Salt Lake City's got more than salt!

So, what's to see in Salt Lake City? Besides the Mormon Temple that is?

Actually, lots! Skii resorts, mountain drives, fantasic museums, city sculptures, and trips to the Great Salt Lake itself. I won't attempt to tell you about all those "things," just one of them -- the awesome and totally serendipitous happening we experienced while driving into those amazing snow covered peaks, one car midst a caravan of spring break skiers, off, not to ski but to see. And what I did not expect to see was a sign pointing to Sundance.
"Not THE Sundance , " I yelped. I had to find out so we made a sharp right off highway 189 and onto 92 where the terrain changed immediately from desert to fir forested cliffs on a narrow road between cliffs of forested trees and . . . falling rocks, where we did indeed find the real Sundance and a packed parking lot. Skiers of all sizes, shapes, and ages -- were hauling skis off tops of cars, clipping boots, donning hats, goggles and gloves. Where would we park, we wondered, turning hopefully toward a young man wearing a florescent vest and directing traffic. He leaned in our window and asked: "Are you here for the author reading?"

"Author Reading?" I asked, my mouth slightly agape. "What about an author reading."
"Oh, some guy speaking to a group of people," he shrugged.
"My wife's an author," my husband Bill added, as if that would entitle us to a parking space.
"Well then," the young man said, "Head over there to the second parking lot, walk under the gateway to the Tree House."

We followed his directions and voila, there we were, inside a rustic Sundance building surrounded by elegantly dressed people moving toward a sumptuous buffet.

"Your reservation?" a woman at the desk asked. We didn't have reservations, we told her, we hadn't known about this event but we'd love to attend. It seemed so serendipitous that we should land at Sundance in time for an author's reading. "I'll see what I can do," she said. "We're booked solid but maybe there will be a no show."

I stood awkwardly at the desk while people with reservations filed past and received copies of author Fred Krupp's new book Earth: The Sequel: The race to reinvent energy and stop global warming. As I waited, the room grew progressively more crowded with elegant ly dressed guests and there were were in our slacks and sneakers and sweaters! We found out why the elegance when we were informed that they'd managed to locate two seats for us and were informed that for a mere $95 per person, we could partake of both brunch and program. Ninety-five bucks a person? No wonder everyone dressed up.

The price took our breath awaybut how could we let such an opportunity slip away? We made the plunge and were taken to a table where another couple was already seated (a table which just happened to be next to the dessert table).

"And how is it that you find yourselves at this table?" the man asked, his smile softening what I might have taken as a challenge. Apparently we were the lucky recipients of their son's decision to go skiing instead of attending the event with the. As I sat chatting with this couple, I noticed Bill talking up a storm with the elegant silver-haired gentleman next to him in the buffet line who turned out to be none other than author Fred Krupp himself. Bill's amazing happenings did not stop there. Oh no. After a trip to the restroom, my hubby returned to the table beaming. "Guess what?" he said. "I met Robert Redford outside the men's room. He came up and shook my hand." I think I should take some lessons from Bill on timing. Either that or maybe I should just follow him around rooms just in case something else wonderful happens. (Of course, just being with my hubby is a great experience, but you probably know what I mean).

Far from the doom and gloom many of us have come to expect from environmentalists, Krupp -- who has headed the Environmental Defense Fund for years -- had exciting ventures to share with us . . . news of entrepreneurs who have developed amazing technologies to combat global warming and are making lots of money doing so. As I listened, I thought that this was where the national stimulus package should have gone . . . jobs the government could have fostered by applying forward thinking and launching a full scale national initiative of environmental technologies geared toward making this nation independent of foreign oil and to our boosting our national economy.

Photo is of Fred Krupp signing a nameplate for me.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune named Beryl as a "Best of 2006 Minnesota Authors." Her book The Scent of God was a "Notable" Book Sense selection for April 2006. She is a columnist for the Cook County News Herald and has been published in anthologies and periodicals nationwide. See Road Writer for her travel blog.