Hi, I’m Katie and I’ll be your guide today as we explore Salt Lake City!  We actually had a fine tour guide in Rodney who was Mormon as a child.  We headed to Temple Square after breakfast.

The grounds were amazingly serene, filled with the aromas of fresh flowers, towering trees, and sweetly cut grass.  The day was warm and sunny and made for a perfect day of exploring.

This is Saint John the Baptist blessing the children as they have a huge part in the Mormon church.

I love bronze statues.  They are my favorite form of art.

I love the outfits that these statues are wearing!

The Mormons came across the country with very little as they looked for the place they would build the temple.  Many walked across the land with mere carts.

Construction on the temple was started on April 6, 1853 and was completed forty years later on April 6, 1893.  The stone for the temple was carried by oxen over twenty-three miles.

The average person, even the average Mormon, is not allowed in the temple.  It is quite an architectural beauty.

There were plants growing that I have never seen before and the ones I did recognize were larger and more vibrant.  Does anyone know what the next two plants are?

This is the leaf of a large tree…

If one is down they should travel with Pat.  She bubbles over with mirth.  I have never met anyone as kind, generous, or so connected with physical sensations and being present.  Her happy spirit is contagious.

Around the grounds and visitor’s center and as our tour guides of the house and offices that Brigham Young occupied are many young people from around the world eager to answer questions and connect with you later.  All languages are spoken there and no one would be left unable to learn about the religion as there is someone from every country present.  “They are all kids,” Pat whispered to me.

The bee is signified everywhere.  Busy as a bee is a common thread.  Here it was intricately carved into the doorways and pocket doors.

Rodney enjoyed himself as he knew the answers to many of our questions and really felt comfortable in the atmosphere, peaceful even.  We went to the Tabernacle where the infamous choir practices and saw a demonstration on the acoustics of the dome shaped building.  Without a microphone we could clearly hear the speaker and even pins dropping.

We then walked around the city in search of an eatery open on 4th of July.  We walked through an open mall with water features.

My husband is an amazing photographer.  I joked that he could be the IPOD photographer available for parties and events as his new career.

We finally found a place open and had a delicious lunch.  The food in Salt Lake City is spectacular.  We did not have a bad meal the entire trip.

Red Rock is a brewery with eclectic food offerings.  Doug and I shared bites, my favorite way to eat!  Brussels sprouts roasted with bacon, Welsh rarebit, and smoked salmon on crostini and house made beer.

This friendly guy was hanging from light post in reminder that we are all stewards of the earth.

After rest, a swim, and some time to read our respective books, we looked for dinner and found Ichiban Sushi.  The food was delicious and the price was incredible.  Four people ate sushi for $26.  If we lived here we would lose Doug and Rodney there regularly.  I am afraid the name though gave us fits of unexplained laughter, a carload of junior high students on a retreat is what we would have been reminiscent of.  Ichiban turned to Itchy buns, then turned to Itchy butt, with us all hooting with laughter.

We went on a ghost hunting tour.

There were two devices that were passed around called EMFs that could pick up the electromagnetic field of spirits.  It would go off at the sites that we were taken too.  You can imagine how excited Pat was when she got to hold one first!

It went off as we passed the old Railroad station.

The streets were lined with homeless people, blocks and blocks of them in tents, many of them strung out, many tired, and lines and lines outside the Catholic charities soup kitchen.  I found that more haunting than the train station.

We went to a Holiday Inn where a woman threw her children off a balcony.  It was rather sad.  Then we went to the City and County building where a bride had jumped to her death after being stood up by her groom.

Nothing, nothing, then the indicator went off.

Rodney shot a picture on his phone where the face recognition went off on a place where no one was standing.

Of course we had to visit a cemetery.  We had an amazing view of the city below and fireworks across the horizon.

Spirits are everywhere and I don’t think they just pop up on cue for tours but the guide was very entertaining and the history of the city came alive with his stories.

The city was lit up and glimmering last night.  The sound of celebratory fireworks all around us, the air still warm as we sat in front of the temple looking for ghosts in the photos we took and basking in the joy of vacation and friendship.

I am stronger today.  I am filled with gratitude. I know that just because our name isn’t on a lease doesn’t make us homeless.  As I sit here typing on the patio of the hotel, about to go in and meet my friends for breakfast before our eight hour journey home, I realize I am here in clean clothes, healthy, with my sweet husband, and a cup of hot coffee.  Life is good and adventures await.