I'm a 1000 miles from nowhere.

GUYS. We need to talk about Salt Lake City. It has officially moved itself up to the Top 5 of Places I Want To Live. I haven't decided what place it knocked off, but right now I am deeply infatuated with SLC.

OK, so last time I wrote an entry, I was in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. When I woke up that morning, there was almost half a foot of snow waiting for me. Needless to say, that trip to Utah was filled with excitement. The first 50 miles or so of Route 40 was a little bit white-knuckle. Nothing crazy, but definitely had to pay extreme attention to the road. Once I reached Utah, though, it was clear skies! By the time I made it to Salt Lake City, I had just enough time to get to the Lake and take some pictures during sunset.

I know it's not the ocean, but after being away from the sea for 3 weeks, the Great Salt Lake was a welcome sight. It smelled so good! What a beautiful place. Another part of this great country that will never cease to amaze me.

I was only going to spend one night in SLC, but then I ended up spending THREE nights there. The weekend I was there was a big celebration for the 10th year anniversary of the 2002 Winter Olympics. I LOVE Winter Olympics sports so I knew I had to stay in town and take advantage of all the events going on that weekend. I ended up spending a day in Park City, Utah. I love that town. If I am still working at the same job next year, I'm totally going to attempt to go to the Sundance Festival next January. I don't ski or snowboard, but it's still a cool community to me. I toured the Olympic Park - where they held the bobsled, skeleton, luge and a bunch of the skiing events during the 2002 Olympics.

That night I ended up at the Olympic Oval in Kearns where in 2002 they held the speed skating events. The town of Kearns was putting on a little show that night and I thoroughly enjoyed it. They even lit a replica of the Olympic flame. The next day, I spent a good few hours down at the Olympic Gateway where they had all kinds of events going on and a bunch of Olympic alumni. I kind of fan-girled for Derek Parra - one of the best speed skaters of our generation. I never know how to act around "celebrities" so I didn't get any autographs. So instead, I left and walked around the Morman Tabernacle and Temple.

There is nothing I find more awkward then religion so even though I enjoyed reading about the history of Mormonism, I felt extremely uncomfortable and headed back to the hotel for a little R&R. I just wanted to read stuff and there was people accosting me asking me how I was. No thank you.

That night turned out to be a dream come true. I have loved ice skating my whole life. I saw Stars On Ice back in 1989 with my aunt Mary and I still vividly remember that night, even though I was only 5 years old. It was in Providence and it was amazing. I also used to rollerblade around the neighborhood thinking I was Bonnie Blair. And when I ice skated on the cranberry bogs - I was Dorothy Hamill! When I saw that the Stars On Ice would be in SLC with a few special guests to commemorate the 2002 Olympics, I knew I had to buy a ticket or I would regret it my whole life. To see Jamie Sale and David Pelletier skate was a dream come true. I hooted, hollered, gave standing ovations. And I had no idea but my favorite skater of all time - Scott Hamilton was there too. I lost my shit when he skated out. Joannie Rochette - the 2010 Olympic bronze medalist - was fantastic, as was Todd Eldridge. I find it hard to believe that he never placed in the Olympics. Anywho, Stars On Ice in Salt Lake City is something I will never forget. It's things like this that make this trip worthwhile.

 Begrudgingly, I left Salt Lake City Sunday morning. I had nothing but pleasant experiences while I was there. The people of SLC have some deep-seeded pride. And it was a pleasure to stand side-by-side with these people that weekend. I really hope that SLC gets the Winter Olympic bid in 2022. It's a great community with some amazing facilities that is helping to shape some of the future Olympiads of USA. I think I could live there. Easily. Such a great city. Such great surrounding communities. I already miss it...

After SLC, I made my way to Oregon. I spent the night in The Dalles where the next morning, I partook in a couple local breweries. Speaking of community pride, the people of Oregon really love their state. And they also really love the show "Portlandia" which I find beyond amusing. I ended up spending the night with my cousin Haley, whom I haven't seen in at least 17 years. It was really cool to be able to meet up with her, and I can only hope that we will stay in touch.

After I hung out with Haley, I had all these big plans of touring Portland and taking pictures, but it ended up being a crappy day so I just did a few breweries and called it a night. I gotta say....some of the beer I've been trying has been delicious.

I left Portland and headed towards my aunt Louise's house in Port Orford, Oregon on Wednesday. It was straight up down-pouring when I woke up that morning. But I looked to the west and it was clear skies. That made the decision easy. I drove along the Salmon River for a bit and then did one of my favorite rides ever - the West Coast of Oregon - Route 101. It's so friggin' beautiful.

Today I left Port Orford after spending a relaxing three nights there. For a town with not much population, I found there are plenty of things to do. Two mornings in a row, we went down to the beach to collect agates. And yesterday I found myself combing the beach and then climbing Battle Point rock. Also, managed to catch up with a lot of my TV shows - which to anyone who knows me, is a very big deal.

Today I started to slowly make my way to San Francisco. I made it as far as Ukiah - after hitting up a few breweries. I made the trek out to the coast of Fort Bragg - which I challenge anyone to try. It was a LONG and WINDING road - through the forest. I feel like it was a prototype for the video game Cruisin' USA. But man, was it a great drive. I am forever thankful that I am able to do this trip. I take nothing for granted and I mean that. Driving along the coast of California today made me realize how lucky I am. Here I was in the middle of nowhere with the Pacific Ocean on the right of me and the great Redwood forest on the left of me. And it felt so right.

Tomorrow I will be in San Francisco just in time to shut myself in my hotel room and watch the Oscars. And then probably on Monday I will do a tour of Alcatraz.

I love this country so much. I can't tell you how many times I've just randomly smiled throughout this trip. Only a few weeks left, and I can tell that it's going to be epic.