Van life in Salt Lake: free camping, shuttling & boarding

Van life in Salt Lake: free camping, shuttling & boarding

Vlog 26
Location: Salt Lake City, #Utah

We finally made it into #SaltLakeCity at night and found a nice #crackerbarrel parking lot to camp in overnight. We like to call this “Cracker docking”. Whenever we are able to camp overnight at a business, we always like to support them and spend some money, always nice when this results in ‘breakfast in bed’. Sometimes you just want to be lazy and not have to cook.

On day 12 of our #snowboard #roadtrip, we head to #snowbird resort to meet up with our friends. The area where this resort is located at is within Cottonwood Canyon, which is the watershed basin for SLC. Due to this, pets are not allowed up in the canyon, even if they stay in your vehicle. So wanting to be respectful, we decide to utilize the UTA bus system. They actually have made it so simple and easy! We park at the park and ride and get onto the shuttle. Bus fare is typically $2.50 each way and can be paid for on their app. However, our ikon season passes, we got free shuttle rides! You just scan your #ikonpass on the bus and you’re set. We get to snowbird about 35 minutes, and several stops, later. We take the tram and head on down. We meet up with our friends for lunch and some more riding. We have a lot of fun with them, especially because they’ve been here before and can show us the fun runs on the mountain. Later on, we get back to the van and let the dogs out. Since they’ve been cooped up inside the van for a few hours, we take them to a dog park we found on google to let them run around and play. Later that night, we meet up for dinner with our friends at White Horse. They have some amazing bar snacks, main entrees and whiskey. It’s back to Cracker Barrel for the night.

The next day, the last of our trip, we park at another park and ride and take the UTA bus to #Brighton resort. This resort is much smaller than snowbird, but we see more snowboarders. We have some fun on the runs with our friends. Unfortunately, it’s then time to head back home and get back to work. That’s the thing with part time van life, you gotta work before you can play. Hope you enjoyed the conclusion of our trip!

Time stamp:
0:00 – Cracker Barrel parking lot
1:25 – Intro
2:12 – park and ride, bus to snowbird
2:50 – snowbird resort
3:20 – tram time
4:07 – boarding from the tram summit
5:21 – lunch with friends
5:39 – heading to the tram
6:36 – boarding with friends
7:23 – catching the bus back
7:57 – back to Helen
8:34 – dog park
8:48 – White Horse spirits and kitchen
9:41 – park and ride, bus to Brighton
10:10- Brighton resort
10:39 – boarding fun
10:55 – chairlift confessionals
11:51 – boarding with friends
12:53 – heading back home
13:31 – leaving Utah views

Epidemic Sound
https://www.epidemicsound.com/track/90YKfxibz9/
https://www.epidemicsound.com/track/XyL1xxoZRp/
https://www.epidemicsound.com/track/KUjJJjxd0p/
https://www.epidemicsound.com/track/tQbqF13vkN/
https://www.epidemicsound.com/track/arISTQLgKB/
https://www.epidemicsound.com/track/7GPsvl9T8y/

Follow us on Instagram for behind the scenes and live content: @helen_of_troyvato https://www.instagram.com/helen_of_troyvato/

Hi! We’re Chris and Tracy. We’re from the Los Angeles area. We’ve been married since 2009! Chris grew up traveling with his family and Tracy caught the travel bug during our honeymoon. And we’ve been on the go since as much as our jobs allow.

Covid has caused so many problems for so many individuals. We found ourselves in a situation that many others found themselves in…..cancelled plans for international #travel. Working in the healthcare industry, as administrator and practitioner, we found ourselves feeling the extra stress without an escape. Upon the initial opening in California in May, 2020 we decided to make the jump and buy a converted #campervan so we could still travel domestically as a means to escape the stressors of our jobs and covid. It also allowed us the ability to travel with our 3 dogs: Keyna, Maya, and Luna.

Upon seeing our van, we both commented that it was the perfect shade of USC Trojan cardinal. Being lifelong fans of the football team and Tracy being an alumni, we knew we had a perfect play for a Trojan inspired name with our newly purchased 2018 (used) Winnebago Travato. And that’s how Helen of Troy(vato) got her name.

We started out with the hopes that we could get away once a month to make our investment worth it. We’ve been amazed at how much we’ve used our van!!! Since purchasing our van on 5/28/20, we have gone 25,000 miles and have visited 9 states and 10 #nationalparks. We’ve been enjoying documenting our trips via Instagram and wanted to go one step further. We love watching #vanlife videos but noticed most were doing it full time. We thought we may have a niche to fill being #parttimevanlifers. And that’s where our vision for this #travelvlog channel began.