This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2005, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
BLUFFDALE - Charles Miller knew exactly what he wanted on his first foray away from Camp Williams.
"Work clothes," he said as he pushed a stroller holding his 3-year-old son toward Sandy's South Towne Center. "Boots. Welding gloves."
Miller, like hundreds of other Hurricane Katrina evacuees here, flew to Utah with nothing but the clothes he was wearing. Tuesday's trip to the mall was his first step in pulling his family's finances and life back together.
"It's strange coming out here and trying to start over," he said. "This [buying clothes for work] is what I'm doing on my own."
The Utah Transit Authority sent four buses to connect the New Orleans evacuees to the rest of the Salt Lake Valley. Beginning today, UTA will begin regular service for them.
Those who took the 10-minute ride Tuesday - the buses unloaded at the mall on 10600 South and UTA's TRAX station nearby - went for a variety of reasons, including just getting away, getting ready for work and seeing a sliver of Utah. But for others, it meant a moment of normalcy.
"It's just like what we got," Keith DeGruy said of the mall as he ate french fries. "Ours just has a lot more people."
But even at the shopping center, they couldn't get away from what they had fled.
Christopher Rose Sr. sat in the food court watching CNN's continued coverage of the devastation of his hometown. "I got to watch," he said. "These are my people."
The shoppers had money: the state gave each head of household $150, with another $75 for each family member.
Lynn Lawrence was heading with Rose and DeGruy to a Wal-Mart across the street from the mall for a bag of flour, which she eats by the spoonful.
Sam Wall wanted photos. "I've got some pictures of ground zero and I want to have them developed," he said.
Ian Fraser headed for the light rail station. "See what downtown Salt Lake is like," he said. "Just trying to get away."
Andrew Carlson wanted to see what Utahns dress like, in particular men's suits.
"I want to know if your fashions are the same," he said.
Others went looking for cell phones and cell phone repairs.
"We're trying to get it up and running," said Willie May Jones.
But even if the phone doesn't get fixed, the trip offered a diversion.
"We've been out there since Sunday night and they offered us a little outing," she said. "We decided to take them up on it."