Vegas Strong
We picked up my dad at the Las Vegas airport for a short stay in Sin City. We had planned this visit months in advance and decided to still go, even though it was only two weeks after the massacre.
The iconic “Welcome to Las Vegas” sign and the area around it, had become a memorial for those who died. We paid our respects as did many others from around the world. The memorial area smelled like decaying flowers and candle wax, I will remember that smell forever. A cabbie told us that the Las Vegas Boulevard from Mandalay Bay down to Fremont Street was closed after the massacre for hours. (About 16 miles).
The music venue where the massacre took place was still surrounded by yellow crime scene tape with a heavy police presence surrounding that location to keep the curious away.
We could see the boarded up windows in Mandalay Bay where the shooter staged his attack.
The MGM lion statue in the lobby of the MGM.
“Vegas Strong” messages were everywhere. The locals we spoke to were saddened, but took pride in the courage of the many people who helped rescue victims.
Temple Square
Temple Square is a 10-acre complex, owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), in the center of Salt Lake City, Utah. In 1847, when Mormon pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, LDS Church president Brigham Young selected a plot of the desert ground and proclaimed, “Here we will build a temple to our God.”
The Brigham Young Monument (or Pioneer Monument) is a bronzed historical monument, erected in honor of pioneer-colonizer, Utah governor, and LDS Church president Brigham Young who led the Mormon pioneers into the Utah Territory.
Salt Lake Temple is considered the house of God and is reserved for special ceremonies for practicing Latter-Day Saints. The main ordinance rooms are used during the endowment and, washing and anointing ceremonies. The temple also serves as a place for marriage sealing ceremonies for live and deceased persons. Unless you are a practicing Mormon, you may not enter the temple.
Attracting 3 million to 5 million visitors a year, Temple Square is the most popular tourist attraction in Utah, bringing in more visitors than the Grand Canyon or Yellowstone National Park.
The golden Angel Moroni placed on the capstone of the temple symbolizes the angel mentioned in Revelation 14:6 that will appear at the the Second Coming of Christ.
The Salt Lake Tabernacle, home of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square. The Tabernacle was built between 1864 and 1867 with an overall seating capacity of 8,000, including the choir area and gallery.
We will definitely come back to Utah. There are five national parks in Utah that we were unable to visit this trip.
The Great Salt Lake
One of my favorite movies is “Gentlemen Jim” starring Errol Flynn and Ward Bond. After a drunken night where Errol’s character wakes up in Salt Lake City, he is asked why did you come to Salt Lake City, he replied, “I wanted to see the Lake.” We wanted to see the Great Salt Lake too.
To view the lake, we traveled to Antelope Island, a state park that is easily accessed via causeway. We were both surprised at how large the Lake was and how close it is to downtown Salt Lake City. From the map you can see it’s proximity to the city.
The Great Salt Lake is the largest salt water lake in the Western Hemisphere at around 1,700 square miles.
Because there is no outlet for the water, the Lake has very high salinity (far saltier than seawater) and its mineral content is steadily increasing. Due to the high density resulting from its mineral content, swimming in the Great Salt Lake is similar to floating. Its shallow, warm waters cause frequent, sometimes heavy lake-effect snows from late fall through spring.
Despite being called “America’s Dead Sea”, the lake provides habitat for millions of native birds, brine shrimp, shorebirds, and waterfowl. The Lake smells a little like sulphur due the minerals in the water.
While the name of the Island is Antelope Island, we didn’t see any, but we did see buffalo. Every year on the island, there is a buffalo round-up to control the population and raise money for the island.
We camped at the Wasatch View Estates and RV Park. We had a beautiful view of the Wasatch Mountain Range.
Overstaying our Weather
Our stay in the West Yellowstone area may have been a week too long. It was only mid September and we were scheduled to stay another week, but snow suddenly appeared in the forecast. It took us as well as the locals by surprise.
It was Buddy’s first snow experience and he absolutely loved it. Jumped and ran around like a kid on Christmas.
I had to climb up on the roof of the RV and remove approx 6 inches of snow.
While it was melting quickly, there was more snow in the forecast for the week ahead. We decided it was time to head further south so we left a few days before our scheduled departure. We had been having some issues with the bedroom slide out so we made a maintenance appointment in Idaho Falls and headed south. We found a nice State Park near the shop and stayed there while parts were ordered for repairs.
Now this is more like it.
Yellowstone – Fountain Paint Pot Trail
Bacteria and other thermophiles (heat loving microorganisms) usually form the ribbons of color like you see here. The green, brown, and orange mats are cyanobacteria, which can live in waters as hot as 167 F (73 C). At this temperature they are usually yellow-green. They become orange, rust, or brown as the water cools. In cooler water other thermophiles may appear that will modify the colors even more. Color may also change due to stress, such as the intense sunlight of mid summer.
This nearly constant performer splashes from several vents and its steam can be seen throughout the Lower Geyser Basin. Its name is Greek for water clock, and was given because the geyser used to erupt regularly every three minutes. Since the 1959 Hebgen earthquake, however, Clepsydra erupts almost without pause.
The small geyser in front of Clepsydra is Spasm Geyser and is quiet after its big neighbor erupts, then resumes splashing to 3 feet.
Fountain Paint Pot is one of many mudpots found in the park. In early summer the mudpots are thin and watery from abundant rain and snow. By late summer they are quite thick. The mud is composed of clay minerals and fine particles of silica. In this area the rock is rhyolite, which is composed primarily of quartz and feldspar. Acids in the steam and water break down the feldspar into a clay mineral called kaolinite.
Imagine traveling back in time to Aug 17 1959. If you were standing where the picture below was taken, you would find yourself on a grassy knoll. Red Sprouter did not exist! Shortly before midnight a major earthquake rocked Hebgen Lake, MT approx 25 miles northwest. Jolts rippled through Yellowstone. In the aftermath Red Sprouter was born.
In fact, under the wood bridge for pedestrians, there are remnants of a paved road. Due to Red Sprouter’s formation, roads needed to be re-routed to preserve this fumarole.
Yellowstone – Biscuit Basin
Biscuit Basin is a few miles north of Old Faithful Village. A 1/4 mile boardwalk guides you through Biscuit Basin which got its name from the biscuit-like deposits that once surrounded the bright blue water of Sapphire Pool. In 1959, Sapphire Pool began erupting violently as a result of the Hebgan Lake earthquake which measured a magnitude 7.5 on the Richter Scale over 20 miles away to the northwest. Sapphire’s violent erruptions destroyed most of these biscuit-like features that it was known for.
There are other thermal features here. Mostly jewel colored pools and bacterial mat with cool colors.
The Mystic Falls trail is a small loop trail where you can get a bird’s eye view of the entire basin. We love when we can find an overlook or higher elevation to get a better perspective of what’s on the ground.
