Advertisement
Published: April 28th 2011
Edit Blog Post
Homeward Bound - Nevada to Salt Lake City, Utah - 17 & 18 April - Two Nights
As we left Nevada and entered Utah--all casinos’s ceased to exist. Pretty soon the great salt flats were visible, stretching endlessly into the horizon. Great salt-storms could be seen blowing white mist is the form of a huge earthbound cloud.
Salt Lake City, Utah is huge. Evidently, the Mormons are less than half the population now, and as incongruent as this seems, there is a large gay community. Mormon=gay, Mormon=gay, Mormon=gay; it just does not compute with me. Yet Salt Lake has the highest gay populations per capita in the USA.
The great salt flats were originally home to Shoshone, Ute, and Paiute's 1000's of years before a white face ever appeared. Salt Lake City was part of the "territory of the Northwestern Shoshone." But we all know how well Uncle Sam honored that agreement.
In 1825 Jim Bridger was the first United States Explorer to see the flats. .
1846--the Donner Party's wagon train traveled through the desert, salt flats,
Great Salt Flats
Salt Lake City Great Salt flats with a salt-storm on their way to the disaster of "Donner's Pass.'
1847--Brigham Young went as far beyond the USA border as he could, to escape legal prosecution and to practice religious freedom. Within four days of arriving at the Salt Flats he designated where the Mormon Temple would be built. It took 40 years, but it stands today as Salt Lake City's icon.
Temple Square, where the Mormon Temple stands, IS the center of Salt Lake City. Brigham planned every street to run north and south, east and west of the Temple. All streets are measured in increments of 100 units as the run from the temple. For example, after the first block the street will be named, "100 S," two blocks, "200 S," etc. Once you get used to that orientation, maneuvering is easy.
Mining and the construction of the first transcontinental railroad brought about a boom for Salt Lake, and the city was nicknamed "The Crossroads of the West." Today, there is a strong outdoor, recreation, tourist trade--skiing in particular. The 2002 Winter Olympics were held in Salt Lake City.
We only had a small window of opportunity in the evening to drive over to the temple. After driving about
for a bit, we stopped to ask a pedestrian where the temple was. "Oh, it's right down there on the left, Mate," the reply came with an Australian accent.
We found the temple, looking dark, and gothic in the night. Then we entered the North Visitor's Center in Temple Square. We only had 15 minutes before they closed. The bottom level was ringed with huge, vivid paintings of a blue-eyed Jesus with blondish- streaks in his hair. Upstairs we found an alabaster statue of Jesus, a replica of Bertel Thorvaldsen's Christus Statue. It was awe-inspiring. They had painted the background navy blue with the constellations and planets, swirling about him.
B - A - C - A
We went were on our way to Appleby's to eat dinner, when we got turned around and found an Outback Steakhouse instead. We went in and were greeted with many motorcycle riders. Tim and I weren't sure why they were there and soon we were led to our seat.
Before our meal came, an older, motor cycle rider came up to us asking if we knew what
BACA was.... We answered no. He then told us that it means "Bikers' Against Child
Abuse" and they'd just done a fund-raising ride. I told him I'd written a book about my own abuse and was on a book tour. He sat down and we talked for a long time. BACA befriends kids who have been abused. Motor cycle clubs are brotherhoods and they take the injured child under their wing. The kids feel empowered having these big, tough, looking guys in their corner, protecting them. There are chapters all over the world now.
Tim had gone to the car to get my book, which I promptly gave to this guy. He teaches English at the Junior College level and he said not only would he read it, but he'd have his classes read it. Cool-beans. I told him I was so happy about the work he was doing. I can't imagine what it would have felt like as a child to believe there folks 'protecting' me. I imagine it would have made me feel safer, maybe I'd have been able to take some chances, maybe I'd have learned to un-brick my wall a little sooner.
It was NOT an accident that we missed Applebee's and ended up at the Road House Steak House, which
was housing a band of bikers against child abuse. That's the way the universe works when we let it. ;-)
Advertisement
Tot: 0.162s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 10; qc: 44; dbt: 0.0407s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb