It seems like every night we spend in a KOA, we spend the next night catching up on our sleep in a hotel. This morning was no exception as we slept in so late that we missed the complimentary breakfast and had to satisfy ourselves with Starbucks and some delicious protein shakes from Protein Foundary. Then we drove down to the center of Salt Lake City to visit Temple Square. It was there that we saw how hip the Church of LDS is with their hashtag #hallelujah.
Pretty much every recommended thing to see in Salt Lake City is around Temple Square. We began by entering near the Tabernacle and stopping by the visitor’s kiosk to get a map. We walked around the beautiful grounds (Temple Square encompasses 35 acres) and started our tour with the Assembly Hall, where the Tabernacle choir normally practices and holds free recitals for the public (unfortunately, the Taberbacle Choir was on tour this week, as is every performer in the Southwest!).
We walked over to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, where a very nice and informative volunteer told us all of the sites to see in the memorial building, in Temple Square, and gave a glowing endorsement of the film, Meet the Mormons, which was unfortunately not playing currently due to renovations. She did recommend the lobby, which had been restored to its former Hotel Utah glory and included a pianist playing classics such as “Bring in the Clowns” and “Close to You.” We also took a quick ride up to the 10th floor to check out a closer view of the Temple, which was very impressive but not open to visitors.
Then, we wandered over to Lion House and Beehive House, Brigham Young’s residence and office. We decided to take the free tour where 2 young volunteers led us through the house and offices and gave us a lesson on the history of Utah, as well as a basic understanding of the beliefs of the church. Among some of the interesting facts were that Utah, which is called the Beehive state, was given the name not because of its many bees, but because Brigham Young wanted the people to be industrious and “busy as bees.” The house and offices were beautifully maintained and our tour guides gave us an excellent tour.
Courtesy of google images
We were told that top of the Church Offices building offered one of the best views of Salt Lake City so we signed in to get a guided tour to the 26th floor, which afforded views of the Capitol (an exact replica of our nation’s Capitol) and the Great Salt Lake (a little harder to see).
We also learned why the sea gull is the state bird of Utah. Apparently, very soon after the Mormons settled into the valley that would become Salt Lake City, huge desert crickets invaded the settlement. They were eating all the crops and becoming such a nuisance that they were going to cause a big problem, especially because more pioneers were expected to arrive soon. One day, the Mormons, after praying, looked up to see a sky full of seagulls. The birds swooped down and ate the crickets, then flew to drink some fresh water and regurgitate them up, before returning to the settlement to fill their bellies again. This happened for 3 weeks before the crickets were eliminated and the pioneers were so thankful that they made the seagull the state bird.
We were so impressed with how much each volunteer tour guide knew and how friendly they were (my cheeks hurt from smiling all afternoon). We could have spent more time learning about the history (and checking our family trees in the Church History Libaray) but our parking time was up and it was time to make it towards our almost-last stop of the road trip.
However, before we left SLC for good, we stopped by the Gringo Gaucho’s brother’s place of employment to check out the new gym. Let’s just say that if I lived in Utah, I would never leave #vasafitness because they have a workout room where they play movies (meaning, you can run on a treadmill while you watch a movie in a darkened theater… I would be running marathons without realizing it!).
We finally got on the road and drove our last long drive to Cedar City. We checked into our KOA and ate dinner at the cutest pizza place anywhere (and tagged a wall as per our tradition).
Tomorrow is hiking (and hopefully rodeoing) in Bryce Canyon so check in again as we finish with not one, but two, national parks (and we can vote for our favorite for the 100th anniversary of the National Parks Service).
Goodnight!
-TechTalkin’ and Walkin’
#teacherroadtrip #jucyworld #southwest #roadtrip #teachers
Teacher Road Trip 