How Is It A Vacation When There’s No Job To Come Back To?

I don’t know. But, somehow Tuesday afternoon saw me headed for Palisades State Park in Central Utah for a three day vacation. It wasn’t my vacation. It was supposed to a be a graduation trip with my sons. But, the vagrancies of teenagers meant that Thursday morning we had food packed for two. Accomodations for two. And only one person going.

I switched from the Suburban to my old Corolla. Palisades State Park is about 100 miles from my home in Pleasant Grove. I figured without my boys along, I wasn’t really interested in taking the kayaks. And I could save on gas with my smaller car.

I made it as far as Spanish Fork and my fuel pump went out. (More on that tomorrow.) My lovely wife drove down and dropped off the Suburban for me. My son gave her a ride back. There are two routes to take from Pleasant Grove to Palisades State Park. You can save about 15 minutes by taking the freeway. Or, you can enjoy an extra 15 minutes of travel on a scenic winding two lane highway down Spanish Fork Canyon.

Of course I took the scenic route. I was on vacation after all.

There’s plenty of road construction on Utah’s highways.

Palisades is a wonderful little park, centered around a resevoir. It wasn’t any cooler in the mountains. 96 when I left Spanish Fork, and 93 when I arrived at the park. But, a little shade and a breeze kept it tolerable.

I was eating for two, since the food was already packed.

There was plenty. And the crowd lurked hoping for some scraps, or maybe a distracted diner.

So, what to do with a spare day, no boat and no inclination to go swimming?

Writing . . .

And fishing. . .

The trip back today was just as enjoyable as the trip down. In fact, at one point, we experimented with driving on the left side of the road. (Courtesy of more road construction.)

The trip goes through the town of Manti with it’s signature temple.

The sunsets on the lake were a pleasant memory of my brief vacation.

Stay safe

Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.

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