UTAH 21st to 28th July

UTAH

 

Crossed the State border from Idaho to Utah and our first destination was the Visitor’s Centre.  We had a rather cold welcome from Ma & Pa Methuselah.   Ma was way too busy finishing her embroidery to worry about us.  Pa lifted himself off the chair and as his bones creaked he spoke in a long drawl, “Caaaaaan I heeeeelp yoooou?”   Hmmm not sure if you can!!

We found a super place called “Pony Express RV Park” North Salt Lake.  The site was only 4 years old and a mere 10 minute drive to the middle of Salt Lake City.

 

Sunday 22^nd July

Capitol Hill - Salt Lake City

Drove to Temple Square, Salt Lake City, the hub of Mormon-ville.  For years I’ve always wanted to learn more about our Mormon friends and this was the perfect opportunity.  Free tours and helpful guides who were literally falling over themselves to answer any questions. 

  

At 9.30am we started the morning with a quick sprint to the Conference Centre.  Since 1929 “Music and The Spoken Word” has been broadcast every week to countries all around the world.  The Conference Centre can seat 21,000 people and we sat comfortably in the air-conditioning listening to the Mormon Choir and Orchestra. 

After the recital we took a free tour of the building.  Vickie was our tour guide and she helped dismiss a lot of the Mormon myths that we had heard about.  

True Facts :  Polygamy was outlawed by the church in 1890.  Alcohol, drugs, smoking, drinking tea/coffee are strictly prohibited.  All members have to give 10% of their earnings to the Church.  Women cannot hold leadership roles.  Family comes first above all else and families are usually large.  

The Conference Centre was a magnificent building.  It cost $2billion to build and the Church was able to pay for it by the time they moved in only 2 years later. 

  

The athletes competing in the 2002 Winter Olympic Games used it as a base.  There’s an impressive waterfall that cascades down the south façade and the roof top has water fountains and gardens spanning 4 acres.  

 

 

We listened to an Organ Recital in the dome shape  Tabernacle.   

 

The building has near perfect acoustics and the Guide demonstrated this by dropping a pin on the pulpit and it could be heard throughout the building.  The Organ had 11,623 pipes and the sound was amazing. 

 We sat on the original solid oak pews that were unbelievably comfortable.

              

In 1847 Brigham Young was the 2^nd President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and founder of Salt Lake City.  His home Beehive House was built in 1854 and is open all year round to the public.  The gardens were a mass of colour.   

 

A giant Eagle that once held pride of place outside Brigham’s ranch now overlooks State Street and weighs a hefty 2,720kgs. 

State Capitol built in 1915 sits high on Capitol Hill overlooking Salt Lake City.  

 

 

 

The North and South Visitor’s Information put a whole new spin on Info Centres – these were so luxurious I wanted to book a holiday there.  

Beautiful paintings, sculptures and movies to watch, not to mention the ever-helpful volunteers who spend all day greeting visitors and smiling sweetly.     

 

 

Monday 23^rd was a busy day and we accomplished great things.  Our first priority was getting the RV serviced.  We arrived at a Ford Dealership in Bountiful and left her in Peter’s very capable hands. 

While the RV was being serviced we had a couple of hours to kill so we went in search of a local Bank to enquire about opening a US account.  The first one we came to was Wells Fargo, Bountiful Branch and how lucky we were to stumble across this one. 

The Bank Manager (Tyson) and the lovely Carrol took great care of us and nothing was too much trouble.  We walked in strangers and left as friends.  We thought opening an account in Bountiful might be a good omen.

Kennecott Copper Mine is one of the largest excavations in the world.  We drove to the Visitor’s Centre and looked over the railings to see the most enormous pit we’ve ever seen.  The 320 ton capacity trucks looked like Dinky toys.

The estimated size of the mine is 1.2km deep and 4km wide and covers 1900 acres. 

 

13ft Dia Truck Tyre

Every year Kennecott produces approximately 300,000 tons of Copper, along with by-products such as 400,000 ounces of Gold and 4 million ounces of Silver.  Kennecott Mine is owned by Rio Tinto.

Apparently the richest Ore producing Mine in the world.

Al do you want to say anymore?  You are more blokey than me!!!!

 No I'm Not!!

Tuesday 24 July “Pioneer Day” and a holiday in Utah.

Guess??

The Days of '47 Parade has become a Pioneer Day tradition, commemorating the Mormon pioneers arriving in Salt Lake City.

By the time we turned up thousands of people had lined the main street and some had camped out the night before to get the best spot.

The Parade had everything from local community floats to marching bands and beauty pageants.   

 

 

It was a great atmosphere and the weather was hot and sunny.  Every man and his dog were out enjoying the holiday mood.  After 2 hours it was still going strong but we decided to leave to avoid the traffic bottleneck.   

 

We even managed to score a free hotdog, chips and drink from a side stall.  Love this place.

Drove to Palisade State Park in Sterling, Utah.  The Park was border-line OK but as it was just a one-nighter we weren’t too bothered.  

 

There was a small reservoir for canoeing and fishing but the water level was very low due to heavy irrigation down stream.

 

 Moab, Utah  

 Spanish Trail RV Park

 

 

One of the best RV Parks ever!!  We had fabulous views of La Sal Mountains, red rock cliffs and thoroughly enjoyed the picturesque sunsets in the evening. 

Just when I thought I was all ‘rocked’ out we went to Arches National Park.   It is estimated there are more than 2,000 natural sandstone arches in the Park.

Millions of years ago water and ice, extreme temperatures and underground salt movement were basically responsible for the arches, spires, balanced rocks and sandstone fins.   

 

We could quite clearly see faces in some of the rocks.  There’s a group of rocks called The Three Gossips.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also two other well photographed rocks are Delicate Arch and Balanced Rock.  I sweated buckets climbing up to them but I suppose…when in Rome.   

 

 

 

 

 

  

After the work out of climbing over rocks and boulders I was well and truly hungry.  We bought a Ham Roll from the supermarket and sat down with a cup of tea.  I have never in all my life seen so much ham piled into a roll.  If I hadn’t of been so ravenous I would have counted the layers but I’d say it was around 40.  Yummy.

 

US Ham & Cheese Roll

 

Dewey Bridge - The wooden suspension bridge, built in 1916, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  It was the longest suspension bridge in Utah at that time. Lovingly restored in 2000 until it was virtually destroyed by fire in 2008 by a six year old local. The family were not very popular for a while!

The cost to restore the Bridge again is around $530,000. But it looks like they have lost heart. Shame!

 

Our journey towards Colorado brought us through a ghost town called Cisco in Grand County, Utah.  The ruin of the town was due to the end of the steam locomotive.  Unfortunately vandals have damaged the existing buildings and the town is littered with abandoned vehicles.  

 

We kept on driving but stopped to take photographs of kids white water rafting along the Colorado River.  Some played up to the camera.  

 

                        End of 14^th Blog