I did not have much time to prepare for a trip out west but I reacted very quickly when the opportunity arose. I took decisive action to grab the moment and picked up the phone instead of using email, which I prefer. I don’t know when or if I’ll ever be back but I am proud to say I did not blow the chance.
First up was Savers in Taylorsville. My plan in new states is to knock things out as quickly and easily as possible. I can’t risk that the trip goes sideways and I run out of time, then it was all a waste. Unfortunately – it was a bunch of junk except for a long Roger Miller record.
On day #2 (of three) of my trip, I had more spare time than I had planned on. So I set out to explore SLC and when I saw a record store was nearby, I figured I ought to check it out.
Randy’s was a very nice store and it looks like it’s been around a while. It had a fair number of people shopping inside and the jazz section was in a little separate room which was cool. But as it usually goes with me, I just went blank when presented with all that vinyl, I half heartedly looked around for a couple minutes then bailed.
At that point I was DONE – I had now double checked off Utah and I could focus on other ways to have fun. But alas, I couldn’t resist when I saw an antique store (or so it was labeled on Google Maps) just a little over a mile away. So I wandered over to Lillies of the Fields.
This was closer to a thrift store in some ways, but it looked like perhaps some areas of the store were on consignment. Many of the reviews mentioned Mary – and yes indeed I did meet her! What a wonderful lady!
All the records were in one corner and I found a mountain of Eng! Very nice. I was happy to have had the chance to look around when I found a milk crate filled with mostly junk 45s. But the deeper I dug, I found more and more 1980s picture sleeves! And these I just cannot resist. So I did grab three of them.
Mary let them go for $2 each and I had exactly six bucks on me so that worked out swimmingly for all involved parties. A swell visit I’d say!
Only Arkansas and Mississippi are left and this is a big relief. I have no issue with flying to one or the other and driving across the border. Utah is quite a ways further and I knew I might never get out there – I lucked out! Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion to this epic tale!