We came through the foothills of the Rockies and on into Utah yesterday. We were lucky enough to get a beautiful camping spot on the edge of a lake at the Jordenalle State Park. It was beautiful, we settled in early and watch the sun come down. Water, Elec, Wi-fi, Showers, Scenic, Quiet = Everything was right in our world and then a new day started.
November 17, 2011 - We were less then 50 miles from Salt Lake City when we woke. Salt Lake City has been on my bucket list for years. Kinda like Willie Nelson, but you don't seem to get the chance to often, but when you do, it's good to grab it. We woke up to a Ranger with a citation because when we checked in we didn't know if we wanted to stay so we didn't pay, but then when we found out how fabulous it was we felt honored to be US Citizens and to have this beautiful opportunity for a mere $20 that we were anxious to pay but the Ranger didn't know that.
We landed in Salt Lake City about noon after having our first serious disagreement on the trip. Not bad for 2 1/2 weeks but none-the-less, it set us both on edge. As we approached Temple Square, a day I had always dreamt would be an awe-inspiring lift to my life turned into a cyclone of negative swirling energy which dragged me down into a complete rut. Talk about bad Karma!
The Mormon Church is not open to the public. It is only open to members in good standing in the LDS group. Upon entering the visitor center, a modern building with Jesus paintings everywhere, I was uneasy reading the explianations on the walls of what Jesus and God could offer me. There seemed to be a serious disconnect in the fairy tale between birth, matrimony and children and the pre and post journey we all gone on. A major disconnect as in millions of years and much of the world's population which is not brought into the world within matrimony with a mother and father. There were Jesus movies playing and a dozen or more young Missionary girls who would greet everyone. Each had come for an 18 month "volunteer" brainwashing program from all different countries thereby making someone available which spoke most different languges, lucky I got one who spoke English. She told me the boys get to attend for 24 months - yeha!!!
We went into the dome roofed auditorium which was donated by three women, one of which is Ex-Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney's mother, Marion. It was a very simple building, albeit grand in it's scope, it's round-nees, acoustics, and it showcased a magnificent organ. This is the building where the Mormom Tabernacle Choir practices. We went into another church, still in Temple Square, which is an open place of worship for all religions and it seemed to feature what I've always known as a Star of David. It was odd in that setting yet again a very beautiful church with typical gothic details and stained glass. Apparently it had been built by the "leftover" granite. There is absolutely no question these people believe in Jesus. They had the largest, most comprehensive, nativity scene we've ever seen, even if the manger looked like a cave.
The entire Temple Square is surrounded in massive stone walls, the Temple itself is built in magnificent granite, but there are no windows, let alone stained glass windows. There is a mini-doll house version of the interior of the Temple which can be viewed in the Visitor Center. Temple square is 35 acres in the heart of Salt Lake City and is surrounded with all things Morman as you would expect. Everything was attributed to Joseph Smith or Bringham Young. It all seemed way too exclusive for me. No room for for so many different groups of people. I have firmly come to the conclusion that no man from this group, weather it be John Huntsman or Mitt Romeny, can rule the world, as President of the United States of America if they come from such a small focused, primitive tribe. The World is so much larger now.
I walked back to the Peace Mobile emotionally exhausted, and took a two hour nap on the city streets. Sterling skateboarded to the nearest book store which of course had "The Book of Mormon" which had belonged to the President of the LDS church for $30,000. Sterling's father had set a World Record on selling this book at NH Book Auctions, back in the early 1990's selling it for more then $36,000. Guess inflation affects all things. Sterling then went to an antique shop around the corner which he raved about as being very high end early 20th century through the 1930's. The owner didn't want to let him in. It was a locked door sort of thing and Sterl was on a skateboard which he docked at the front door. After a few minutes, the fellow decided Sterling wasn't just a street punk once he started talking about the Jazz Posters and Maxfield Parrish prints.
Sterling woke me up and we re-discussed our plans for going to the Bonneville Salt Flats where we had hoped to camp. We decided to head south finally and went to start the RV only to find out it was dead as the black bear roadkill we had seen on the highway yesterday. After fighting with Triple AAA for over an hour, we finally got a nice guy to attach the cables to our battery and bam the Peace Mobile was good and ready to go - didn't even need a jump start. Our budget is $20 per day plus all the gas we need. Utah has been easy on that, we're on the outskirts of Salt Lake City tonite and gas is $3.03 per gallon. We've seen a high of $3.79 in the Rocky Mountains. We ended our day at Applebees and saw a family with 6 kids. I just looked at all those beautiful, matching faces and just felt sorry for them. So once again, it's WalMart parking lot for the night. We can't eat out and camp out on the same nights. I smoked my last joint tonight. Time to open the windows as we head for the border. Tomorrow is a new day.
November 17, 2011 - We were less then 50 miles from Salt Lake City when we woke. Salt Lake City has been on my bucket list for years. Kinda like Willie Nelson, but you don't seem to get the chance to often, but when you do, it's good to grab it. We woke up to a Ranger with a citation because when we checked in we didn't know if we wanted to stay so we didn't pay, but then when we found out how fabulous it was we felt honored to be US Citizens and to have this beautiful opportunity for a mere $20 that we were anxious to pay but the Ranger didn't know that.
We landed in Salt Lake City about noon after having our first serious disagreement on the trip. Not bad for 2 1/2 weeks but none-the-less, it set us both on edge. As we approached Temple Square, a day I had always dreamt would be an awe-inspiring lift to my life turned into a cyclone of negative swirling energy which dragged me down into a complete rut. Talk about bad Karma!
The Mormon Church is not open to the public. It is only open to members in good standing in the LDS group. Upon entering the visitor center, a modern building with Jesus paintings everywhere, I was uneasy reading the explianations on the walls of what Jesus and God could offer me. There seemed to be a serious disconnect in the fairy tale between birth, matrimony and children and the pre and post journey we all gone on. A major disconnect as in millions of years and much of the world's population which is not brought into the world within matrimony with a mother and father. There were Jesus movies playing and a dozen or more young Missionary girls who would greet everyone. Each had come for an 18 month "volunteer" brainwashing program from all different countries thereby making someone available which spoke most different languges, lucky I got one who spoke English. She told me the boys get to attend for 24 months - yeha!!!
We went into the dome roofed auditorium which was donated by three women, one of which is Ex-Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney's mother, Marion. It was a very simple building, albeit grand in it's scope, it's round-nees, acoustics, and it showcased a magnificent organ. This is the building where the Mormom Tabernacle Choir practices. We went into another church, still in Temple Square, which is an open place of worship for all religions and it seemed to feature what I've always known as a Star of David. It was odd in that setting yet again a very beautiful church with typical gothic details and stained glass. Apparently it had been built by the "leftover" granite. There is absolutely no question these people believe in Jesus. They had the largest, most comprehensive, nativity scene we've ever seen, even if the manger looked like a cave.
The entire Temple Square is surrounded in massive stone walls, the Temple itself is built in magnificent granite, but there are no windows, let alone stained glass windows. There is a mini-doll house version of the interior of the Temple which can be viewed in the Visitor Center. Temple square is 35 acres in the heart of Salt Lake City and is surrounded with all things Morman as you would expect. Everything was attributed to Joseph Smith or Bringham Young. It all seemed way too exclusive for me. No room for for so many different groups of people. I have firmly come to the conclusion that no man from this group, weather it be John Huntsman or Mitt Romeny, can rule the world, as President of the United States of America if they come from such a small focused, primitive tribe. The World is so much larger now.
I walked back to the Peace Mobile emotionally exhausted, and took a two hour nap on the city streets. Sterling skateboarded to the nearest book store which of course had "The Book of Mormon" which had belonged to the President of the LDS church for $30,000. Sterling's father had set a World Record on selling this book at NH Book Auctions, back in the early 1990's selling it for more then $36,000. Guess inflation affects all things. Sterling then went to an antique shop around the corner which he raved about as being very high end early 20th century through the 1930's. The owner didn't want to let him in. It was a locked door sort of thing and Sterl was on a skateboard which he docked at the front door. After a few minutes, the fellow decided Sterling wasn't just a street punk once he started talking about the Jazz Posters and Maxfield Parrish prints.
Sterling woke me up and we re-discussed our plans for going to the Bonneville Salt Flats where we had hoped to camp. We decided to head south finally and went to start the RV only to find out it was dead as the black bear roadkill we had seen on the highway yesterday. After fighting with Triple AAA for over an hour, we finally got a nice guy to attach the cables to our battery and bam the Peace Mobile was good and ready to go - didn't even need a jump start. Our budget is $20 per day plus all the gas we need. Utah has been easy on that, we're on the outskirts of Salt Lake City tonite and gas is $3.03 per gallon. We've seen a high of $3.79 in the Rocky Mountains. We ended our day at Applebees and saw a family with 6 kids. I just looked at all those beautiful, matching faces and just felt sorry for them. So once again, it's WalMart parking lot for the night. We can't eat out and camp out on the same nights. I smoked my last joint tonight. Time to open the windows as we head for the border. Tomorrow is a new day.
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