Temple Square, Salt Lake City, Utah

I'm back at the Rec. Center at Thousand Trails Verde Valley to use the Internet. The connection from my Verizon Air Card is still very - very slow, so slow it is almost unusable. No matter though because it's comfortable here and the WiFi is free.

We can't do much traveling today because our car is in the auto body shop. When we were in Page, AZ someone zinged our right rear fender in a parking lot and of course they left the scene. There wasn't much damage but the fender was scratched and covered with white paint. It looks like a pickup truck hit it because of the height of the scratch. The fender is plastic to it didn't get dented. I went to the body shop yesterday for an estimate and they took the car in first thing this morning. It should be ready tomorrow. Always something to keep life interesting.

I need to keep Bev happy so today I will blog about our trip to Temple Square in Salt Lake City.

Monday August 12th we headed down I-15 to Salt Lake City to see Temple Square. Every time we went down I-15 we passed this Giant Bull so Bev finally got his picture.

This is what it looked like entering Salt Lake City.

Oh yes there was construction. I believe every road in the U.S. is under construction.

We parked across the street from the North entrance which is next to the North Visitor Center. A short walk across the street and we were there. (We did have to pay for parking though.)

This is what we saw as we entered the Square.

Our first stop was the North Visitor Center which is home to an impressive, 11-foot statue of Jesus Christ known as "The Christus". In the Center are two art galleries, an interactive map of Jerusalem, interactive exhibits on scriptures and revelation, and the "God's Plan for His Family exhibit". There are two one-hour films: "Legacy", portraying the westward trek of the Mormon pioneers, and "The Testaments of One Fold and One Shepherd", a film about the mission of Jesus Christ.

The first building we saw as we left the Visitor Center was the Tabernacle.

The public is allowed inside the Tabernacle so in we went.

This is the home of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Orchestra at Temple Square. The public is invited to rehearsals and broadcasts of the choir, which are usually held in the Tabernacle. Between Memorial Day and Labor Day and during the month of December, they are held in the Conference Center. The  Conference Center is a large new building across the street from Temple Square.

This is what we saw as we walked around Temple Square. The grounds are beautiful and well kept.

The Salt Lake Temple.

This building is a world wide icon of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the heart of Temple Square. The massive granite edifice was constructed over the course of an astounding 40-year period between 1853 and 1893; the pioneers who settled the valley sacrificed both time and material goods to the building of the temple, which stands as a testament to their faith and devotion. Granite rock used in its construction was hauled twenty-three miles by ox-drawn wagons from Little Cottonwood Canyon. The walls are nine feet thick at the ground level and narrow to six feet thick at the top. The East center tower is 210 feet high and is topped by the statue of an angle heralding the restoration to earth of the gospel of Jesus Christ in the latter days.

Only members in good standing of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are permitted to enter the temple, but all visitors are welcome to admire the stunning workmanship of the building and the serene beauty of its immediate surroundings.

At the South Visitor Center we were able to see a replica of the Temple with the inside exposed.

Also in the South Visitor Center we saw how the granite rocks were hauled to the site on wagons.

The next photo is of Assembly Hall.

The Assembly Hall, constructed of granite stone left over from the building of the temple, was completed in 1880. It is a place of public worship, in which visitors are welcome. Although the building is used mainly for conferences of Later-day Saint congregations located in Salt Lake City and for other Church meetings, it is also available for various cultural and civic functions. The auditorium holds almost 2,000 people, with choir seats for 100. The truncated spires were originally chimneys.

On the corner of State Street and South Temple is the Beehive House, Brigham Young's mansion residence.

You can just make out the Beehive on top.

The mansion has been beautifully restored and serves as a museum offering tours showing what life was like for the Young family back in 1855. Tours are free and are available Monday - Saturday, 9 am to 9 pm, beginning every 10 minutes.

Next to the Beehive House on South Temple is the Lion House, another of Brigham Young's residences.

Today the Lion House operates as social center and has a restaurant on the street level called the Lion House Pantry, featuring home style meals and baked goods. The Lion House is open Monday - Saturday 11:00 am to 8:00 pm.

Our final stop was at the Conference Center located just north of the temple.

As we approached the building we didn't notice the sign directing us to the entry door. There were a number of doors so as we rattled each of them a volunteer opened the correct door and offered us a tour of the building, which we did.

The auditorium seats 21,000 people and is now believed to be the largest religious and theater auditorium in the world. This is what we saw when we entered the auditorium.

Although the Conference Center is used primarily for religious services, including the Mormon Church's annual and semi-annual General Conference, it was also designed to be used for cultural and artistic shows of all kinds. It regularly hosts musical and dance concerts. During renovation of the Tabernacle on Temple Square, it was home to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's weekly broadcast of Music and the Spoken Word. The public is invited free each Sunday at 9:30 am. Free organ recitals are offered Monday - Saturday from 12:05 noon to 12:35 pm and Sundays from 2:05 pm to 2:35 pm.

The Conference Center is truly a feat of engineering. It contains a 21,000 seat auditorium with a 7,667 pipe organ and no visible support beams, plus a 900 seat proscenium-style theater and 1,300 parking spaces below the building on four levels. It also boasts four acres of landscaped roof with trees, an alpine meadow of grasses and wildflowers, fountains, and a waterfall.

These are the views we saw from the roof.

Well that was enough walking around Temple Square for me, and I was ready to move on. Oh - so you thought we were done touring and headed back to the camper. WRONG. You guessed it, we had another canyon to see after we left Temple Square.

High on the slopes of American Fork Canyon in the shadow of mighty Mt. Timpanogos in Utah's Wasatch Range are three moderate-sized limestone caves: Hansen Cave, Middle Cave, and Timpanogos Cave. Timpanogos Cave National Monument preserves these caves and all their fragile underground wonders.

We drove to the Timpanogos Cave but we spent so much time at Temple Square it was late and all the hiking tours to the cave were filled.

We might have taken a hiking tour if available but I'm glad we couldn't. The trail to the caves go up the steep northern slope of Mt. Timpanogos and is physically demanding. You climb 1,092 feet in 1 1/2 miles on a zigzag trail from the bottom of American Fork Canyon to the cave entrance. It takes about three hours and is 3 1/2 miles round trip.

We have seen many caves and caverns around the country and Bev just dragged me around Temple Square which was enough hiking for the day. We just drove through the canyon and enjoyed the scenery.

We followed Utah Highway 92 which is the Alpine Loop Scenic Byway to U.S. Highway 189 which took us to past Deer Creek Reservoir to Heber City, Utah.

Enjoy the scenery.

Deer Creek Reservoir.

When we hit Heber City we were hungry so we stopped at Arby's, one of our favorite places. I can't get beer but I don't have to give a tip so it works for me.

From Heber City we followed Highway 189 to I-80 West towards Salt Lake City where we picked up I-15 North and back to the Winnebago. This was another long day and we were glad to get back home.

The next blog will be on our travels through Glen Canyon and Lake Powell. So much to see - so little time to see it. I don't have enough time left in my life to see everything our great country has to offer.