Salt Lake City

We arrived in Salt Lake City on Tuesday around 3:00 P. M. and we just hung out around the KOA RV Park. We had some diner and decided to go for a walk. This park is in the middle of the city but we found out there is a nature trail so we headed out.

The trail goes along a small river and ducks were swimming up and down the river. We walked down the trail for about a half mile and turned around to head back. As we walked along I was watching the ducks when all of a sudden I saw something else swimming. It was a beaver. Can you believe it, here we are in the middle of the city and there are beaver in the river. We moved closer to the river bank to get a better view and right at our feet another one of the furry critters popped up from under the water. I think their den was under the bank we were standing on. I wish I had the camera as they were only a few feet from us.

We followed them as they moved along the river and all of a sudden Victoria said she saw a third beaver. On closer investigation we determined it was a rat. I am not sure what kind of rat it was but it was a big sucker. We finished our walk watching the wild life and admiring all the beautiful flowers and tree blooms. It is spring here and everything is in full color.

We got out Wednesday at around 10:00 A.M. We had a busy day planned going to Temple Square to see all the sites of the Mormon Church. There was a free shuttle that picked us up right at the KOA and dropped us at the square. I like it when I don’t have to drive in big cities. The driver arranged a tour for us and our fellow passengers of all the high point of Temple Square. When they dropped us off we were greeted by two young ladies who would be our tour guides.

The Temple

The two gals took use into the Tabernacle which is where the choir assembles and gives their performances. They told us the history of the building and offered information of how the Mormons traveled to this area and what their religion is about. They were more than happy to answer questions about their faith, even the one that had to eventually be asked about the practice of polygamy. They explained that polygamy has not been practiced for over a hundred years.

The Tabernacle

We were then taken to the church were everyone must go for one year before they are allowed to the temple. They go to church on Sunday s like many other religions, but once they have learned the teachings of the church they can go to temple at any time they would like.

The Church

Our hosts then took us to a visitor’s center that had all kinds of exhibits about the church. This leg of our tour ended with a short movie that was about the importance of family. After the movie the two girls shared their views of the importance of family and asked if anyone had any questions. There were a few polite questions and answers and then our tour ended.

It was now afternoon and we were hungry. The Mormons have built a huge new shopping mall across from the square. We hiked over and found the food court and decided on Greek for lunch. For a food court the food was pretty good. We found an outside table and enjoyed our lunch in the sunny 75 degree weather.

Notice the glass roof and stream

We went into a few stores while there. Victoria had to hit Macy’s so I sat outside watching people and the trout swimming in the stream that ran through the middle of the mall. The glass roof of this mall is designed to be opened in good weather but it was closed on our visit.

After window shopping we headed down to a genealogy center the church has. We stopped a couple of times to snap pictures of the thousands of flowers that were growing around the square. This is the largest genealogy center in the world that is free to the public. We sat down at a couple of the computers and started entering information about our families. I didn’t find anything of interest about my family but Victoria did find a bit about hers she was not aware of.

It was now pretty late in the afternoon so we headed back to the RV via our shuttle bus. We had some dinner and a bit of TV before bed.

Thursday morning we woke up to rain. The high for the day reached 45 degrees, a far cry from the 70’s of yesterday. Our plan for today was to hit Wally World and stock up on supplies before heading to Jackson. We bought a month’s worth of paper and canned goods. We have been told everything is expensive in Jackson and there is no Wal-Mart. We also made a stop at Sportsman’s Warehouse so I could get a work jacket and gloves and bear spray. It has been recommended we not hike the trails around the Jackson and Yellowstone area without it. We will be in Grizzly country. Yikes!!

As we drove home the rain stopped and the sun came out. We could see the mountains that surround the city were sprinkled with snow. It was rainy and cold here in Salt Lake but snowing only a few miles away.

Tomorrow we head to Jackson. We have a 5-6 hour drive to our summer home. We hope to get there in mid afternoon and we will be watching the weather as we go. So with a little luck my next post will be from the Snake River KOA.