Skywatch Friday = Mormon Temple in Kensington, Maryland

As you are driving the beltway that circles Washinton D.C. you come to a point in the road when you see this gigantic white six spired building ahead of you up on a very tall clift. It looks a lot like King Ludvig's castle in Germany. The first time our family encounted this sight I think the girls thought it was a castle.

We had to explain that is was the first Mormon temple built on the east coast and that it opened in December of 1968. This particular temple is larger than the Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City. One year when the girls were preteens we visited the temple during the Christmas season to see it up close. That particular year the mormons had a live nativity scene on the 52 acre grounds of this temple.

Here's a shot I got from the beltway. The spire to the right has a golden angel at the top. For mormons this is the Angel Maroni statue holding the gold plates. These two pics were taken on Sunday, January 24'th before we had our first blizzard in the metro area. If you want a better view click on each pic to bring it upclose to you.

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Skywatch Friday = May Day

May Day Sunrise

2007

Here are three photos from May Day 2007. Jack and I were in the second week of our 39 day cross country road trip and cruise to Alaska. On May 1'st 2007 we toured Antelope Island in the middle of the Great Salt Lake in Utah and watched the sunrise. We saw lots of water birds and antelope on our drive around Antelope Island.


This was a very memorable May Day for Jack and I.



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Come With Me

Are you tired of winter? Where you live are you still in the snow and ice? Well, come along with me on a virtual road trip to the state of Utah. Jack and I took these photos last spring in Salt Lake City. Just looking at these pictures of the Great Salt Lake after sunrise and all the beautiful spring flowers puts a smile on my face and a warm glow in my heart. We attended an organ concert at the Tabernacle. The organ had just been restored and the acoustics in the building were outstanding. The man who spoke quietly tore a piece of paper and you could hear it distinctly in the back of the room. The lighting of the "sky" changed for different musical pieces. I liked this rosy "sky". The bottom photo is the skyline of Salt Lake City with the Eagle's Gate in the foreground and the Utah State Capitol in the background. If you click on the photo of the Great Salt Lake, you will be able to see water birds hovering over the lake. This was taken from an island in the lake. The Great Salt Lake is 8 times saltier than the world's oceans.

Week 2 Has Begun Ahead of Schedule!

When we said we would be flexible with our schedule, we thought we would be running behind. Instead, we are ahead. We started the day at Antelope Island State Park, which is the largest island in the Great Salt Lake. We learned that parts of the Lake are 8 times as salty as the ocean. The first picture was taken on Antelope Island. We then drove on to Boise with a side trip to the Gold Spike National Monument in Promontory, UT, where the last spike was driven in the nation's first coast to coast railroad and to Shoshone Falls in Twin Falls, ID. The second photo is of Jack's foot standing on the last rail-tie laid and the one the Gold spike was driven in. The spike, however, is in a museum in California. The third photo is of the Falls, which are in the Snake river. Our resting spot for the day is the Doubletree in Boise. Downtown Boise is one of the nicest downtowns we've seen. We had dinner at a Basque restaurant downtown. Boise claims to have the largest Basque community outside of France. The food was excellent! Of course the last photo is the Idaho Capitol building. This was also a maintenance day for the car--oil changed and car washed. We're all ready for the rest of week 2.

Mormon Tabernacle Organ Recital

What do you think of when someone mentions Salt Lake City? For us it is the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Unfortunately, we didn't make it in time on Sunday to hear them, but we did get to hear an organ recital. This was a special treat, since the organ just recently underwent a restoration and this was the first recital after restoration. The first picture is the inside of the Tabernacle where the organ is located and the Choir sings. The second picture (which Joann does not like) was taken right after the recital. The color of the lighting behind the organ changed after each arrangement and the color you see is the last color used. The organist started the recital with a demonstration of the acoustics. The audience was required to sit in the back third of the Tabernacle. He talked without a microphone and was easily understood. He then ripped a newspaper into shreds and the rips were loud and clear. He then dropped pins one at a time on the lectern and again they were easily heard. Of course, there was little doubt we would be able to hear the gigantic organ. The third picture with the monument shows the outside of the Tabernacle. The last picture is more of the flowers on the grounds.

Rawlins to Salt Lake

The weather really cooperated by setting a record Sunday in Salt Lake City of 89 degrees with blue skies. We drove from Rawlins to Salt Lake City stopping in Rock Springs, WY, where Jack's nephew Chan Lowe attended elementary school. He was in a GT program and was bused about 70 miles one way each day. His class was written up in People magazine. We also stopped in Park City, UT, where some of the 2002 Winter Olympics skiing events were held. The town is nestled in a canyon with lots of upscale shops and restaurants. The drive along I-80 gave us spectacular views of the snow covered mountains glistening in the bright sun. Our first stop in Salt Lake was Temple Square, which includes the Mormon Temple, the Tabernacle, the first Mormon Temple and other administrative and tourist buildings. The highlight were the many beautiful spring flowers. There was an organ recital that I will write about later. The building with the spirals is the Temple and the building at the right corner with the rounded roof is the Tabernacle. The "gate" you see in the picture in front of the Capitol is called the "Eagle's Gate." The Capitol is being renovated, so it was hard getting a good picture. Since it was still early, we went south to Provo and toured the Brigham Young University campus. The grounds were beautiful, but the mountains surrounding the campus really highlighted the campus' beauty. After this added side trip, we were ready to call it a day and headed for a hotel. Unfortunately, there was no internet access, so we couldn't make a post yesterday. Thus, we'll do two today.