HaveKidsWillTravel

Now, we faced the drive across Utah – stark, beautiful farming country between the mountains and the salt lake down to the deserts of the South. The small country towns we drove through wore their heritage proudly – simple timber homes, neat brick civic buildings and stone tabernacles. No cafes, though.

It was a beautiful sunny morning, the air crisp and dry, but we were starting to suffer withdrawals. We got to Providence, a pretty college town – handsome red-brick buildings, big tidy lawns, and hanging flower baskets down the main street, and Fiona went into the civic information building. The friendly old ladies were glad to have a visitor, and to point us to a bakery – though there was no direct answer on the coffee question. But a few blocks back from main street, we found a cottage that had an espresso machine in a back room – and settled around their dining room table for a fantastic breakfast, made by guy pretty zealous about his crepe-making.

We carried on, stopped for lunch in the park in Salt Lake City, and on, pulling over in a state park close to Bryce by midnight. Now Bryce has to be one of the great natural wonders of North America, so we wanted to be there to watch the spectacle of dawn over the pinnacles. And after sunrise, Fiona performed an early morning miracle by digging out an emergency sachet of coffee grains, and we got an early start on hiking down into the canyons and marvelling at the wonders of creation on display, happily caffeinated – hallelujah.

I’m just glad I didn’t run out of Whiskey.