#13-18 Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake 9-15

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the organist and the film crew.  Absolutely beautiful.  This is shown live and taped for later airings.  TV, Radio, You Tube and internet.
The Tabernacle holds about 2500 people, and it was full. 

Our next adventure will be out to see the Great Salt Lake and take in the largest island, Antelope  Island.  We drive across a causeway to get to the island.  It is about 30 miles from where we are parked to get into the park.  The entire island is a state park.

The beautiful clouds reflected on the lake, and the children frolicking on the beach.  At the visitor center we are welcomed with a map of the island and where the roads take us.
After we cross onto the island, we see a buffalo and off in the distance an prong horned antelope. “Home, Home on the range, where the buffalo roam and the antelope range”. We didn’t see any deer, but they are on the island as well as big horn sheep. 

I guess these wild animals are used to cars and people, because they didn’t move.  They are both real, even though they look like statues.

Here are the statues, at the visitors center

The causeway, viewed from a opening in the wall around the visitor center.  Looks like a picture.

Another view from inside the center through a window.

After we left the visitor center we drove 11 miles to the historic Fielding Garr Ranch, which was built in 1848.  It is the oldest Anglo-built house still on it’s original foundation in Utah.  On our way we pass the grill and the signs saying watch out for the buffalo.

The ranch house
The spring house and the combination lower level fruit and vegetable cellar and above a four person bunk house.

Big difference in the inside of the farm house from the Brigham Young house we toured yesterday. A little sparse, but comfortable and serviceable.  I don’t think they did a lit of entertaining.  But it was a working ranch and had ranch hands.  They slept in one room with four beds.

While out on the range they had the covered sleeping/cooking wagon.  Someone was very handy and thought up the first mobile home.

The ranch still raises stock, but they are wild buffalo.  They come right up to the fence and I suppose during the winter are fed with hay to supplement their feed.

Gidget and I and the buffalo at the farm. 
It’s time to head back to the RV, tomorrow we drive to Moab, UT then on to Gallup, NM and finally to our destination of Albuquerque,for the balloon festival.  We are volunteering to help park RV’s and hand out packets.  Should be fun as we will be working with HR people we know from Yuma.

#13-17 Salt Lake City, UT, Temple Square and Brigham Young’s home 9-14

Mormon Temple in Temple Square.  Frank and I in front of the Temple.  Picture taken by our guide, a young missionary girl from Greenland.

The meeting hall in Temple Square

A beautiful statue of Christ surrounded by the Universe. This is in the North Visitor Center in Temple Square.  Beautiful.  All around the inside of the Visitor Center are large murals depicting stories in the bible.  Very well done.

We attended an organ recital in the Tabernacle at noon.  This organ has over 1000 pipes, all made from wood.  The Tabernacle is dome shaped and you can actually hear a pin drop without the aid of a microphone.  The acoustics are amazing.

We walked to the Lion house and had lunch.  It is all cooked by Mormon’s and was delicious.  While we ate it stormed outside.  A passing thunderstorm.  We then toured the Beehive house, which is one of the homes that Brigham Young occupied with his wives and children.  It is made of of two parts, the older smaller home and the larger addition that his son had done.  This was a place that was used to entertain important guests, such as presidents of the USA.
Below are some photos of the wood work that was done by craftsman of the era.  Beautiful hand carvings.  Note the finials on the stair case, and you can understand why this is called “The Beehive House.”

After we finished our tour of the house, we went to the family history center and spent some time looking up information on our ancestors.  I think Frank got back to the 1600’s in Canada.  I wasn’t as fortunate with my Mother’s side of the family.  We could only go back to my great great grandparents who came to the US from Russia.  But, I was able to print out some censes reports and draft registrations after they were in the USA.
Time to head back to our RV which is parked at the Elks Lodge in Bountiful, UT.  We spent two night there, and tomorrow we are going to the Tabernacle and hear the Choir.