We had a nice flight out to Utah with a short layover in Chicago. O’hare is a very nice airport. We landed around 3:30 in Salt Lake City and had no trouble finding our home exchange hosts’ car that was left at the airport for us. It was about an hour drive from Salt Lake … Continue reading →

The house we’re staying in is convenient to three ski resorts: Park City; Deer Valley; and, Canyons. And at the base of the mountain we’re on is the Rockport State Park which surrounds a lake that is frozen right now to a depth of 18 inches. As we were driving down the mountain this afternoon, … Continue reading →

We’ve seen about a dozen deer in the last 24 hours. They are all over the mountain we’re on. We also see them along the roads. Today we drove into Park City and on the way we came upon this sign, which was just too good to pass up. I hope the deer can read. … Continue reading →

Yesterday we drove to Robert Redford’s ski resort, Sundance. It’s about an hour from where we’re staying, on the way to Provo, Utah. We were expecting a quaint village with shops and restaurants since we thought this was the venue for the famous Sundance Film Festival held every January. It turns out that there is … Continue reading →

We had thought about taking today off from skiing, but the weather report called for it to be really cold tomorrow, so we went skiing in Park City today, thinking that we’ll stay indoors tomorrow. It was relatively warm today. Since the holiday weekend ended yesterday, the slopes were pretty empty today. The Park City … Continue reading →

Salt Lake City is the home of the Mormon Church. The Mormons own a 35 acre complex in the heart of the downtown, known as Temple Square. The most impressive buildings in the Square are the Temple, the Tabernacle, the Assembly Hall, the Church Office Building, the Conference Center and the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. … Continue reading →

It took the Mormons 40 years to build their Temple in Utah. Most of the building was constructed from hand-hewn granite, hauled from over 20 miles away on ox-carts. It is a very impressive building. That,s the front of the Temple behind us. The Temple is only open to members of the Mormon Church. Several … Continue reading →

The first church building the Mormons built was the Tabernacle, built while the rest of the USA was involved in the Civil War. Utah was a territory at the time, not a state, so the War did not affect the Mormons to any significant degree. The Tabernacle has a very distinct dome-like appearance. The roof … Continue reading →

We heard that the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, which was originally built as a hotel, had a restaurant near the top, called the Garden Restaurant. Much of the building still feels like a hotel and though it is (I think we were told) 100 years old, it has been immaculately rstored and maintained. The lobby … Continue reading →

On the ground floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, the Mormons have a computer facility for genealogical research. Most Mormons have researched their lineage because they believe that they can bring salvation to their ancestors through prayer but, first, they have to know who to pray for; ergo, their interest in genealogy. The main … Continue reading →