Mormon Temple

5/09/06 - Temple Square
On Saturday we drove to Bend and camped at Cascade Meadows for a few nights. Monday we moved to Ontario OR and then to Salt Lake City (Map) the next day. We stayed at the KOA which is a very nice park at a reasonable price.

Thursday we walked around Temple Square for a few hours, taking photos of all the beautiful flowers, buildings, fountains and statues. We learned a bit about the Mormons at the North Visitor's Center and I loved the 11 foot replica of Thorvaldsen's Christus

We also took a tour of the Conference Center which has quite a lot of beautiful artwork. It also has an interesting garden and a fountain on the roof which cascades down the side of the building to the street level.

Mormon Conference Center in Salt Lake City

That evening we sat in on a rehearsal of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. The Tabernacle is being renovated so they hold most of their gatherings in the 21,000 seat Conference Center. The choir was practicing for their 4000th broadcast of Music and the Spoken Word, a weekly radio program on the CBS network.

5/14/06 - Antelope Island State Park
On Saturday the 14th, we went for a drive out to Antelope Island. We didn't see very many Antelope but we did see a few of the hundreds of Buffalo that are supposed to reside in the park.

5/19/06 - Park City
On Friday the 19th we attended a mediocre organ recital at the LDS Conference Center and then drove out to Sandy to do some shopping. Next we checked out the picturesque Wasatch Drive and then drove up to Park City (Map), where the 2002 Winter Olympics were held.

Love Spoon

5/20/06 - LDS Museum
The next day we explored the Gateway Mall and other parts of Salt Lake City. We stopped at the beautiful First Presbyterian Church and got to go inside and appreciate their fantastic stained glass windows.

Then we went to the LDS Museum of Church History and Art and looked at some very nice artwork there. They also have a good historical section featuring each of the LDS Presidents, as well as many artifacts. I found this Love Spoon very interesting. Apparently they played a part in courtship and marriage in the Welsh culture. A man would carve one of these spoons for the girl he wished to court which represented a promise to her.

Sunday we had an excellent Mexican meal at the Red Iguana.