Shan-o-Rama

We returned to our room and had a nice night’s sleep. Our innkeeper was in the “Fourth” of July parade (actual date: third of July) in Mt. Pleasant, so we had very nice breakfast buffet. We didn’t have anywhere to be until 8:30 that night, so we decided to take our time and mosey on back. But, before we got to the moseying, we decided to ride bikes around Spring City.

Now, the disclaimer on these photos is that I decided to try to even out my terrible farmer’s tan by wearing a tank top, figuring that we wouldn’t be out that long. If it makes you feel any better about this little choice of mine, the sunburn is currently both peeling and painful! The other disclaimer is that I have not ridden a bike since my mission, many moons ago. This is a conscious choice, as riding bicycles on my mission was maybe the worst thing about my mission. Probably was, in fact. But that’s a topic for another day.

Here we are biking around town:

Mike and the blue bike. 'Cause, you know, he's a boy.

Pink for me. In case someone doesn't notice my obvious girl-ness.

No matter what you think, the basket is absolutely key.

Before any of you get excited, it’s just a horrible combination of… things that make me look pregnant-ish. I’m not. I’m really not.

Our one destination while biking around was a recommendation from my friend Kellie, who offered some great ideas for things to do in the area. She mentioned something called “snow cremes”, and as soon as we got to town we started asking around, and it turns out the a snow creme is a shaved ice with ice cream in the middle and optional sweetened condensed milk on top. There’s a lady in Spring City who both owns a shack and runs the business out of part of her house. Everyone we asked said they were a must try, and since it’s just not that big a town we decided to ride there.

It was worth it. They had all the flavor choices of the local shaved ice joint and the ice cream was a nice addition. Mike had tiger’s blood snow with coconut ice cream and I, on Joe’s recommendation, has the tangy tangerine with vanilla ice cream. We got our and then sat on the porch swing and enjoyed. As we ate we enjoyed the company of the owner’s dog, cat, and chickens. The cat was a total pushover and curled right up with us.

This cat didn't think twice about laying out on our laps and getting the petting.

Cheers!

After refreshing ourselves, we meandered though Spring City, stopping to talk to some sheep at one point. When we got back we packed up and started back up north. We stopped at the Mt. Pleasant festivities. We looked though quite a few of the vendors’ tents before we realized that there was a theme going, and eventually realized that it wasn’t just a fair, it was also a rendez-vous.

Teepees and mountain men all across the park.

We also stopped at a thrift store in Mt Pleasant. They had a lot knitting needles and a large selection of clothing, but I wasn’t really in the market. But we did see one great thing there. After that we drove back home, stopping only to have sliders at Marley’s at the Harley Davidson resort. I was happy to see, however, a wind farm that I wasn’t expecting on the way.

Nobody puts Big Bird in a cage!

Wow, this is part 6, and it’s not even the last. I could have made it one long post, but then, if you’re anything like me, you’d have not made it far. So I hope it was a good decision.

Our location that night was a pottery shop called Horseshoe Mountain Pottery. It’s a fascinating place. The owner, Joe, was an actor in the movie, though he was the first to say that he was really just playing himself. This is to say that he was playing a guy who had created a pottery shop in a little town with his wife Lee, also an artist, after visiting there on their honeymoon. Joe’s built his own wood-fired kilns (that use only rejected wood from sawmills, nothing is cut down for his use) and they took a historic (like most in Spring City) building and turned it into his workshop. The front of the store is his shop, and there at the location he sells everything for half off the retail price. Joe’s one of those guys who is both passionate and eloquent, and I really enjoyed talking to him a little about his pottery and how he ended up in Spring City. His wife Lee is also a talented painter and I had a chance on set to talk with her a little. I enjoyed hanging out with her a little while they were filming in the shop, and she was very sweet and loaned us some of her cleaning supplies to grease down the dolly track.

I spent a fair amount of the afternoon and evening outside the front of the shop while they were filming inside. While normally I like to be working on set, not only was the space not that big, but a boom pole in a pottery shop… that’s a combination I didn’t want to be responsible for.

The shop. If you're in Spring City check it out.

Zen grip patiently waits for the shot to be over. Shannon thanks her lucky stars that she doesn't have to take any equipment that size in the shop.

Grip Shaun decorates the fence posts with blades of wheat

More of Shaun's work. I watched him and felt very satisfied that everyone was making art that day.

Me behind the shop.

Our last shots of the day were at a fire. Lee explained to us that potters are generally pyros.

End of the night shot.

We drove north through Mount Pleasant and found ourselves in Fairview. When we had talked to our innkeeper, Carly, she told us that Fairview had “a surprisingly good art museum.” I always like things that are surprisingly good, so we decided to check it out. I know that a lot of small towns in that area have a museum that overs some part of their history, but I was instantly impressed with this one because it was two buildings, and one of them had a huge two story window through which you could see a mammoth skeleton. Or, to be more exact, a skeleton from a mammoth. Pretty cool. The older building contained the historical and cultural exhibits, including what we termed the “Oh my gosh, you mean pioneer women wore dresses?” exhibit. That was the later part of our visit, but if you’re there I would recommend that building all the same. It contained the expected old tools, spinning wheels, clothing, and an exhibit of hand carved horses, but also an incredible room full of Avard T. Fairbanks‘s religious sculptures.

The other building, the one we went in first, was intriguing. It was clearly a lager building, and I had assumed that it couldn’t be the art museum because it had huge windows, which are not always kind to art. We entered and realized that there wasn’t an entrance fee, just a suggested donation. We doubled our donation at the end of the first building because I was that impressed. We chatted for a few minutes and I asked about the upcoming lace festival and whether or not that was because of any particular part of the town’s history. The answer sort of amused me. It was basically “Well… hmmm… well the pioneers used lace on things…” It turns out it mostly exists because one of the curators is passionate about lace in all it’s forms and put it together.

We perused the natural history and western history exhibits and then went upstairs to the art section. It was impressive. Lots of local painters and sculptors, and our friend Avard T. Fairbanks‘s work pops up again in a series of bronze sculptures of President Lincoln. I didn’t photograph much there, as the rules for photography can sometimes be tricky in art museums, but here are two photos from within. I wish I had more (or could find a better web site for the place) but if you find yourself in the area you should check it out.

Me and some busts. They were in a semi-circle and the clear head was this nice lady.

I don't know anything about him, but I love this little guy.

Here I am on a bench in from of some flowers, because I can.

After the museum it was time to get to work. Knowing that we were starting at 3pm we knew there was no way that we could be done before midnight, and could go as late as 3:30am, so we decided to stay at the B&B another night. Especially after we made the happy discovery that it was right next door to our filming location.

We decided to first go south, as we were already pointed that way when we pulled out. We drove through Ephraim, and on the way back through there we took a slight diversion to look at the campus of Snow College. We only looked at one side of it, but it was neat. I like looking at college campuses. We continued south to Manti. As we pulled in front of the temple we saw something walking down the sidewalk from behind and Mike said “Oh look, there’s a stray dog.” I was staring at it very hard, trying to figure out whether or not I was seeing what I thought I was seeing.

Calf!

And then, as confirmation he said “No, that’s a calf.” And there we were in one of those great “We’re in the country now” moments as we watched this stray calf walk down the sidewalk in front of the temple.

Hee

I jumped out of the van to try to take a better picture and this boy came running down the lawn in front of the temple at the same time. The calf watched him run down with some interest and then started running when the boy got within 10 yards.

When you're used the the streets in front of the Salt Lake Temple this is about a rural as it gets.

After some calf photography and a cruise down Manti’s main street we turned into a neighborhood. I though we were just checking out the local lifestyle, but on our second trip around the same few blocks Mike pointed out a sign for a yard sale and said that he wanted to check it out, especially since the sign said explicitly “No Junk.” We’ve never been to a yard sale together before, so this was going to be interesting.

We couldn't find it because it was in the back yard. But then we did find it.

We walked away with two things, a set of push up handles, and a fountain. The push up handles are for me, to try to reduce the wear and tear on my poor beleaguered wrists. The fountain was an affair that looks like three candles that pours water from one to another and also lights up. It’s sort of kitsch and kind of silly, but I really like it. If nothing else, the sound of intentionally trickling water is always soothing.

The fountain, dry and in the van.

Here are a few more temple shots.

From a distance...

The temple entrance seen from the parking lot

Stupid power lines

And here are some buildings and clouds.

Courthouse with dramatic clouds

A house that seemed... pleasant

Oh the drama!

I feel like this cloud has something to say.

Truth be told, I have always wanted to stay in a Bed and Breakfast. It always seemed so quaint and New England-y. And it was. Our room was the Evelyn Room, a peach (color, not fruit) themed room with a jetted tub and a queen bed. The Inn itself is Victorian home that the inn keepers restored, keeping as much of the original design as possible. Reading the list of updates they did make I felt overwhelmed on their behalf. They added air conditioning, bathrooms, fireplaces,  jetted tubs or showers in each guest room, and updated wiring.

My photos of the place came out a lot more orange than I would have liked, but hey, the room was all peach colored anyway.

Peach themed quilt

Fireplace!

Along with a comfortable bed and nice space the room came with breakfast and bike rentals. The first night she gave us a menu with choices. Mike got the Florentine omelet and I had the fruit crisp, allowing us to each have half of each.

An omelet with spinach and four kinds of cheese!

Me and my fruit crisp

Breakfast was delicious, and we had the good fortune of having until 3 to get to work, so we decided to explore the area a bit.

(Part one)

After our day in Mona we headed to Spring City, the site of our work the nest day. Spring City was a mystery to us, not having heard of it before. It’s a tiny town in the middle of a county full of tiny towns. Some of their names seem familiar, but that may be because they come from the Book of Mormon. The lodging situation seemed grim, the most economical choices being Nephi (an hour from Spring City) or Manti (past Spring City, though not as much as we thought.) In the middle of the day we decided to spring (ha!) for a slightly more expensive, but much more convenient option in Spring City proper.

We stopped for dinner in Nephi, after taking a few minutes to take photos on set and knock the mud off of our shoes. The beach we were on had thick, heavy, mud that clung to shoes in a huge 2 pound clump per foot.

Hats are key!

Look, I'm on a beach! Really!

We stopped for dinner at Lisa’s Country Kitchen, a place in Nephi whose menu featured those four words that please us, Mike especially, so much: “Breakfast served all day.” We both had skillets, and I do love a good skillet. After dinner we drove to Spring City down a dark winding road. Until I find myself somewhere outside the Wasatch Front I forget how used to well lit roads and extensive development, for better or for worse.

I should mention that if you find yourself looking for lodging in Spring City, Manti, Gunnison, Mount Pleasant, Ephraim, or Sterling the place to look is probably Sanpete County’s web site. I looked at every web site and in the end I chose the Osborne Inn, a B&B in Spring City. I can’t for the life of me remember why I chose that one and not the other, but I think the logic was based on the fact that Osborne Inn had prices on the web site and that it seemed so cute. Almost overwhelmingly cute, to the point of making me nervous (muddy shoes and all) but I was willing to give it a shot.

I am, as always, dying for a vacation. If there’s one negative feeling (not relating to any sort of personal insecurity) that has plagued me since I got married, it is this: I never get to go anywhere anymore. The only places I ever go are places I’ve been before to see people I already know. And it does feel a little like everyone is always on vacation. Even friends who are always talking about how poor they are go on regular cruises and trips to Europe, Jamaica, and Japan. (A little hint, guys. If you can afford Europe and/or Japan you’re neither broke nor poor.)  Now the fact that I have many issues is not news, but I am seriously trying to get past the jealousy and the spiritual defects I feel jealousy indicates. And usually failing.

Every once in a while, however, the universe throws me a bone in the shape of whatever job Mike’s on at the time. While it’s hard to count these things as vacations, per se, they do offer a little break from the monotony of being in the same place all the time (ie. in front of my laptop.) While I don’t yet have the good luck to have clients that send me anywhere, Mike has a few that need him to drive to places beyond “the Wasatch Front.” I usually have mixed feeling about going with him on these jaunts, as I want out clients to see me as a valid hire myself, not just “wife of…” But there was a legitimate need for this one, as Mike was mixing sound and needed a boom operator. Being a boom operator does require a great level of skill, which I am still developing, but if you’ve got to practice with anyone, the guy who promised to love and cherish you forever is a great pick.

So I found myself on the first standing in dirt road in Mona, Utah. Mona is a one diner kind of town, but that makes it a great place to find scenes that take place on dirt roads in the middle of nowhere. Within 25 yards of each other we were able to film a scene in the middle of a little oasis of trees with farm in the background which

looked a lot like a small forest on film,

Trees. Like a forest or something.

a dirt road with an alfalfa field behind it and nothing else for a long stretch,

That's me holding the boom pole!

and a “beach” scene on the edge of a small reservoir.

"The Beach"