September 23, 2008
Drove from Provo, UT to Lake Point, UT
Toured Temple Square in Downtown Salt Lake City
We drove from the campground in Provo to Lake Point, UT this morning. We decided to move there because it was on the West side of Salt Lake and that made it a shorter drive for Merrell to drive to Winnemucca, NV tomorrow. I had looked in the Next Exit book we use when traveling to tell us what is off of each exit on the major interstates in the US and knew there was a campground there, so we just drove there and figured we would see it off of the exit. When we got there we saw some campers up a side road, so we figured it was the campground and drove up to the entrance. Well, when we saw a pink building with LOUNGE on it, it should have been a good indication that we didn't want to stay there. :>) We looked around and it was packed full of old campers and trailers and piles of junk sitting around the campers. Chuck went to the "office" to ask if we were at the right place. He said the lady was stewed to the gills, but thank goodness she said they didn't have any room for a rig our size. Whew!!! That was a relief............. As it turned out, we were at the wrong place anyway. Just up the road there was a motel/RV park combination and we were able to park there.
We ALMOST stayed here!!! Thank goodness there was no room at the Inn for us. LOL
After we got the motor home hooked up, we loaded into the car and headed to Salt Lake City to tour the Temple Square. Merrell wanted me to drive, so I did. Thank goodness forour GPS. It's amazing how much you come to rely on them to get you where you are going. I bet they have prevented a gazillion divorces!! Teeheehee No more fights because of wrong turns..............
Chuck took this picture while I was driving to Salt Lake City. I didn't even see it!!! And, I was driving.......................... :>)
Temple square is a ten acre tract in Salt Lake City that houses the Mormon Temple, the Mormon Tabernacle and beautiful flower gardens, fountains and statues. It is an amazingly beautiful place and all of the people who worked/volunteered there were so kind and helpful. We spent the afternoon wandering around in the flower gardens and touring some of the buildings. I could spend days and days there just wandering around amongst the flowers, shrubs and trees. I'm sure they have a HUGE staff who work on the grounds full time in order to keep them looking like that, but I can dream that at some point in my life I could have something equally beautiful at my house. The flower beds were a combination of shrubs, trees, perennials and annuals as well as a lot of herb gardens.
The beautiful Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City. They started building the Temple in April, 1853 and it wasn't completed until April, 1893. From what I read, it would take 4 days just to get each load of granite (the stone it's built with) to the site. I can't even imagine how labor intense the project was. It's an amazing feat and a testimony to the strength and determination of a group of people who had been persecuted for so long because of their beliefs. Not that I believe as they do, but I do respect them and I believe they have the right to worship as they please.
Donna and Merrell in front of one of the massive planters that are all over the grounds in Temple Square.
Donna and Merrell in the flower gardens at Temple Square in SLC.
Chuck and Carolee at one of the fountains in Temple Square, SLC.
This is one of the many statues and beds of beautimous flowers that were scattered amongst the building and fountains. I just wanted to crawl (well, maybe not crawl) right in the middle of them and smell all of the different scents. Some of the flowers smelled sooooooooooo good.
Merrell, Donna, Chuck and Carolee inside the Mormon Tabernacle. This is where the Mormon Tabernacle Choir performs. In the background you can see the pipe organ. They say that the acoustics are so good that if it's quiet inside you can drop a pin up front and hear it in the back. People come from all over the world to study the architecture of the building. It is over 150 years old and is dome shaped with no roof supports. Can't remember exactly what they said, but it sounded good. :>)
Another wonderful flower bed.
Another flower bed withg a fountain in the background.
This is another statue that they were in the process of installing and it didn't have any flowers around it yet. It was still a beautiful piece. The Mormons are really into family and it shows in the way they have designed their gardens and the various statues scattered around the square.
Now you see why I loved Temple Square. Have you ever seen so many beautiful flowers? We have seen a lot of flowers since our trip started. Anchorage had some beautiful ones and a lot of the other places we saw, but these were really magnificent, not to mention BEAUTIMOUS!!!
Chuck and Carolee and a neat old tree. I hope you can see how the branches have been trained (I assume that is why they are the way they are??) to twine around each other.
Donna and Merrell sitting under the same neat old tree. We should have been singing "Merrell and Donna, sitting in a tree, K I S S I N G...................... You know the rest of the story. Teeheehee :>)))))
This is the conference house located at Temple Square. It has a beautiful rose garden right behind where Chuck and Merrell are standing. The smell was sooooooooooooo good!!!
This house was not at Temple Square, but a block or so up the street. We asked one of the people at the information center about this house and he said it had originally been a school of music. It is now a private residence. Isn't it something?? I wanted to sneak in it and do a private tour. Teeheehee I love old houses and especially ones that have character and this one has character plus.
We took LOTS more pictures, but I probably posted too many already. I just couldn't decide which ones to post.
We're going to Winnemucca tomorrow to visit one of Carolee's friend that she hasn't seen in 47 years. We've had a great time in this area and will hate to leave, but there's so much still out there to see that we have to get back on the road.
Catch ya later,
Love, US
