So long Nevada, Hello Utah

Math whiz

After spending the night listening to the wind whipping the tent around, the train's whistle at 1:00 am and the steady stream of traffic leaving the park beginning at 4:00 am in the morning I was not too eager to get up too early this morning.  The kids said they had a wonderful night sleep and were eager to begin another day of travelling.


It was a beautiful sunny day in Winnemucca and the manager of the park said most of the days were like that.  We had our breakfast, tore down the campsite and headed out shortly after 8:00 am.  Francois and I determined that there is not much to see in the state of Nevada other than casinos and the occasional prison.  As we travelled along the highway there were signs warning you not to pick up hitchhikers as there was a prison in the area.  


There was not a lot for the kids to look at along this portion of the journey, but I gave them the "presents" our neighbor Ruth had given to us before we left home and that kept them busy for most of the morning drive.  David also worked on a math workbook he received from Grammy and Grandpapa and he was proud to tell us he could tell the time when it was on the hour or on the half hour.  Thanks to everyone for the activity books to keep the kids busy - they love it and so do we!

Large Cowboy in West Wendover

Lunch in the heat

We stopped for lunch in West Wendover, Nevada - which has the world's largest cowboy.  It also has a few casinos and the state line for Nevada and Utah.  The thermostat read 38 degrees and it was stifling hot.  After lunch and as we travelled to the state line the gauge hit 42 degrees.  It was interesting to watch some people walking on the sidewalks with long sleeve shirts and long sleeve pants - I felt hot with the sun hitting my side window and I was sitting in an air conditioned vehicle!

Not sand, but salt

We made our way to Salt Lake City and it was interesting as we travelled through Utah to see fields of what appeared to be white sand, but it is actually white salt.  Many many years ago, it use to be a huge lake, but when the lake was drained due to age and erosion - the salt remained.  It is very interesting to see!


We arrived in Salt Lake City in time for a huge thunder storm - the rain was pelting hard off the pavement.  Francois chose this time to go to Visitor Information Centre - we waited in the car as we watched him dash for the door.  This was the first information centre we hit since we arrived in USA and it was really nice.  There was free bags of popcorn for the kids and even Ipads to play with or search your next destination.  

Large sculpture of Jesus

Pioneers of their church:  used their own
strength to move their belongings

The temple

Depicting Family Life

Granite behind Francois,
used to build the temple.

We visited the Temple Square, which is the sixth spire Salt Lake Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  Although we are not members of the religion we were told it was a beautiful place to visit.  It was amazing to see the work that was put into this place.  There were beautiful portraits on the walls of the one of the Visitor Centres.  You can have a personal guide take you throughout the buildings and gardens.  The guides are available to speak to you in thirty different languages and as you walk throughout the Square you will see many different guides with different flags on their ID tags to let you know which language they can speak.  It was a very peaceful place and interesting to read about how their religion was established. 

At the concert

After our visit to the Temple Square we walked down the street to an outdoor garden concert.  The place was packed with people listening to the three person band play music from the British Isles.  The music was nice to listen to, but was a little slow for us.  I was hoping they would play some good Irish jigs, but no such luck - they were interested in playing slower type music.  Still it was nice to do something different at the end of our evening.


We decided to stay in a hotel for the night because the clouds still appear to be dark and threatening.   We found a great deal in the Road Trip Travel discount booklet.  Francois usually researches the hotels on Trip Advisor to find out if the deals are actually worth it, because some of those hotels in the guide have had terrible reviews.   The hotel had a pool, so just before bedtime we went to the pool for 30 minutes, it was great to move our bodies after spending the last few days cooped up in the car.  Now the kids are asleep and Francois is reviewing what we are going to do tomorrow.  The forecast is calling for a high of 35 degrees.  


I hope everyone is doing well.  I apologize if I don't answer your e-mails - this blog can be time consuming and afterwards I just want to have some down time.  We do appreciate the notes from home - Elton John is coming to Summerside - that is big news indeed. 

We saw this sign in the Temple Square and I took a picture of it, we thought of all those special people in our lives.  


Take Care
Tanya