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  25. The funniest bumper sticker i saw on a car in Utah once was "You're only Mormon cause Scientologists didn't get to you first!" HAH!!

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  26. Thanks for the pictures and stories. I love this blog!

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  27. Interesting to "walk" through their territory. I am more interested in the Cop who said most people didn't like them. I wonder if they were not that popular before the show?

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    1. I sometimes wonder if the reason the cops weren't hanging out on their road in Lehi was because Kody and some of the brood were known for speeding up and down the road. After all, if they don't have to follow the laws of the state, wouldn't that include speed limits?

      It would be just like Kody to say, "We have to leave because we're being persecuted! Just look at the cops (watching us drive 80 in a 30 MPH zone). They're out to get us!"

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  28. Hi Caramel Brownie: I just read what you wrote on Oct 25, 2011 and I had such a good laugh. "If I wanted to hear from an asshole, I'd just fart." Looking forward to your Mac n cheese recipe. I heard people have even served it with grilled cheese sandwiches for midnight lunch at a wedding dance. Yummy!!

    Slept into Debt

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    1. HI Slept into Debt...
      Lmao!! I totally remember saying that too... :)
      Hey a bowl of homemade creamy mac & cheese is good anytime & anywhere. That's my favorite 'comfort' food along w/ some lil' smokies that I <3 to indulge in.

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  29. Interesting Caramel Brownie and CJ! Looking forward to Part 2!

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  30. Love all the photos you took. Thanks for sharing with us.

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  31. Such an interesting story! Great Job, I owuld have been pumping folks to info too, but in our family, that's just talking! I read both and came back here to say- I bet this was read by many many people. Sometimes, what do you say? Other than, LOVE THE VODKA!LOLLOL

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  32. Sounds like a super fun trip.

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