re is absolutely no way to satisfy a craving for In N Out’s cheeseburgers, fries or milkshakes up here; that requires an hour and a half trip into Vegas. All of this has us frequently asking ourselves why on earth we ever moved to Southern Utah. Good question really. I guess because we felt the Lord told us to. Not much more you can say about that! We’ve been blessed here certainly with all kinds of opportunities we wouldn’t have had if we’d stayed in the Golden State. We own property, paid off both cars, got a dog (hello Spencer!) and with me working for an airline we’ve also been able to travel a lot. Our two favorite trips were to San Francisco and New York City. As non-rev’s (airline employee travelers) we’ve seen a different side of these cities than I think we otherwise would have.
The first time we went to San Francisco was right after I graduated college and we drove. This time we used public transportation rather than renting a car since it was going to be a rather quick trip and since paying for parking in San Francisco is insane!! We walked a lot and took the cable cars and saw all kinds of things we’d missed the first time since we’d whizzed by it all in a car. We love San Francisco, it’s honestly one of our favorite cities to visit. We’d love to catch a game at the “Hated One’s” stadium. They may be the Dodger’s arch enemies but I’m sorry, it’s a cool stadium!Then there was New York. We did that in October of last year and I still think about it all the time. It is such a fascinating city, kind of above your opinions of it if you know what I mean. We used public transportation there too of course and Ever did a great job on the subways even though it had been 10 years since he’d been there last. Visiting the city that he’d served in on his mission was an incredible experience. We have so many pictures of him in his Mission Photo Album at all of these different places throughout New York and actually standing in them made all of his stories and experiences come alive for me! We went to church on Sunday in Harlem at one of his old branches that he’d served in and the first person we saw remembered him and gave him a huge hug! It was our experience in Sacrament Meeting that day in a small branch in Harlem that made us both feel that perhaps we needed to seek out the Spanish Ward here in St. George. It was life changing for us. After that he took me to the Manhattan Temple which was his ward building on his mission. Half of it is still a ward building, the other half is the Temple. He took me upstairs and showed me the couch he’d had his backpack stolen off of and the closet where someone had taken his bike while he was at a baptism and the Baptismal Font itself where he has so many pictures of himself with companions and the people they were baptizing. It was just indescribable to be there with him, it really goes beyond words. In addition to visiting old mission sites we also hit the Empire State building (holy cow it’s high!), Ground Zero, Central Park, 5th Avenue, Broadway, Wall Street, Battery Park, Rockefeller Center and of course Times Square. We even stopped at his favorite hot dog place called
Gray’s Papaya on the Upper East Side. Now let me just say that Ever has been raving about this place since I met him 8 years ago. He went on and on about how delicious their hot dogs were, how perfect, how matchless, how they were the crowing creation of meat parts in a tube so I couldn’t wait to try them out and bask in the same frankfurter glow. We stepped inside this little corner stand and Ever ordered for us. When asked what I wanted on my ‘dog’ I piped up with “mustard and relish” just like at Dodger Stadium! Wrong side of the country I guess. The guy informed me rather coolly that they didn’t have relish there. I had the option of sauerkraut, onions and some other strange concoctions that I hesitate to try and identify. So I smiled feebly and said that just mustard would be fine then. I’m pretty sure I saw him rolling his eyes at the other guy behind the counter as he turned around to get my food. I accepted it and slunk away to the counter by the window where Ever was waiting for me in raptures of hot dog delight. He watched anxiously as I took my first bite. Now I didn’t mean to offend him, I really didn’t but it took every ounce of effort I had not to yak that bite right back out onto the counter. The hot dog was crunchy!! Crunchy! A crunchy hot dog! The skin was dark and wrinkled and crunched when you bit into it! That is just wrong, on multiple levels! I’ve never particularly been a hot dog fan but these were not the earth shaking frankfurters that I’d heard about for 8 years, maybe I’d gotten a bad batch! Alas! No, that’s how these are made. I’ve since talked to others who were not surprised in the least by this appalling revelation that the hot dogs at Gray’s Papaya were crunchy; in fact their mouths have watered the same way that Ever’s does as they heard them described. I fear my delicate palate is just not cultured enough to enjoy the crowing achievement of New York City- the crunchy hot dog.Times Square was a site I’ll never forget! Ever hailed one of those bike cabs and it took us to Times Square just as the sun was setting. The lights just popped out at us and surrounded us until the whole chaotic scene just looked like a gigantic blur, larger than life. It was beautiful and shocking and I can’t imagine seeing it for the first time any other way! We plan to go back again soon and spend a little more time seeing more of the places Ever spent a lot of time in on his mission.
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