Trolley Tour

Yesterday (Sunday) was a non touring day.  Charlie had a couple of things to do on the outside of the motorhome and I did a little rearranging on the inside.  We spent a great part of the day outside walking, sitting and meeting our neighbors. They are very nice, they shared homemade cookies and in the evening gave us a large piece of carrot cake she made YUM!! Sitting on our patio I looked at the tree, on the bark you can see how it scared from being cut and looks like an owl!


Today we took the trolley tour.  On this tour we were able to get out to take pictures.  We saw the Union Pacific station.  This is the area where the transcontinental railroad met and the golden spike was driven, next stop was the old city hall with many stops to other locations.  They gave each of us a box of Cracker Jacks and coke in a old fashion bottle.  After the tour Charlie and I ventured out on our own and stopped at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building which was the old Hotel Utah for lunch, The lobby was absolutely stunning! The Hotel Utah was the "Grande Dame" of hotels in the intermountain west. Most of the 20th century the hotel hosted Utah's most distinguished visitors.  The building is a lavish example of second Renaissance Revival Style architecture. 


Tomorrow we'll clean and do laundry and get ready to leave on Thursday, heading to Idaho.

See the owl face!

City Hall

Charlie & I with our driver.

Depot

Lobby at Hotel Utah

Hotel Utah Lobby

Lake Tour

Our tour today was to the Great Salt Lake.  Great Salt Lake is a remnant of prehistoric Lake Bonneville, which is more than 20,000 square miles of land.  The present lake is about 75 mile long and 35 miles wide, with a maximum depth of 33 ft. while there we saw the marina, viewed birds in the nearby marsh. The lake is a popular destination for birders, there are more than 257 bird species.  Fish and other aquatic life cannot tolerate the hyper saline water. However, brine shrimp and sea monkeys thrive in the lake.  Our tour guide caught both for us to see.


We stopped to see the Saltair which is the most famous resort and is about 2 miles east of the marina.  It has a lot of history. It was first built in 1893, but was destroyed by fire in 1971.  In 1981 a Saltair replica was built, and destroyed in 1984 by a flood.  In 1993 with the lower lake levels it was reopened to the public. 

Tomorrow will be an R&R day.  The weather today was in the 80's perfect for our tour.  Remember to
 

click on the pictures to enlarge them.

Model of the original resort

Touring

Thursday we left Beaver for Salt Lake City, the drive wasn't as spectacular but still interesting.  The picture shows the snow that's still on the mountains.  We stopped for gas before driving to the camp ground, the price was $2.79!!

 Today (Friday) we took a bus tour of the city.  Our tour guide was  great! We saw the Salt Lake Temple.  The State Capital where we toured the grounds and the inside of the building, the architecture is incredible. Next we drove by the Governor's Mansion, then we stopped the Old Mormon Pioneer Trail there was so much to see.  There were original one room cabins to tour as well as work shops and people dressed in period clothing,  they had a nice gift shop but we didn't have time to shop!! :( We stopped at the Lion house for lunch, it's a large residence built in 1856 by Brigham Young to accommodate his large family.  The food was very good I had the apple glazed pork loin. Back on the bus our next stop was to the tabernacle organ recital it was astonishing music & acoustics.  The tour took us to 7 other locations which is just to much to write about!!  The tour was unbelievable and we thoroughly enjoyed the day and the people we met.  Remember to click on the pictures to enlarge them.



Snow on the mountain

State Capital

Inside of the capital

State Capital

Organ Recital

Lion House

Travel Days

Our first stop was an overnight in Flagstaff, AZ, our site was great, we were nestled in the pines.  I loved the smell of the pine trees and the evening air was cool and refreshing so we took advantage and sat outside for a couple of hours.  I actually had goose bumps!! :)  Other campers stopped by to talk and share their adventures!

Today we drove through Page, seeing the water level so low at lake Powell is sad I don't think it will ever be high again.  The Drive from Page to Utah was pretty and so different.  As you can see from the pictures the rock and sand formations with all the contrasting colors were stunning.  Tonight we're staying in Beaver Utah.  Beaver UT was settled in 1856 by Mormon Pioneers.  Beaver is the birthplace of 2 famous individuals Philo T. Farnsworth, the inventor of television and Butch Cassidy, the notorious western outlaw.   Tomorrow we'll be heading to Salt Lake City where will be staying for a week. Just a Reminder if you click on the picture it will enlarge it.

Travel Days

Our first stop was an overnight in Flagstaff, AZ, our site was great, we were nestled in the pines.  I loved the smell of the pine trees and the evening air was cool and refreshing so we took advantage and sat outside for a couple of hours.  I actually had goose bumps!! :)  Other campers stopped by to talk and share their adventures!

Today we drove through Page, seeing the water level so low at lake Powell is sad I don't think it will ever be high again.  The Drive from Page to Utah was pretty and so different.  As you can see from the pictures the rock and sand formations with all the contrasting colors were stunning.  Tonight we're staying in Beaver Utah.  Beaver UT was settled in 1856 by Mormon Pioneers.  Beaver is the birthplace of 2 famous individuals Philo T. Farnsworth, the inventor of television and Butch Cassidy, the notorious western outlaw.   Tomorrow we'll be heading to Salt Lake City where will be staying for a week.

Preparation H

Packing Day!
 

Ok I know what a few of you were thinking!

Maybe after 3 months on the road we may need some. L.O.L. We are preparing our home for the road trip. It's hard to know what to bring and what to leave behind, I always have that "what if" thought going on, Charlie assured me if we forget something we can always stop and shop...umm shoppping!! (maybe I'll leave some cloths behind) HEE HEE.

Tomorrow June 21st we leave to start our summer adventures, it'll be nice to get out of this heat spell we're having.  It was 115 yesterday!!

2016 Summer Trip

We've had many request to setup a blog so you could follow us on our summer adventures.  We'll be leaving June 21 and returning the end of September.  Some of the places we'll be visiting are Salt Lake City, Victor ID touring the Teton Mountain Range, Jackson WY, Yellowstone National Park, Seattle WA, Vancouver and Victoria BC, travel route 1 and 101 on the Coastal hwy. to Crescent City, to visit the beautiful Redwoods to Los Angeles and more!!  We're looking forward to our trip and sharing our travels with you.