Snow in the Mountains, Heat in the Valley
Hello Everyone! It’s been a pleasant and reasonably slow week here in Utah. The temperatures have definitely gone up significantly and it feels like we are jumping right from winter to summer out here. I’ve spent plenty of time in Utah in summer in my life, so I know that’s not exactly true, but going from 40°F to 85°F is still a significant jump in a week. I’ve spent most of the week in the Greater Salt Lake City area, an area I’ve spent a decent amount of time in in the past but have never really had an opportunity to explore. I went to an amazing American Indian Powwow, learned more about the Mormon faith and history and generally enjoyed my time out in the Salt Lake Valley. This may have been my last full week here in Utah, and closing out my time in a state is always bittersweet. I’ve really enjoyed these last 5 weeks in the Beehive State, and I’ve certainly learned a lot about what makes it tick. That being said, the warmer temperatures are going to push me north and into the mountains, which is what I’ve been looking forward to all winter. Anyways, I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself, so let’s get right into how I spent my week here in north-central Utah.
After finishing up this post last week I used the rest of the daylight to cruise on up the road to Delta. Along the way I was excited to visit the town of Harding (my last name), but it turned out to only be a crossroads – no sign, no buildings, no nothing. That was disappointing, but the sun was already down when I got there, so I continued on and had a quiet night when I got to Delta. On Thursday morning I started my day with a visit to the Topaz Museum in the heart of downtown Delta. I got there right when the museum was opening and the docent who was there was a former Delta schoolteacher who spent a nice bit of time introducing me to museum. In 1942, the Topaz Relocation Center opened about 15 miles west of Delta and would go on to house 11,212 people of Japanese ancestry who had been forcibly relocated from their homes on the west coast. Most were U.S. citizens and many had been born in America. Topaz was located in an ancient lakebed which was composed of fine alkaline dust which covered everything and everyone in sight. The housing was in plywood shacks furnished with army cots, a woodstove and little else. The people who were relocated there were supposed to bring plates, cutlery, sheets, towels and clothing for their whole family when they came. I have been to other relocation centers including Manzanar in California and Gila in Arizona and Japanese relocation is of particular interest to me because I lived in Japan for two years. The Topaz Museum got its start when local high school students were given an assignment to interview people who remembered the camp and people brought out artifacts from their time in Topaz. The town began collecting these artifacts and eventually opened the Topaz Museum which has hosted many people who lived through the experience over the years since. I thought it was an excellent museum which was very well executed.
Next door to the Topaz Museum is the Great Basin Museum which was also quite good. It had the usual collection of quilts and rocking chairs that many pioneer museums around the state have, but it also had a wonderful collection of trilobite fossils, a mammoth tusk and other cool fossils and gems found in the region. I would have liked to have spent more time there, but I had spent almost 2 hours next door and I wanted to get moving. I headed north and then east and back into central Utah with the snow-capped mountains in view the whole time. That being said, the temperature kept climbing through the day getting up to 85°F by mid-afternoon making the snow feel like a mirage. At around 2:30pm, I pulled into the Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple in Salem, and what a beautiful temple it is. I was warmly welcomed by the gentleman working there when I walked in and was invited to wander the temple and the grounds at my leisure. The temple was simple, but also quite beautiful and the grounds were home to many llamas and several peacocks as well. After wandering around for a while, I came back and enjoyed a delicious vegan buffet which they offer every day to visitors for only $12.
Not far from the temple is the infamous Dream Mine which you can’t visit but you can see it from most of the roads in the area. The Dream Mine was the vision of a local Mormon named John Hyrum Koyle who believed that God had told him to start digging in that specific location. Koyle believed that when the second coming of Jesus occurred, the mine would fill up with gold and treasure. He sold stocks in his mining company and began his excavation in earnest. Over the last hundred years, the mine has proven virtually worthless as far as mineral excavation goes, and the LDS Church has officially warned its members against investing in the Dream Mine. They put Koyle on trial and told him he could renounce his claims or be excommunicated. He chose the former but when he started telling people he had been forced into doing so, the church excommunicated him anyway. You can still buy stock in the mine for between $30-50/share, but I don’t think it would be a good investment. Anyways, I’ve read about this mine several times over the years and thought it was cool to see it, even from a distance.
Leaving Salem I continued on to Spanish Fork, where Fathers Dominguez and Escalante had been the first people of European descent to see the Utah Valley back in 1776 on their legendary expedition around the region. Spanish Fork is a small and pleasant town which I enjoyed strolling around in the heat of the afternoon. I went to a burger stand called Glade’s because I had read so many good reviews of their white fry sauce and I thought I would try some while I was there, having become much more of an connoisseur of fry sauce over the last month. The lady working there handed it to me with a straight face but when I tried it, it was just plain mayonnaise. I felt duped as I realized their claim of “white fry sauce” was about as legitimate as those of the Dream Mine. Regardless, I eat mayo with my fries in Europe, so it wasn’t like I had to throw them out or anything, it was just disappointing. I did have to get a milkshake down the road to wash the figurative bad taste out of my mouth though. That evening I went to a coffee shop in nearby Payson which was hosting a jam night. In my quest to avoid alcohol whenever there’s another option, I thought this looked really good. It turned out to be just okay as there wasn’t really any structure to it (which is fine) and I left after I finished my coffee. Payson is a pretty little town with some cool Victorian architecture though, so I enjoyed a short wander and then headed up to Springville for the night.
When I got up Friday morning, I headed straight for Provo. I am happy to be back in the land of Planet Fitness, so I can start my day with a workout and a shower. Utah has been lacking in showers in many places and I always feel better when I’m fresh and clean. Then I headed over to the library which is in an amazing old building. This was the original main hall of Brigham Young Academy (later Brigham Young University) and was completed in 1892 having been designed by Don Carlos Young, Brigham’s son. After a couple of hours of catching up on my work, I headed over to the university to visit some of their museums. The BYU Museum of Anthropology was excellent with a lot of cool bones and fossils and just enough information without being overwhelming. There were also several paleontology students in the lab who were working on cleaning out a dinosaur nest with fossilized eggs in it which was really cool. From there I went up the road to the Museum of Peoples and Cultures. This museum had some interesting displays but was pretty small and I was in and out in about half an hour. Finally, I went to the Museum of Mormon Mexican History which had a permanent exhibition on the church’s missionary work in our southern neighbor.
Finishing up with the museums for the day, I went and spent some time in downtown Provo. I was really impressed that they had many of the things I have come to expect from a university town, even though alcohol is scarce. There was a live music venue which looked really cool, a comedy club and plenty of coffee shops, ice cream parlors and restaurants. It seemed like a nice place to live and I really appreciated some of the old Victorian buildings as well, and their beautiful brick temple. I wrote above that alcohol was scarce, but not entirely absent. In a town of 120,000 people, there is exactly one real bar (although several restaurants have bars and serve alcohol). For research purposes, I felt like I needed to give it a look. A. Beuford Gifford's Libation Emporium (or “ABG’s” for short) was actually really good. It’s a big place with pool tables, a good beer selection and a stage for live music. ABG’s has been around for over 30 years, but there has been a bar in that location for over a century. I had my one beer there and then headed out to Pleasant Grove to The Ruth and Nathan Hale Theater for an evening performance of Fiddler on the Roof. This is actually a brand new theater and I believe this was their first production. It was excellent. The acting was great, the sets were beautiful and the theatre itself was quite comfortable, even in the cheap seats. At first I was amused at Mormons playing Jews in 1905 Ukraine. As the play went on though, I started to realize the importance of this play to the Mormons who were also persecuted for their religion and eventually run out of town from their one-time home in Nauvoo, Illinois (among other places). I felt like they could definitely identify with all of the characters. It was an excellent production and I really enjoyed it.
On Saturday morning I hit the gym and then headed north to Salt Lake City and the University of Utah for the Threading Our Legacies Powwow. The powwow was held in the Huntsman Center, the university’s basketball stadium. I was pleasantly surprised by the turnout, as people came from far and wide to participate. The Ute tribe was probably the most well-represented, but there were plenty of Navajo and Shoshone people there as well. The regalia was amazing and there were probably close to 300 dancers in all, from little kids to those in their “golden age”. Beginning at noon, the powwow went until almost 10pm and was simply awesome to be a part of. I was only sorry that it was so poorly attended by the general public as there were probably only a couple of hundred spectators, the majority of whom were friends and family of the dancers. Despite that, it was an excellent event all around which made me happy because it has been on my calendar for a month and my whole time in Utah was planned around getting to this powwow.
On Sunday morning I went to the local university Mormon church for their morning service. I had never been to a Mormon service before and knew it was obviously something I should do “when in Rome”. I was impressed by the number of young people there, although its proximity to the university probably helped with that. There were a lot of small children there as well who were all well-behaved but also quite entertaining. I've been to a lot of different churches in my travels, from Black Baptist churches in the Deep South to rural churches in Appalachia to Spanish language Catholic masses in California’s historic missions to Jewish Shabbat services, but this was my first time inside a Mormon church. The first thing that struck me was how plain it was – it reminded me of traffic court but with an organ. It was quite comfortable, but also very simple (which is not necessarily a bad thing). There were some religious paintings in the hallways, all with a remarkably white Jesus. The service itself lasted a little less than an hour and included four hymns, two guest speakers and a few words from the Bishop. The “emblems of sacrament” (what I would call communion) was done with water instead of wine. If anything, I would say the service was kind of boring. In my head I likened it to American cheese on white bread with mayonnaise – nothing wrong with it, but nothing to get excited about either. Several people introduced themselves to me after this “sacrament meeting” and invited me to the second hour of the day which is a lot like Sunday school. This hour is when the congregation divides up in different ways each week, sometimes men and women go to different sessions, sometimes adults have a session and children a different one. This week was a men/women week, so I went to the men’s section and was welcomed in warmly by the group. They spent the hour discussing the Book of Mormon and what it meant to them and why. I know enough about the book to have been able to follow along quite comfortably, and appreciated hearing what they had to say as several of them were quite passionate about their faith. I found the whole thing interesting, but I don’t think I will be converting anytime soon. To be perfectly honest, I usually leave church feeling spiritually uplifted but I left this experience not feeling much of anything at all. It was nice enough and the people were friendly but it didn’t move me. I’m still glad I went.
Just up the road from the university is This Is The Place State Park which commemorates the end of the Mormon Trail. When the Mormons came through the mountains in July of 1847, Brigham Young looked out over the Salt Lake Valley and declared “this is the right place”. They started planting crops and clearing land that very day, July 24th, which is still Utah’s biggest day of celebration: Pioneer Day. There is a great monument to the pioneers up on the hill, which also credits the Indians, the mountain men, the Spanish priests and even the Donner Party who came before them. In addition to the Mormon statues, there is also a great Pony Express statue nearby which was done by Avard Fairbanks who I mentioned last week.
Having spent the morning with the Saints, I thought I would spend the afternoon with the sinners. Unlike the rest of the state, Salt Lake has quite a few bars and I stopped into a few of them for a beer. I have been enjoying my sobriety during my time in Utah and can feel the health benefits from not drinking, both physically and mentally. I think I will continue a predominantly sober journey going forward but I don’t plan on stopping completely and thought it was about time for a few drinks. I was spending the night at Second Summit Cidery through one of the groups I’m in called Harvest Hosts which allows RVers to spend the night at breweries and wineries and such, so I knew I had a safe and quiet place to sleep. It was a good day and I enjoyed visiting some local bars, but when you’re not drinking for a while, your tolerance sure drops quickly.
I didn’t feel particularly great when I woke up on Monday which is, of course, the other side of that coin. I felt completely unproductive and not really motivated to do much of anything. I forced myself to go to the gym, which definitely helped, and then went for a nice big bowl of Vietnamese pho for lunch which also helped. I spent a few hours in the library which is a quiet and easy place to be. From there I went to the Saltfire Brewery for a couple of quiet beers on their patio before calling it a night.
I felt much better when I got up yesterday and was motivated to go and explore the city. I started my day at the State Capitol, a lovely domed building up on the hill. I was surprised to find it ringed with cherry blossoms which are blooming at the moment and are quite a favorite of mine. The cherry blossom bloom is my favorite time in my hometown of Washington D.C. and was a favorite time in the little town I lived in when I was in Japan. Going inside, I asked at the tour desk about the next guided tour and the lady told me there was a big school group coming in which I was more than welcome to join. Not wanting to wait an hour, I did just that. As it turned out, one of the children in the school group was the son of one of Utah’s senators, so we got special access to the governor’s office which is not normally included on the tour. The capitol was lovely with beautiful stone work and plenty of nice paintings around. I learned that the traffic light was invented in Salt Lake City in a time of crowded streets but before the first automobile came to the valley. Utah was also the birthplace of the man who invented the television. I was also surprised to find that Utah has no state museum, which I have enjoyed in every other state I have visited, but that in about 3 months they will open one for the first time.
From the capitol, I went just down the street to the Pioneer History Museum run by the Daughters of Utah Pioneers. I’ve been to quite a few D.U.P. museums around the state but this one, understandably, was the granddaddy of them all. I especially liked the original handcarts which they had on display (pioneers who couldn’t afford wagons or oxen literally pushed their belongings across the country in a cart). They also had a skeleton key to the Nauvoo Temple which I thought was cool and four floors of other artifacts as well. I had a nice long chat with the ladies working there who were sisters and had quite a few pioneer ancestors. If you don’t remember from a few weeks ago, the pioneer era was considered the time from 1847 when the Mormons first came to Utah until May 10, 1869 when the transcontinental railroad was completed. They certainly accomplished a lot in that timeframe and I definitely respect how hearty they were and the fact that they headed west solely base on faith.
To finish off my day, I dropped down the hill to Temple Square to visit the Church History Museum there (it was nice to see the Salt Lake Temple without scaffolding for the first time in a few years). This museum tells the story of the evolution of the Mormon Church from the Prophet Joseph Smith’s first revelations in the forests of New York as a teenager, to the origins of the faith and through to their exodus to Ohio, Missouri and finally Nauvoo, Illinois. The museum’s story ends where the pioneer story begins - as they made their way across the country from Nauvoo to the Great Salt Lake. At this point, I’m pretty familiar with the whole story, but I thought the museum was well done and had some really cool artifacts to explore. I was also impressed that the museum didn’t ignore the polygamy aspect of the church which caused them so much grief through the years (and even today). They also were clear that after Joseph Smith’s assassination, his widow, Emma, did not support Brigham Young and did not go with them to Utah but stayed behind in Illinois and supported her son Joseph III as the heir to the Prophet’s role in the church. Of interest to me were the other options presented after Smith’s death including James Strang who I wrote about years ago when I visited Beaver Island out in Lake Michigan. I’ve also spent a lot of time over the last few years telling the story of Sam Brannan who wanted the Mormons to go by boat to Yerba Buena (now San Francisco) and would turn into quite the local character out there. During my visit, I had seen a statue all wrapped in plastic in a closed off part of the museum and asked one of the docents what it was. She told me it was the statue of Moroni which had once sat atop an old Mormon church in Washington D.C. and I knew immediately what she was talking about as it’s only a couple of miles from my mom’s house. She thought it was cool that I knew about it and I thought it was cool that it was there. Apparently it was the only Moroni statue on a church in the world as Moroni is usually atop a Mormon temple. She also told me the church is not putting him on new temples because they don’t want anyone to believe that they worship anyone other than Jesus which I found pretty sensible. It was a good museum and worth a look if you’re ever in Temple Square and want to hear the church’s history in their own words.
And that brings me to today. I’m currently sitting in the Foothills Branch of the city library looking out at a beautiful day outside as I finish up this week’s This Week on the Road. I don’t have much of a plan for the rest of the day, but want to see a few more things in Salt Lake before I take off. This coming week I want to go through the mountains to Park City, go have a look at Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake and then head north through Ogden and Brigham City before finishing my time in Utah at beautiful Bear Lake. From there I’m off and running into southern Idaho which I’m really looking forward to. I hope to be back in the Gem State by this time next week, but that all depends on what I find along the way. I hope you’ll come back next week and see what I get up to on my way north. Have a wonderful week out there and thank you, as always, for reading.
-Mike