SLC: Temple Square, State Capital, Big Cottonwood Canyon

Since Klep finished all the research he intends to do at the library yesterday, today was sort of finish up what we want to see and plan our departure tomorrow.  We started our day by driving down to Temple Square and finding free parking since it was Saturday.  The train, our usual transportation when we head to the city center was right next to where we parked.  We again, marveled

At the beautiful flowers that we found all up and down the street.  We entered Temple Square and found that a tour was getting ready to start in front of the Temple.

Three young Mormon women missionaries took us around the grounds showing us the statues and explaining their significance in their faith.  They then took us inside the tabernacle which is not a holy place on the same level as the temple where we were not allowed.  In there, we saw the eleven thousand pipe organ.



After the tour, we made a brief trip through the visitor's center, left Temple Square and crossed to the museum side of the street where we looked at a log cabin which was typical of what the first settlers used for housing.

Klep met a woman at the Family History Library whose great-great grandparents actually lived in this cabin.

 

We had been told that the view from behind the state capital looking down on the city was good, so we drove up there before heading east into the mountains.

On our way up the mountain we stopped for deli sandwiches and as we climbed, we found a shady pullout by a beautiful little mountain stream where we ate our lunch sitting outdoors and listening to the water run down the rocks.

We continued to climb until almost ten thousand feet where we decided to turn around instead of continuing up a road with no center stripe.

The wildflowers were beautiful going up and coming down.

We meandered through the southeastern section of Salt Lake City and back to the downtown Hampton Inn.  The pleasant eighty degree heat at almost ten thousand feet had risen to over a hundred again.....Of course it's a dry heat.