Our Great American Car Trip - Salt Lake City to Roseville California

 


August 1st, 2026 - We stopped by Temple Square, the center of Salt Lake City. At the visitor center we listened to what Richard thought was to be a presentation on the renovations of the Temple, - but it turned out to be a very soft, delightful and generic sell on the church.   Neither the word(s) Mormon or the Church of the Latter Day Saints was mentioned!  

Temple Square   

   

Salt Lake at Salt Lake State Park

 On our way out of the city on I80 we watched an informative video about the history of Salt Lake. The lake rises and falls from decade to decade once threating to flood Interstate 80.

Once Lake Bottom

        

Salt Lines the Sides of I80

Salt Harvesting


We broke our 641 mile drive from Salt Lake City to Roseville into two parts stopping at Winnemucca, Nevada for the night. We rolled into our driveway August 2nd almost one month after leaving Southwest Florida.

We put 5,632 miles on the car, about the same as we usually drive in one year using 194 gallons of premium gasoline at a cost of $844. The lowest price paid was $4.10/gal in South Carolina; the highest was $5.76 in Reno.  We averaged 29 mpg mostly driving about 70 mph.  We recorded  42.5 mpg from Reno to Roseville for which the drive was overall downhill. Elevation at Reno is 4000 ft; at Roseville we are only about 26 ft above sea level!

We visited six national parks and one state park. We stayed with friends and family thirteen nights and at hotels, fourteen nights. We travelled through twenty-one states.

Our Great American Car Trip was a great way to get to California from Florida but we are not likely to repeat it!  

 

August 22nd - Richard rode his bike for the first time since moving day back in May down to the intersection of Pleasant Grove Blvd and Sun City Blvd.


Approaching Intersection



         Turn onto Sun City Blvd.


Sun City Blvd.



                             Left Turn - Redbud Grove Lane


Our House


Our Backyard

We are getting closer to getting "moved-in" with the to-do list shrinking:

         Replace filtration system for pond
         Install filtration system for house
         Check out/repair irrigation system
         Repair part of the landscape lighting
         Buy dinning room furniture
         Buy some more furniture for living room
         Get outdoor grill repaired
         + + + 

Some things we have done

Had minor minors made to roof last week. Still waiting for bill and roof certification.

We had an electrician/general contractor troubleshooting, adding covers for outdoor electrical outlets, installing an outlet for a bidet and replacing the fan in the bedroom with one that has a light. A few more things to take of.

We have gotten our California driver's licensees and registered one car ($602!!! wow + $89 for required smog certification). The other car we plan to ship to Hawaii.  Updated car insurance.

Unpacked and sorted out.
Hung Pictures
Installed bidet in master bath
Checked out grocery stores including Costco - Many near by
Checked out Farmer's Market - not impressive  
Checked out Walmart, Home Depot & Trader Joes
Got Richard's Car serviced + smog certification 
Joined Bocce Club
Attended Friendship Force Picnic          

Looking forward to getting out and going places + working out + swimming in the lap  pool. Getting recommendations left and right.  Will be Day Hosts for FF Ambassadors from Romania in September and attend dome of the FF events.



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