Salt Lake City, Utah Adventures!

Salt Lake City, the most populous county in Utah is the Capitol with an estimated population of 200,567 (in 2019) was our next destination! We hit this city running. On our way we stopped off at Timpanogos Cave National Monument. Unfortunately the cave was still closed but we walked a trail in the park! Stunning area. 🎉 Only in Salt Lake City for 2 nights at a KOA, we had to make the most of our time. My girlfriend Nancy from grade school who we met up with at Moab…..well they were here for one night so as soon as we got setup we met them at Red Iguana 2 for an early Mexican dinner! Awesome margaritas! 🍹 so good to spend time with them again! We even made an appointment at Ford for the truck to get an oil change….🚙Uber picked us up to take us to a pick up point to hop on a tour bus 🚌 to use our time wisely! 🤦🏻‍♀️😱 ** Salt Lake City was founded in 1847 by early pioneer settlers, led by Brigham Young, who were seeking to escape persecution they had experienced while living farther east. The Mormon pioneers as they would come to be known, entered a semi-arid valley and immediately began planning and building an extensive irrigation network which could feed the population and foster future growth. Salt Lake City’s street grid system is based on a standard compass grid plan, with the southeast corner being Temple Square (the area containing the Temple in downtown Salt Lake City). Immigration of international members of the LDS Church, mining booms, and the construction of the first transcontinental railroad initially brought economic growth, and the city was nicknamed “The Crossroads of the West”. The settling of Salt Lake City dates to the arrival of the Latter-day Saints in July 1847. They had traveled beyond the boundaries of the United States into Mexican Territory seeking a secluded area to safely practice their religion away from the violence and the persecution they experienced in the US. Upon arrival at the Salt Lake Valley, president of the church Brigham Young is recorded as stating, “This is the right place, drive on.” Brigham Young is said to have seen the area in a vision before the wagon train’s arrival. They found the broad valley empty of any human settlement. The largest park in Salt Lake City is This is the place Heritage Park, 217.5 acres. This is the Place Heritage Park re-creates typical 19th century LDS pioneer life and contains over 50 restored or replicated historical buildings. This was a really cool area with so much history. **Salt Lake City is home to The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square founded in 1847 as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Also serves as the headquarters for Latter Day Saints. Unfortunately, the temple is under construction and with Covid we couldn’t tour it but we were able to walk the grounds inside temple square. Beautiful buildings & flowers are all over the grounds so I was in heaven! **Big Cottonwood Canyon is a beautiful scenic 15-mile long canyon that we drove our first day. Its two ski resorts, Brighten and Solitude are popular among skiers and snowboarders (they were closed but had lots of snow all around). We drove to the top to Guardsman Pass at the top of the canyon as far as we could go till we came to snow. ❄️ *** The next day we went to Antelope Island, with an area of 42 square miles, is the largest of ten islands located within the Great Salt Lake. The island lies in the southeastern portion of the lake, and becomes a peninsula when the lake is at extremely low levels. This is a great place to view wildlife. The island was without its namesake antelope for many years, but they were reintroduced in 1993 and can now be seen in many areas of the park. Deer, bobcats, coyotes, many varieties of birds call the island home. But most famous is Antelope Island’s American Bison 🦬, introduced to the island in 1893 and now numbering some 600 animals. It’s crazy to see them grazing all over and near the Lake. Great Salt Lake does not have fish, but does have brine shrimp and brine flies which provide food for visiting waterfowl. Because of the high salinity, the island is mostly without readily available fresh water. To our amazement we saw the state bird…seagulls flying all around the lake! ***Toured the Capitol building on Capitol Hill. Built between 1923-1916, Corinthian style, 404 ft long, 240 ft wide and the dome is 250 ft high. The exterior is made of granite,..52 Corinthian columns each 32 ft tall by 3.5 ft in diameter. We got to tour parts of the 1st, 2nd & 3rd floors. It’s all marble walls with paintings and sculptures about Utah’s history and heritage. The rotunda has a beautiful mural and on either end had large skylights. The state reception room was all done in gold with extensive gold leaf decor. We toured the legislative floor…the chambers for both House and Senate along with the Supreme Court. A big display for Martha Hughes Cannon, the first Woman State Senator in 1896 in the US. She defeat her own husband! 😮We drove around Utah University and through Ft. Douglas (established in 1862 during American Civil War). Salt Lake City hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics and this is where they housed the 2500 Olympians from 77 nations. Got to see where Olympic Park was, this was where ski jumping, bobsled and luge events were and also got to see the Stadium that was built for opening and closing ceremonies. The torch is still there which was cool to see. Also got to see the Vivint Smart Home Arena where all the figure skating and short track speed skating events took place. ⛸ **What an exhilarating 2 day adventure in this amazing city that’s surrounded by snow capped mountains! We ended our adventure with going to Uinta Brewing Company! 🍻 Tim loved the Detour Double IPA and the food was amazing there! Super fun day! Off to Vernal for 2 days!