Day Zero:
Las Vegas to Salt Lake City
I'm not exactly sure why, but I can never find a good
airfare into Salt Lake City. Tickets seem to hover around the $400
mark, year round. Maybe it's because of where I live (Tampa,
Florida), or maybe it's that way for everyone.
It really is a shame, because SLC is the best place
starting place for a vacation to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons.
It's the nearest big city to these two awesome national parks--only
about 300 miles away.
Weeks before my trip, I started watching the fares.
Flights to Salt Lake City didn't budge, so I looked at my other options.
Boise, Idaho isn't much farther from Yellowstone, but it's a smaller
airport, and I'd have to make a couple of connections. Denver
would require a long drive across Wyoming, and rental cars always seem
to be expensive there. As I searched, I finally came up with a
most unlikely solution: Las Vegas.
The drive from Las Vegas to Jackson, Wyoming is 668
miles. That's hardly convenient. But unlike driving from
Denver, I'd be on interstates most of the way (actually, just one
interstate, I-15). Rental cars are usually very cheap in Las Vegas
(often just $15 a day). But the deciding factor was the plane
ticket. I could buy two round trip flights to Las Vegas for the
price of one to Salt Lake City. Even if I tacked on an extra
night's motel stay, I would still come out ahead.
So that's the story of why I started my Yellowstone
vacation in Las Vegas.
The worst part of the arrangement was the first day,
or Day 0 as I'm calling it here, since I didn't see much of anything,
and didn't take a single picture that day. After arriving in Las
Vegas mid-afternoon, my only objective was making it to Salt Lake City
as quickly as possible. The 425 mile trip took about 7 hours, with
the last four hours after dark. The sun went down around Cedar
City (the northernmost point on my Southwest Utah trip), which means by
the time there was something new to see, there wasn't enough light to
see it. I still don't know exactly what I-15 looks like, through
most of Utah. I'd safely bet that it's beautiful, though.
Alright then. Enough about the most boring day
of my trip. Let's get to the more interesting parts....
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From Las Vegas to Salt Lake City, take
I-15 the entire way. Don't trust the mileage on the
road signs, some of them are inaccurate. Just remember
that downtown SLC is at mile marker 307. Watch the
mile markers, and do the math. |
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